Chapter 17: Buying a house for parents
It was still early in the day when Ethan found himself standing in front of a modest real estate agency tucked between an old pharmacy and a secondhand electronics store. The signboard read: Maple Nest Properties.It’s paint slightly chipped, the letters faded by time and sunlight. Compared to the towering glass-fronted real estate firms across the city, this one felt quieter, almost forgotten.
That was exactly why he chose it.
Ethan pushed the glass door open. A small bell above it rang softly. Inside, the air was cool, faintly scented with coffee and printer toner. The office space was simple functional desks, low partitions, and a few potted plants that looked half-alive. Two employees were tapping away on their keyboards while a third seemed to be flipping through files absently. None of them looked up immediately.
Three employees were inside the office. One man sat at a desk half-heartedly spinning a pen between his fingers, while another woman clicked through tabs on a dusty desktop computer, occasionally sighing. A third person was halfway through eating a sandwich at their desk.
All of them paused and looked up when Ethan entered.
It wasn’t just the sound of the bell. It was the fact that someone had walked in at all.
Clients didn’t come often.
The woman at the front desk blinked in surprise before putting on a practiced smile.
"Good morning. Welcome to Maple Nest Properties. How can I help you?"
"I’d like to buy a house." Ethan said, his voice steady.
The room stilled.