Adam was silent for several seconds.

Then I heard Gloria shouting somewhere behind him.

“Tell her to sign it! It’s her own family!”

I smiled and looked toward the sea.

“Adam, put me on speaker.”

He hesitated.

“Elisa—”

“Speaker.”

A moment later, Gloria’s voice exploded through the phone.

“Elisa! What exactly are you trying to do to us?”

“Happy New Year to you too.”

“This isn’t funny! The compensation office says they can’t release the full payment until that registered debt is settled.”

“I know.”

Gloria went silent.

I continued calmly.

“Five years ago, you borrowed 620,000 yuan from me. The agreement says the debt must be repaid before I release my claim against the property.”

“But that money was for repairing the family house!”

“Yes.”

“You married Adam! Why are you calculating money with your own family?”

I almost laughed.

Two days earlier, there hadn’t even been a chair for me.

Now suddenly we were family again.

Megan grabbed the phone.

“Elisa, Mom already promised us the compensation. My fiancé and I were counting on that money for our apartment.”

“That sounds like something you should discuss with Gloria.”

“You have plenty of money!”

“And?”

She stopped.

I heard Brian muttering angrily in the background.

Then Harvey finally spoke.

His voice was quieter.

“Elisa, the contract is legitimate. I remember signing it.”

At least one person was willing to acknowledge reality.

Gloria snapped at him.

“Whose side are you on?”

Harvey answered:

“The side of the document with my signature on it.”

Silence.

My father, sitting across from me, raised his coconut and smiled.

He remembered that contract better than anyone.

Adam finally took the phone again.

“Elisa, can we talk privately?”

“Go ahead.”

“I mean without everyone listening.”

“Why? The debt belongs to the house everyone was already dividing.”

He exhaled.

Then his voice softened.

“Come home. We’ll solve this together.”

I looked at my mother cutting mango beside me.

“I’m on vacation.”

“Elisa, this is serious.”

“So was being excluded from New Year dinner.”

“That was my mother’s decision.”

“And you stayed.”

He said nothing.

That silence answered everything.

I continued.

“I didn’t create this problem yesterday, Adam. The debt has existed for five years. Your parents knew about it.”

“But you never asked for repayment.”

“Because I wasn’t in a hurry.”

I paused.

“That doesn’t mean I gave them 620,000 yuan.”

Gloria shouted from the background:

“Fine! We’ll repay the 620,000! Then sign immediately!”

I opened the document my lawyer had sent that morning.

“There’s accrued contractual interest and documented expenses related to maintaining the security.”

Another silence.

“How much?” Harvey asked.

I told them.

This time, nobody spoke for several seconds.

Then Megan screamed.

“You’re stealing our compensation!”

“No. You were dividing money that wasn’t entirely available yet.”

That distinction apparently hurt.

Gloria began crying.

After years of knowing her, I recognized the performance immediately.

“Elisa, I treated you like my own daughter.”

I couldn’t help it.

I laughed.

“Gloria, two days ago you told me there wasn’t room for me at your table.”

“That was because Karen’s parents were coming!”

“Exactly.”

I let the silence sit.

“When resources were limited, you decided who counted as family. You made your choice.”

Adam whispered:

“Elisa, please.”

“No.”

My voice remained calm.

“I’m not asking for extra money. I’m not taking Brian’s share, Megan’s share, or yours. I’m asking for exactly what your parents legally agreed to repay.”

Then I added:

“And my lawyer will handle everything from here.”

Gloria’s crying stopped instantly.

“Lawyer?”

“Yes.”

“You hired a lawyer against us?”

“No, Gloria. I hired a lawyer to protect myself.”

I ended the call.

Within ten seconds, the family chat began exploding.

Megan called me selfish.

Brian accused me of ruining New Year.

Karen wrote that she “didn’t want to get involved,” then somehow produced six paragraphs explaining why I should waive the debt.

I muted the group.

My father looked at me.

“Finished?”

“For now.”

He pushed a plate of mango toward me.

“Then eat.”

For the next three days, I did exactly that.

I swam with my parents.

We ate seafood beside the beach.

My father bought another ridiculous shirt.

My mother took so many photographs that my phone storage nearly surrendered.

Meanwhile, the Fletcher family discovered something fascinating.

When I stopped solving their problems, they suddenly remembered how many problems I had been solving.

The fourth morning, my lawyer called.

“The Fletchers agreed to repay the full amount.”

“Good.”

“There’s something else.”

I sat up.

“What?”

“Your husband contacted me separately.”

“Adam?”

“He asked whether your financial arrangements with his family were the only documents you were reviewing.”

I became quiet.

Rebecca continued.

“I didn’t tell him anything, obviously. But I think he suspects you’re preparing for more than the property settlement.”

I looked toward the ocean.

Adam knew me well enough to recognize patterns.

Maybe he had finally realized I hadn’t taken my important documents to Sanya merely for a holiday.

Because the night before we left, I had removed more than the property contract from our safe.

I had also taken our marriage certificate.

The records of our joint accounts.

And the preliminary divorce documents my lawyer had prepared months earlier.

My phone rang.

Adam.

I declined it.

He called again.

Declined.

Then a message appeared.

I told Mom to repay you. I know I should have defended you. Please don’t make any decisions until you come home.

I stared at it.

Then another message arrived.

This one wasn’t from Adam.

It was from Gloria.

For the first time in five years, her tone wasn’t commanding.

Elisa, we moved things around. There will always be a seat for you at our table. Please come home.

I showed it to my father.

He read it and laughed.

“So they found another chair?”

“Apparently.”

My mother shook her head.

“Interesting what 620,000 yuan can do to furniture.”

We all laughed.

But that evening, something happened that none of us expected.

The villa receptionist called.

“Ms. Elisa Fletcher?”

“Yes?”

“There’s a gentleman downstairs asking for you.”

My stomach tightened.

“Who?”

Before she could answer, I heard a familiar voice in the background.

“Elisa.”

Adam.

He had flown all the way to Sanya.

I went downstairs twenty minutes later.

He stood alone in the lobby holding a suitcase.

His eyes were exhausted.

But what caught my attention was the folder in his hand.

“Elisa, I know about the divorce papers.”

I stopped.

He stepped toward me.

“And before you give them to me, there’s something you need to know about why my mother excluded you from that dinner.”

I frowned.

“What could possibly change that?”

Adam opened the folder.

Inside wasn’t anything related to our marriage.

It was a copy of Gloria’s urban-renewal compensation application.

Several names had been listed as beneficiaries.

Brian.

Megan.

Adam.

And one more name I didn’t recognize.

Adam pointed at it.

“Karen’s father.”

I looked up sharply.

Adam’s expression hardened.

“My mother didn’t invite Karen’s parents because there weren’t enough chairs.”

He lowered his voice.

“She invited them because she had secretly promised them part of the compensation.”

And suddenly, 107 missed calls no longer seemed like the biggest secret Gloria Fletcher had been hiding.