A short while later, there was a knock on my bedroom door.

I opened it, and the three of them stood outside, glaring at me angrily.

Helen shoved me hard. "You were the one who contacted the landlord to increase the rent, weren't you?"

My back slammed into the corner of the table, and the pain made me gasp.

Wendy's eyes were red. "How about this? If you go talk to your relative and have him keep the rent at 800 for us, and you give up the master bedroom, we are still willing to continue sharing the apartment with you."

I crossed my arms and looked at her coldly. "Then where would I live?"

"You can just sleep on the sofa," said Sharon.

She sounded like there was nothing wrong with what she said.

"I pay rent, and I still have to sleep on the sofa?"

"Let's get this straight. You're the one who shamelessly insisted on living with us. Letting you sleep on the sofa is already us being generous."

Wendy wrapped her arms around mine. "We're best friends. How could I not let you have a place to stay? I already found you a new place. It has all the necessary appliances. Most importantly, it's only a couple of yards away from where you work. It's perfect for a workaholic like you."

"Where is it?"

She covered her mouth and snickered. "Woolly's doghouse. It's right outside the company's security office. Isn't that close enough? In the dead of winter, Woolly can even warm your bed for free!"

Helen teased, "Wow, you really are her best friend, aren't you? Don't you think it's a little inappropriate to let her live in a doghouse? But…"

Her gaze landed on me, and she laughed maliciously. "Jessica, don't forget to pay Wendy an agency fee! A place you can move into right away like that isn't easy to find."

Wendy waved her hand. "We're friends. There's no need for an agency fee."

I watched them coldly and didn't say a single word.

Wendy looked at me with a serious expression. "Jessica, living with you has completely exhausted us physically and mentally. You're a control freak. You don't let us stick things on the walls, you don't let us decorate our rooms, and you even nag when a single strand of hair falls on the floor. We really can't stand you anymore."

"I was practically driven into depression by you. You should cover our rent for next quarter—consider it compensation for our emotional distress."

I laughed angrily at those words.

I didn't let them stick things randomly on the walls because the latex paint had been custom, and once it was damaged, it was almost impossible to restore it to exactly the same shade.

I didn't let them renovate the rooms because they wanted to tear down a load-bearing wall to expand the space.

I nagged them about the hair because they never cleaned the floor drain after washing their hair, clogging the pipes and flooding the neighbor downstairs. I had privately paid a large sum of money to settle the matter.

For the six months that they had lived here, the money I had covered for them far exceeded the little rent they paid.

And yet, they actually demanded emotional compensation from me.

What a joke.

"Either you move out, or I move out, and you pay the 2,400 dollars yourselves."

After saying that, I shut the door.

Their furious voices sounded outside.

"Do you know no shame, Jessica?"

"Don't push your luck!"

After getting off work the next day, it was already eleven at night.

When I reached my front door, I froze.

My luggage had been piled in the hallway like trash.

After entering the password several times in a row, I still couldn't open the door. It was obvious they had changed it.

My blood boiled instantly, and I dialed my dad's number. "Dad, call a courier and have something delivered for me..."

After hanging up, I began pounding hard on the door.

The noise echoed piercingly through the quiet night.

The noise annoyed the neighbors, who came out one after another to question why I was disturbing everyone, and someone even called security.

As more and more people gathered, there was finally movement inside the apartment.

With a click, the door opened.

Helen stood there in her pajamas with a face mask on, frowning. "It's the middle of the night, what are you wailing about? You're ruining my beauty sleep."

Forcing myself to remain calm, I pointed at the luggage on the floor. "On what grounds did you throw my things out?"

Wendy, who had walked over after hearing the commotion, glanced at me timidly. "Jessica, we really had no choice. Please, just show us some mercy and give us a break..."

As she spoke, she shot a look at Sharon beside her. Sharon immediately got the hint and shouted loudly at the neighbors and the security guard, "Come and take a look at this, guys! We're sharing this apartment, and she brings different men home every night. They're making so much noise in her room that we can't sleep at all!"

She then turned to me with a pleading expression. "We know your job is special and that you have business to do at night. We don't discriminate against your profession, but we still have to get up early for work the next day! Please, find somewhere else to live."

As soon as she finished speaking, the way the neighbors looked at me instantly changed, as if they were staring at something filthy.

Wendy bowed deeply to the neighbors with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry for disturbing everyone. Her lease has already expired, and we've made it clear that we won't renew it with her. Even the landlord doesn't agree to rent this place to her anymore. But she just refuses to leave. We really had no other choice but to do this... We're truly sorry for bothering everyone so late at night."

The neighbors began whispering among themselves. "That girl looks decent. How could she be a call girl?"

"Exactly. No wonder she comes back so late every day..."

"Living on the same floor as her is such bad luck!"

A middle-aged woman pointed directly at me and shouted angrily, "Were you the one blasting music and partying in the middle of the night a few days ago? The speakers were booming so loud I couldn't sleep all night!"

I had been on a business trip out of town all last week and had only returned yesterday.

A flicker of guilt flashed across Helen's face, but she still pointed at me. "Yes! It was her!"

Another neighbor stepped forward and questioned me, "Was it your hair that clogged the drain and flooded my apartment?"

Wendy, who had the longest hair and never cleaned the floor drain, froze for a moment, then frowned at me. "Jessica, I've told you so many times, you need to clean up your hair after having a shower. Why do you never listen?"

"And wasn't it she who wanted to smash a load-bearing wall, almost turning the whole building into a dangerous structure?"

Sharon, who had wanted to knock down the wall to make her room bigger, rubbed her nose. "That's right! It was her! We tried to stop her, but she just wouldn't listen!"

All the neighbors became infuriated.

"She's a menace! Kick her out of our community!"

"Security! Hurry up and throw her out!"

"Call the police and arrest her!"

Seeing this, the security guard grabbed my arm and tried to drag me away.

Panicked and furious, I shouted, "I'm the landlord! You have no right to drive me away!"

Helen sneered. "You're the landlord? If you're the landlord, then I'm the President!"

Wendy also put on a troubled expression. "Jessica, I've already contacted the landlord. He'll be here soon. If you leave now, you can still keep some dignity. Once the landlord comes and kicks you out, it'll be really embarrassing."

My whole body shook with anger. "Fine! Call the landlord! I'd like to see how he plans to kick me out!"

"Who's looking for me?"

I turned around and saw a punk with blond hair and a sleazy air all over him swaggering over.

"I'm the landlord. You were looking for me?"

He squinted his eyes and sized me up from head to toe.

"Where's Mr. Lawson?" I frowned.

My apartment had always been managed by Mr. Lawson from the agency, and he had been very responsible.

"Looks like you've done your homework and know my uncle's surname," he said smugly. "I'll be honest with you, my uncle's on a business trip. This place is my turf now!"

He jabbed a finger at my nose. "I've already heard all about you from these beauties. I won't rent my place to someone like you! If you've got any sense, grab your junk and get the hell out!"

I looked at him coldly. "Do you know whose name is on the property deed before you tell me to get lost?"

"It's my uncle's place, of course, the deed should be in his name! What, are you saying your name's on the deed?"

The blond punk had a disdainful look on his face.

Wendy tried to persuade me. "Stop causing a scene, Jessica. Since the landlord is already here, you should just move out."

The punk ignored me and swaggered into the apartment, wandering around for a while.

When he came back out, he glared at me viciously. "Hey! Where's that Lego set on the TV cabinet in the living room? Did you steal it? That was a limited edition worth 40 grand! Hand it over right now!"

The Lego set?

My niece liked it when she visited last time, so I gave it to her.

"Why would I need to inform you when I'm giving my own belongings away?"

"Your belongings? That belonged to the landlord, which means it belongs to my uncle!"

The punk jumped angrily.

Sharon immediately stepped forward to back him up. "We can testify! That Lego was already there when we moved in. How could it be yours? It's obviously the landlord's!"

Wendy frowned. "Jessica, you'd better get it back quickly. Stealing is illegal. If the landlord calls the police, you'll be in serious trouble."

Watching them sing in perfect unison, I only felt it was utterly absurd.

"Alright, just call the police then," I said flatly.

My indifferent attitude completely enraged the punk.

"I can't believe you can still be so arrogant after stealing something!"

He slapped me hard across the face.

With a sharp smack, my ears rang, and a metallic taste spread at the corner of my mouth.

Wendy stopped the punk, who was about to strike again, and said, "Forget it. It's hard to get back something that's already been given away. Jessica, how about you just pay for the Lego set instead? Since the landlord says it's worth 40 thousand dollars, just pay him the money. It's easy for you to make money, so this is nothing for you. Just pay the landlord and get this over with."

I laughed angrily.

That Lego set looked big, but in reality, it was just a model I had bought for 600 dollars.

Now, I finally knew what was going on. The way they had been exchanging looks with the punk meant they had set me up together, trying to scam me out of money.

Seeing that I didn't budge, the punk shoved me hard again. "Did you hear me? Pay up now! Otherwise, I'll call the police and have you put behind bars!"

"Like I said, it was my own property!"

"Fuck! Looks like you want to do this the hard way!" the punk cursed and slapped me again.

I was knocked to the ground, my vision going black.

Helen's eyes spun, and she pointed at my luggage, shrieking, "She's a thief! I'd better check her bags carefully. Who knows what else she stole from me!"

As she spoke, she squatted down and started rummaging through my suitcase.

She pulled out a gold necklace, a flash of jealousy passing through her eyes. She immediately turned around and held it up, shouting, "Oh my god! My gold necklace! I lost it ages ago! I can't believe you're the one who stole it from me!"

"Wendy, Sharon! You should come and check her stuff too! She must have stolen a lot of our things!"

Hearing this, Sharon's eyes lit up, and she also began digging through my luggage.

Like bandits, the two of them pulled out jewelry and branded cosmetics from my suitcase, insisting they were things they had lost and stuffing them straight into their pockets.

Seeing this, the other neighbors who were watching also began to itch with temptation.

Wendy smiled faintly at the crowd. "Dear neighbors, you can go take a look too and see if she stole any of your things."

As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd swarmed forward like locusts.

Bang! The trophy I had won in university was smashed to the ground.

Rip! The sweater my mother had knitted for me by hand was torn apart.

My down jacket was slashed open, feathers flying everywhere.

I even saw a leering middle-aged man, who picked up my underwear, took a deep sniff, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Stop it!"

I screamed and rushed forward to stop them, only to be shoved brutally back to the ground.

Wendy looked down at me from above with an innocent smile on her face. "Don't you think the things she stole might be hidden in the clothes that she's wearing?"

Everyone's gaze snapped onto me at once.

The punk licked his lips. "Strip her! I want to see just how much she's hiding!"

I shouted angrily, "If any of you dare touch me, I will never let you get away with it!"

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see how you're gonna do that!"

As he spoke, the punk reached out to grab my collar.

I struggled with all my strength, but Helen and Sharon pinned my arms and legs tightly to the ground.

Wendy took out her phone and filmed my most miserable state, silently mouthing the words, "Serves you right."

At that moment, I truly regretted inviting them to live with me.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Miss Jessica Wilson?"

A courier in a Flash Delivery uniform held a document envelope and spoke up. "There's a document for her here."

Taking advantage of everyone's moment of stunned silence, I used all my strength to shove away the people restraining me.

I ran to the courier and tore open the envelope.

There was a property deed inside.

I held it high above my head and shouted sharply, "Take a look, everyone! I'm the landlord!"