Chapter 96 - Number One Pacific Heights
Seeing that his wife couldn’t explain what was going on, Finn Taylor spilled the truth.
But no sooner had he said that than Linda James shouted, “Scram! Can’t you see that I’m talking to my daughter? I won’t blame you guys for being unwilling to tell me the truth. It’s alright for you to have your own secrets now that you’ve grown up, but I don’t want you to lie to me. You bought the house? Do you have any money? You’re a grown man, yet you laze around the house and don’t even have a job.”
“Don’t you know that everyone calls you a useless matrilocal son-in-law? Do you think that it doesn’t matter since you’ve already gotten used to it? It’s alright if you don’t need your dignity, but we still want ours. Don’t tell me such lies that are so unbelievable in the future.” Linda James was raging and returned to her room after lashing out at her son-in-law.
With that, the questioning about their house stopped as well.
The couple glanced at each other, helplessness written on their faces. ‘We already told her the truth of the matter. What can we do since she’s the one who chooses not to believe us?’
Yvette Larson called her husband to her room, “Finn, I’m quite curious. Where’s the house that you purchased? We’re hosting everyone there in a few days’ time. Why don’t you bring me there to take a look at it first?”
She was curious about where the house was located. She also wanted to come up with some backup plans in case anything went wrong with the house.
“Alright. Let’s go tomorrow then.”
The couple decided on the time.
…
In the blink of an eye, the second day arrived.
Yvette Larson sat in the front passenger seat, looking forward to seeing her own house.
With that, they set out.
The direction they headed in left Yvette Larson a little stunned. This was because they weren’t heading into the city center.
Although this disappointed her slightly, it seemed good enough that her husband had managed to buy a house without any income. ‘How could he have bought a house in the city center?’
But as they drove on, Yvette Larson felt that something was wrong once again. She realized that they were headed toward Pacific Heights!
‘How could that be?’ Yvette Larson was dumbfounded, yet she didn’t dare to question her husband. ‘We’re probably just passing through Pacific Heights, right? Our house is probably in the suburbs. Although we do have a house now, we’ll only be able to afford one in the suburbs.’
But just as that thought crossed Yvette Larson’s mind, the car turned into Pacific Heights!
Yvette Larson’s heart thumped crazily. ‘This… Could it be that our house is really at Pacific Heights?’
“Finn, are you driving in the wrong direction?” Yvette Larson asked cautiously. She felt as though she was dreaming, and whether this dream would be shattered depended solely on her significant other’s answer.
“No.”
As expected, Finn Taylor’s answer was what Yvette Larson was waiting for. However, she couldn’t help but look on incredulously. ‘Do you mean that Finn bought a house at Pacific Heights? But how is that possible?’
The car drove slowly toward the peak of Pacific Heights.
Halfway up the hill, they were stopped.
At that moment, Yvette Larson felt like she was finally going to wake up from her dream. ‘That’s right. Finn is just joking with me. He’s trying to tell me that we’ll eventually live here at Pacific Heights, but there’s no way he could’ve bought a house here this time. Look, isn’t he being stopped now?’
Just as Yvette Larson thought that she had discovered the truth, she saw her spouse retrieve a card and hand it to the person outside the car.
Then, that person quickly handed the card back to her husband, and their car was sent on their way.
After that, they weren’t stopped again.
That was how they entered the core of Pacific Heights.
Yvette Larson remembered that they had previously snuck into Pacific Heights when they had gone to the Sullivan family’s residence. But this time, they were entering in broad daylight without any difficulties.
‘This can’t be true. Is our house really here? Which one is ours then?’
As the car drove up the hill, Yvette Larson saw that there was a number in front of every villa.
100.
99.
98.
…
As they drove further up the hill, the numbers got smaller, and the houses naturally got bigger and grander.
‘Why isn’t Finn Taylor stopping yet? We’ve already driven past number 80. Do you mean that our number is smaller than 80?’ Just as Yvette Larson thought that the car would stop at number 60 or 70, they drove past number 50.
‘That can’t be. There are 100 extravagant villas here. It has a completely different meaning once we go past number 50.’ Yvette Larson couldn’t even imagine the kind of statuses these villas’ owners had in San Francisco.
But the car rolled on.
40.
30.
20.
10.
The moment the car drove past number 10, Yvette Larson felt as though she was going to suffocate. ‘I’ve heard rumors about this neighborhood. The peak of Pacific Heights houses the ten grandest villas. Every villa is a restricted area that only the owners are allowed to step foot into. If anyone dares to trespass into their property, their limbs will be chopped off before they are thrown off Pacific Heights. But Finn has driven all the way up here!’
Yvette Larson didn’t believe that the second-hand property her husband had been talking about would be one of the ten most expensive properties in Pacific Heights. ‘That’s impossible!’
Nonetheless, the car rolled to a gradual stop in front of Number One Pacific Heights.
Finn Taylor was just about to get out of the car.
“Finn, don’t get down.” Just then, Yvette Larson held her husband back.
“What’s wrong?”
“If you get out, your limbs will be chopped off, and you’ll be thrown off Pacific Heights.”
Finn Taylor laughed and asked, “Why?”
“It’s private property here. These are the rules of Pacific Heights; this is what happens when strangers enter.”
Finn Taylor laughed and pointed at the villa. “This is our house. Who will dare to chop off my limbs and throw me off the hill when I’m entering my own house?”
With that, Finn Taylor got out of the car without listening to his wife’s advice.
Yvette Larson’s heart tightened. ‘Something is going to happen. Finn has gone too far with his joke this time.’
At that moment, the door to Number One Pacific Heights was opened. Someone then walked out of the villa and headed straight toward Yvette Larson’s car door.
Yvette Larson was so anxious that she felt like she was going to die.