Chapter 1
I was in my lawyer's office for the hundredth time. "It has been two years already. When will this nightmare end exactly? "
" Calm down, please, Jade; I assume we will have a verdict by the end of this month," she said in a reassuring, calm tone.
I inherited a beautiful two-story house in Westchester, NY, almost three years ago from my aunt when I was 22. I remember the day I moved in; it was a lovely, warm weekend in August. I immediately started decorating my beautiful house with my limited budget. I was very happy. However, my happiness turned to anxiety very quickly after I was served with court papers. Some Byron brothers alleged that the house belonged to their late grandmother. I had been fighting against their court case for two years, and it did not seem very hopeful.
"Easy for you to say. I spent all my savings on this court case and had to take a loan, too."
I was a student in Opera Studies at the conservatory, and it was my last year. I had to take a one-year break from the conservatory to be able to make money for this court case, but the break was over, and I was back in school.
"I know it is frustrating, but we are at the end now. It will be over very soon, and I am very confident that the court will acknowledge our side of the story."
I have stayed in her office for another half an hour to discuss the details. "I will let you know as soon as I receive the decision," she said. "Thank you, Maria. I hope I hear good news from you very soon."
Two weeks after our meeting, I received a call from my lawyer. My heart started beating very hard the moment I saw her name on my Phone. This is it, Jade—judgement time.
" Hello Maria, oh please tell me it is good news."
"Hello, Jade. To be honest, I don't know how to classify this, but at least it is not bad news."
"What do you mean? What happened? "
"The court decided a joint ownership of the house with the Byron brothers."
"What does that mean exactly? "
"That means you own the house with the other three people. But your share is 50%."
" But I don't understand; how will that work? Do I have to pay them rent or something? "
"You can try to buy the other 50% off of them, or you can pay half of the current market value rent of the property. That is completely up to our negotiations. I will negotiate with their lawyer on your behalf. So what is your decision?"
"I am broke right now, Maria; there is no way I can buy the rest of the house. I guess it just has to be the rent then..."
" Ok, leave it with me."
I did not know how to feel after I hung up the phone. Did I win? Would I be able to pay the rent and the loan simultaneously? Could they ask for the rent for the 5-year period of time that I was living there retrospectively? Maybe I should just let go and sell the place.
After three days, I received another call from my lawyer.
"Maria, Hi! Tell me it is good news this time."
"It depends on where you see it."
"What is wrong this time? "
" They don't sell the place, or they don't want you to pay rent to them. They want you to sell them the house, and they are offering 350.000 dollars. I think it is a very generous offer, Jade."
"No. I thought it might come to this, and I already made up my mind about it. I am not going to sell my house, and that is final. "
"If that is your final decision, I will just tell them that."
"Yes, please. Thank you. "
The day after our conversation, Maria called and told me that they would move in with me.
"What?! This must be a joke. Is this even legal? "
"Jade, your case was unprecedented in the history of property law in this State. Now, both parties have the property rights. I will try to stop this with an interim injunction from the court, but I am not so sure that we will be granted one."
And she was right. She could not stop them from moving in with me.
I heard the sound of a truck parked in front of my house. Even though we have been fighting over the house for the past two years, we have never actually met or seen each other, so I did not know what they looked like, and oddly, there was nothing about them on the internet.
I was very nervous. I rehearsed what I was going to say once again in my head. The plan was to talk them into leaving me and my house alone. I was ready for the battle. I was not going to give up on my house. The doorbell rang. I took a deep breath and opened the door, and there they were. Three exceptionally handsome and large men were looking at me. They were taller than 6 feet, I guess 6.3 or 6.4. They were all big, muscular guys, but the one in the middle looked particularly strong. I was not expecting that. I gathered myself and said.
" Hello."
