The first page was a formal written notice ending their rent-free living arrangement, prepared according to the notice period required where we lived. I was not throwing anyone onto the sidewalk that afternoon, but the assumption that my house was permanently theirs had ended. Behind it was a simple accounting I had prepared: nearly three years of groceries, utilities, repairs, school expenses, insurance help, and other costs I had quietly covered while Preston and Bianca supposedly saved for their own home.
Preston flipped through the pages faster. The final sheet listed what would stop immediately. No more grocery allowance. No more access to my credit card. No more vacation deposits, school extras, or “temporary” transfers. From that day forward, they would pay their own household expenses while arranging somewhere else to live. Bianca stared at me and said, “You’re doing all this over one stupid group chat?”
...
