After years of saving and dreaming, Jack and I finally bought our first home. It wasn’t perfect, but it had charm, potential, and that special something we had been looking for. From the moment we got the keys, I was eager to start renovations.
“Liv, are you sure you’re okay managing all this?” Jack asked, concerned about the scale of the project.
“I’ve got this,” I reassured him. “You focus on work—I’ll handle it.”
Things were going smoothly—until one Tuesday morning changed everything.
Carlos, our renovation crew leader, called me over with a strange look on his face. Behind a section of drywall, they had found a narrow, hidden door. My heart pounded with excitement as I opened it… but that excitement vanished in an instant. The air was musty, and the small room was filled with moldy clothing, old papers, and insects crawling across the floor.
I backed out and immediately called Jack.
“You need to come home. Right now.”
He rushed back and was just as shocked. Neither of us had expected anything like this. We made the tough decision to move out temporarily and stay with friends while we brought in pest control and environmental cleanup crews. The next few weeks were a whirlwind of late-night phone calls, inspection reports, and more than a few sleepless nights.
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