My ideal neighbour fixed my car, won over my son, and made me believe in men again. But our first date ended with my ex showing up at the gate, and I learned a secret I wish I had never heard.
After the divorce, I was left with three things: a small house on the outskirts of town, my three-year-old son Kevin, and silence.
My husband took everything else: my car, my bills, even the coffee maker I bought for myself.
‘You’re lucky, really,’ said the solicitor. ‘You got the house because of the child.’
Lucky. What a joke. He just didn’t want to pay alimony.
The first month after the divorce, I breathed. I sat in the kitchen and waited for the day when I would want to do something again. Sometimes I turned on the stove just to hear some kind of sound.
Eventually, I started to come back to life. I found comfort in takeaway coffee cups, a blush palette I dug out from the bottom of a forgotten makeup bag, and weekly conversations with my friend Sophie.
‘Are you alive?’ Sophie asked when I finally agreed to have coffee with her. She held out two cups without lids so the steam would rise for added effect.
‘I’m trying,’ I replied, sinking into a cheap plastic chair in the café. ‘Maybe I’ll become human again.’
‘And maybe a woman,’ she winked.
We laughed that day, even though we both knew it wasn’t a victory. But it was something. A start.
The next morning, I stood by my car in my dressing gown thrown over my jeans, my hair a mess.
‘Come on. Come on, sweetheart… We agreed just two days ago. Don’t do this. Not today…’
The car wheezed, teased me twice with a false start, and then stalled. Kevin, sitting in the back seat in his hoodie, clutched his toy dinosaur in his tiny fists. I just wanted to get to work. For once without chaos.
‘Car trouble?’ came a voice from behind.
I spun around quickly. A stranger was standing behind the fence. He was tall, fit, and had a fresh face. He was too clean for someone standing next to my broken-down Toyota at seven in the morning.
‘I’m late, and she’s acting up.’
‘I’m Alex. New neighbour. I can give you a lift if you don’t mind. My van is parked over there.’
I looked around. There were no other options. It was either this man or tears on my bonnet.
‘If your van works,’ I said with a shaky laugh, ‘you’re mine forever.’
Alex drove us to the nursery. He didn’t say much. He just offered to drop me off at the office. I nodded in quiet disbelief.
In the evening, on my way home and ready to sink into the sofa, I noticed a familiar back hunched over the open bonnet of my car.
Alex!
‘Saving your Toyota,’ he said, still bent over. ‘Spark plugs. Old ones, like my uncle’s. I’m swapping them around. Now it’ll start without any problems.’
‘You’re joking. What, you just happened to have tools with you?’
‘Almost. I just hate to see good girls in trouble.’
I silently watched him as he wiped his hands on a cloth. I wanted to ask why he was so kind. But instead…
‘How much do I owe you?’
‘Just my gratitude. Or maybe coffee in the morning. I like mine with milk and double sugar.’
The next morning, he was standing on my doorstep with that very coffee. I smiled at him and took the cup.
Could miracles really start like this?
I had no idea then. But some miracles… don’t just happen. And not all of them have the ending you hoped for.
Alex quickly became part of our lives, and I could barely resist. He brought a bookshelf. He bought Kevin a toy train. He made coffee better than any café. And for free.
And the worst part… He was always there when I needed him most.
So, Mrs. ‘I don’t trust men anymore,’ Sophie tilted her head, watching me stir sugar into my latte:
‘When are you going on a date with your neighbour?’
‘I don’t know… He’s younger. And too perfect.’
‘If you don’t go on a date with him, I swear I will.’
Sophie took a sip of her coffee. ‘He makes great espresso and drills like a pro. I’ve got nothing to lose.’
I laughed, blushing slightly. The thought of a date still felt like putting on high heels after months of wearing slippers.
And that evening, as if the universe had been listening, Alex said,
‘By the way, I bought some amazing steaks. Would you like to join me for a barbecue tonight?’
I agreed. I put on my favourite jeans and a white polo shirt. I dropped Kevin off at Sophie’s house. Then I went to the house next door.
It was our first official date.
The dinner melted in my mouth. Soft music floated through the air like a whisper. His gaze was almost shy. He even brought insect repellent.
I noticed how his hands moved as he lit the grill. Calm, practical. As if he wasn’t trying to impress me. He just wanted the evening to go well.
‘I never thought I’d just… sit here and smile again,’ I confessed, sipping my tea.
‘I never thought I’d meet a woman who fights like hell but still manages to shine.’
And then I heard it. A car pulled up to the gate. Someone started banging on it — loudly, furiously, with fists pounding on the metal.
‘Open the bloody gate!’
My stomach clenched. That voice. I knew it.
It was my ex.
‘Of course you’ll be here!’ he shouted from the other side. ‘A cosy barbecue, like a happy little family!’
I jumped up from the table. Alex froze halfway.
‘Didn’t you think I’d find out?’ my ex continued to shout. ‘Your neighbourly date was visible from the street. Guess who was driving by at just the right moment!’
‘What are you doing here?’ I shouted back.
‘I’m here for my son! But he’s not even home. And his mother is too busy here with my brother!’
Alex lowered his head. I slowly turned to him.
‘Please tell me he’s lying.’
But he didn’t say a word. Then the gate creaked open. Alex unlocked it. And my ex burst in like a hurricane.
‘Same father. Different mothers. Shared DNA. And you know what? We’re going to use it.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘Simple. If Alex turns out to be the real father, not me, then… boom! You’re an adulteress. The court will decide that Kevin isn’t mine. And guess what else isn’t yours? This house.’
‘This is crazy. He’s not the father, and you know it!’
I turned to Alex.
‘Alex? Say something.’
Alex didn’t say a word. His eyes dropped to the floor.
That silence? It told me everything.
I felt something crack inside me. Like a lock clicking, only in reverse.
‘So it was true?’ I whispered. ‘It was a plan?’
Alex swallowed hard. He looked at me, then lowered his eyes. ‘It… it wasn’t my idea,’ he muttered.
‘Then whose was it?’
He was silent for a moment. Then he exhaled slowly.
‘My mum’s. She said no judge would question a test from a “reputable lab”. Said it would be clean, airtight.’
He paused, his voice thinning.
“Her best friend runs the place. I just had to… give the sample. And keep you close. But I didn’t expect to actually fall in love with you.”
My ex burst out laughing loudly and bitterly.
‘Come on, Alex! Is this a soap opera? You were supposed to play her, not fall in love with her!’
Alex flinched.
‘You had one job. To seduce her. To distract her. To get the house. And now look at yourself — whining like some sad puppy.’
‘I didn’t mean to…’ Alex stammered. ‘I didn’t want it to go this far…’
‘You’re pathetic,’ my ex hissed. ‘We had her wrapped around our little fingers. All you had to do was smile and keep quiet.’
Alex opened his mouth, but no words came out. I took a breath. Cold. Calm.
‘Get out. Both of you. Now.’
The perfect evening had turned into an ambush. But I didn’t cry. I decided to fight.
I didn’t sleep that night. But I didn’t cry either. I opened tabs. I made phone calls. I read about DNA tests, inheritance law and the dirty tricks people use in court.
And then Sophie, bless her, turned to an old friend for help.
The lab technician who signed the DNA test?
She’s my ex-mother’s goddaughter!
Sophie even found out which clinic. It all added up. A fake test. Swapped samples. A neat little plan.
The next morning, Alex was standing on my doorstep. He looked pale, like a man who had finally realised he wasn’t the hero of his own story.
‘My brother used my DNA instead of his,’ he began. “They wanted to prove that Kevin was mine, not his. To make you look like a fraud. To take the house. It was my mother’s plan. I thought I was just helping the family… but then you happened.”
I didn’t let him finish. I raised my hand and tapped my phone screen softly.
‘Remember last night? When you tried to explain everything?’
I pressed the play button on the voice memo.
‘My mum and I have it all figured out. If she admits to fraud, we’ve got the court in the bag.’
Alex’s face drained of colour.
‘It’ll go to court,’ I said calmly. ‘And I’ll win.’
‘I… I’ll testify. I’ll give you everything. I swear…’
‘I don’t believe a word you say anymore.’
He didn’t argue. He just left. The chessboard had been turned upside down. I was no longer a pawn. I was making the next move.
The trial didn’t take long.
My lawyers had everything covered. My ex tried to wriggle out of it, but the judge wasn’t having any of it. He granted me sole ownership of the house, with no loopholes or conditions.
Alex disappeared. I didn’t ask where.
Later, I sat at the kitchen table with Sophie.
‘I’m the worst friend in the world,’ she said. ‘I pushed you into going on that stupid date.’
‘I let myself believe. Because I wanted to. I needed something good. Someone kind. Even if it was fake.’
‘You didn’t deserve any of it.’
‘No. But I got through it.’
‘So… it’s over?’
‘No.’ I smiled. ‘It’s just beginning.’
‘I heard you won the counterclaim?’
‘Yes.’ I raised my cup. ‘Pain and suffering. Enough for a new coffee maker. And maybe even a second home.’
Sophie burst out laughing.
‘He tried to break you. But girl, you just got wittier.’
‘I still have Kevin. And I have peace.’
Kevin called from the other room and asked if I wanted to help him build a railway track. I smiled.
‘I’ll be right there, sweetheart.’
This was the only home I needed. I got up, stretched, and looked out the window. The yard was quiet.
‘The next time someone rings my doorbell with a latte, they’d better not have any ulterior motives.’
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