Chapter 5 Bought In Full

Katherine looked at the man standing beside her in disbelief.

"Excuse me? You expect us to believe that you own a house?" Isabel asked sarcastically, looking Esteban up and down. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything else. I'm just worried that Katherine will live a hard life now that she's married to you. We're her family after all, and we just want what's best for her. If it's not too much to ask, can we check out your place?"

A touch of impatience flashed in Esteban's eyes. In the span of just a few minutes, he saw just how judgmental and snobbish Katherine's family was. He could also tell that they would give him grief if he refused, so he nodded and said, "Let's go now."

Esteban turned around and headed for the door, deciding to show them the nearest property he owned.

Darrell had been scrutinizing Esteban this whole time. When he saw the latter hailing a taxi, he sneered in his mind. He thought Esteban didn't even have a car.

Snickering to himself, Darrell tried to come up with clever insults to mock Esteban when he saw the latter's home. But when they reached their destination, Darrell was stunned. He asked in surprise, "Is this where you live?"

This neighborhood was the best location in the city, and naturally, the prices of housing here were sky-high. As far as Darrell knew, the minimum monthly mortgage for the smallest apartment here was fifty thousand dollars.

Even an executive with a yearly income of a million dollars like Darrell didn't dare to even dream of having an apartment here.

The more he thought about it, the more incredulous Darrell felt. He put on a look of disdain and spat, "You're so poor that you didn't even bring a gift for Katherine's family. How could you live in a place as expensive as this? You should sell your apartment as soon as possible, in case you can't afford the mortgage one day and become homeless with Katherine."

"Don't worry. I paid for it in full," Esteban said expressionlessly.

Isabel raised an eyebrow dubiously. "In full? Are you kidding me? You just run a small company. How can you afford to buy an apartment here without a loan?"

"I don't care what you think. This is my apartment."

Esteban didn't want to waste his breath on these people anymore. He had already waste his whole morning. All he wanted now was to make them leave as soon as possible.

As soon as Esteban unlocked the door, Isabel shuffled in and looked around. Smacking her lips, she muttered to herself, "What's the big deal, anyway?"

She checked every corner of Esteban's apartment in a seemingly casual fashion, but was quick to find fault with it. "The interior design isn't great. The decor looks minimalist and luxurious, but upon a closer look, one can see that this place is full of gimmicks. It's not practical at all."

"Isabel Morgan! It's none of your business where my husband and I live. Don't cross the line!" Katherine couldn't stand her insults and stepped in to defend Esteban.

Isabel smiled in disdain, seizing the opportunity to take a jab at her.

"Look at you, playing the role of a good wife. But, Katherine, even if you couldn't have Darrell, you shouldn't have married a man who spends money like water. It's so obvious that he's broke, but he pretends to be rich. My dear cousin, you'll definitely have a hard time in the future!"

"It's his money. However he chooses to spend it is up to him. Instead of worrying about me, you should pay more attention to Darrell's financial situation. What if he just wants to get your money?" Katherine retorted ruthlessly.

Katherine knew what buttons to push. Sure enough, Isabel instantly became anxious. "What do you mean?"

"Ask Darrell," Katherine answered cryptically, successfully shifting the focus of the conversation to her ex-boyfriend.

Isabel turned around to question Darrell fiercely, "Didn't you say that you'd give me all your money? What's Katherine saying?"

"She's making shit up!"

Being put on the spot, Darrell was so furious that he nearly tried to attack Katherine again. But when he saw Esteban standing next to her, he recalled how painful his wrist was just now and could only grit his teeth to suppress his anger.

"Honey, let's go home first. I'll explain everything."

Darrell started to drag Isabel to the door while shooting Katherine a murderous look.

With the two of them gone, the apartment quieted down.

Katherine sensed that Esteban was very unhappy. She bowed her head and started apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry to have put you through all that trouble today. I'll try my best to prevent them from disturbing you again."

"Okay." Esteban simply nodded, his eyes cold and indifferent.

Looking around the living room, Katherine started to believe what Isabel had said.

Indeed, everything looked so expensive. Was Esteban really such a brag?

After a moment's hesitation, she looked up at him and asked, "Did you really buy this apartment without a loan?"