One day, I received a call from the property management.
They politely advised me that even if it was a wedding, there was no need to make such a ruckus all night long, disturbing the neighbors.
They said they were caught in the middle, and it was hard for them to deal with it.
I replied, "You must be mistaken. I don't even have a boyfriend, so how could I be getting married?"
Since I refused to admit it, the property management sent me a video from the community's security cameras.
In the video, the hallway was decorated with lights and flowers, and guests were coming and going.
A large group of people were escorting the bride into the new home.
And the groom was none other than my ex-boyfriend, who I had broken up with two and a half years ago!
"Miss Walker, I know weddings are happy occasions, but there's no need to invite so many relatives and friends to play poker and sing all night!
"The noise has been going on for days, and the other residents have complained. They say you were still singing in the living room at half past two in the morning, keeping the whole building awake.
"Other people's weddings usually stop by midnight, and then everyone goes home to rest. Why is it that your family has been making noise for so many days?
" Even though you bought the house, this is a shared space, and making too much noise at night can easily anger the neighbors. How will you maintain good relations with the neighbors in the future?
"We, the property management, are caught in the middle and it's difficult for us. We hope you can be a little more considerate. It's fine to play poker during the day, but please don't keep making noise late at night!"
Today was a day off, and I had planned to sleep in until noon.
But I was woken up early by a phone call from an unfamiliar number.
Listening to the scolding on the other end, I was utterly confused. "What—who are you? You've got the wrong number!"
The person on the other end then introduced herself, "Miss Laura Walker, you are the owner of Apartment No. 801 in Building 6 of Lily Gardens in Zeliafield, right?
" I'm from the property management here. When you handled the property transfer a few years ago, I added you on WhatsApp and invited you to join the property management group, but you said you didn't live there often, so you didn't join.
"Now that you're getting married, it's a happy occasion, but you should still pay attention to the public impact. I'm not criticizing you, just reminding you."
Her words only made my head spin even more.
'Who is getting married? Me?'
I collected my thoughts and remembered that three years ago, I had bought an apartment in Lily Gardens.
At the time, I had planned to use it as a wedding house.
But after the breakup, I never went back.
For the past two years, I had been living at my parents' house, and I had been considering whether to sell the apartment.
However, due to the sharp decline in property prices, selling would have meant a significant loss, so I dropped the idea.
Now, someone was telling me that someone was getting married in my apartment?
"You must be mistaken. I don't even have a boyfriend, how could I be getting married?"
There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line, as if she was suppressing her anger.
She probably thought I was stubbornly denying the truth.
"Alright, Miss Walker, I won't argue with you anymore. I'll send you the security footage from the wedding procession, as well as the hallway and elevator footage. I hope you can handle this properly and avoid further complaints from the other residents."
With that, she hung up, and I received a series of messages on my phone.
I opened the messages and saw the first video—at the entrance of the community, a red carpet was spread out, and several flower-decorated cars were coming in and out.
The second video was from the entrance of Building 6, where a crowd of guests was coming and going, making a lot of noise.
The groom was carrying the bride, who was covered by a veil, into the elevator.
The third video was from the 8th-floor elevator lobby.
The hallway had been decorated with colorful ribbons, and the groom was carrying the bride, with a large group of people following behind.
Because he was carrying the bride, the groom kept his head down as he walked, only raising it slightly when he exited the elevator.
With just one glance, I recognized him.
It was my ex-boyfriend who I broke up with two and a half years ago.
Derek Lowe, my ex-boyfriend.
To be precise, he was my ex-fiance, because by the time we broke up, we were already engaged.
He was from a rural family, with a couple of younger siblings, and his family wasn't well off.
A few years ago, when I was still young and naive, I felt like I was under some kind of spell and insisted on marrying him no matter what.
My parents saw how stubborn I was, and they were worried that I would end up suffering in the countryside with him. So, they took the initiative to buy me an apartment in the city, which was the Apartment No. 801 in Lily Gardens.
After buying the apartment, my parents hoped that Derek's family would contribute to the renovation, but he refused. He said, since his name wasn't on the deed, why should he pay for the renovation?
So, I took all my savings from the past two years since graduation and used it to renovate the new house.
After the engagement, Derek suddenly said that his name had to be added to the deed, or the wedding would be called off.
Luckily, my parents were farsighted. The deed was in their names when the house was purchased, so I had no way of changing it on my own.
Derek told me to persuade my parents to change the deed to both our names. Even with my love-struck mind I finally came back to my senses.
"At the time, you refused to contribute to the renovation, and now you want your name on the deed!"
"Laura, why are you so unreasonable? Don't we need money for the wedding feast? Don't the wedding gift of 2,000 dollars and all the jewelry cost money?" said Derek. "You know my parents are farmers. How much money do they make in a year? The renovation costs started at over 20 thousand. Isn't that a bit too much?"
"But you didn't make your family contribute either, and the renovation costs were also paid by me and my parents." I was starting to get annoyed as well. "My parents didn't get their money from out of nowhere. They work hard for it. You didn't contribute a penny, and you still want to claim ownership of the house?"
"Laura, how can you be so materialistic? We're about to get married, and you're still so petty!" Derek threw the blame back on me. "If you really loved me, the deed should have my name alone!"
"Don't you have any shame? It's because you can't afford a house that my parents had to take out their retirement savings to buy us one!" For the first time, I realized how shameless this man was. "If you were capable, you should have bought your own house! My dad said we would both contribute to the down payment and pay the mortgage together, but you refused, saying the pressure was too much! Now that the house is bought, you want to take it for free!"
"Stop causing trouble! The reason I want my name on the deed is because your parents have always been wary of me. I don't feel like I'm treated as part of the family, and that's why I made this request!" Derek looked angry, as if I had exposed his true motives. "Laura, you're so stubborn! You're the only daughter in your family. What if something happens to your parents in the future? The house will all be ours. What's the difference between adding my name now and inheriting it later?"
My parents were in good health, and for him to say something like that made me so furious that I slapped him across the face.
"You're the one whose parents might die early! Derek, I now know what kind of person you really are! You're already scheming for my parents' property before we're even married!"
The result was a huge argument, and I immediately called off the engagement.
My parents were relieved and said I made the right decision. They even told me that even if I never got married, they could still support me.
After breaking up the engagement, Derek kept pestering me several times until I blocked all his contact methods, and only then did I get some peace.
I thought we would not have anything to do with each other ever again.
I didn't expect such a matter to come up.
I immediately got out of bed, washed up, put on my backpack, and ran out of the door.
In building 6 of Lily Gardens, I stood in front of the elevator doors.
It was truly a mess.
The whole corridor and the lift were filled with all kinds of garbage. It looked disgusting.
No wonder all the other property owners were complaining. If I were one of the neighbors, I would have exploded a long time ago.
There were a lot of flowers outside No. 801.
I walked over to check the door and realized that the old lock had been picked. A new lock had also been installed.
That was why they were able to get in without a key.
I reached out to knock on the door, but there was no response.
I took out a small hammer from my bag and rammed it on the door. The noise was deafening.
I had to hammer the door a dozen times before someone answered.
"What the hell? I thought there was an earthquake!" An elder lady in her 50s poked her head out of the door and glared at me. "Why are you banging on my door during this hour? Are you out of your mind?"
"How dare you? Who said this is your house?" I stepped forward, forced the door open, and walked inside.
The setting of the house didn't change at all. But there were pictures of Derek and his wife on the walls. Flowers were scattered everywhere, which signaled that they had just gotten married.
"Who the hell are you? Who said you could come into my house?" the elder lady shouted as she walked inside behind me.
"Shouldn't you be in a mental hospital?"
I ignored her and began checking each room.
There were poker tables on the balcony and in the guest room. There were cigarette butts everywhere as well.
A karaoke machine was installed in the living room and the screen was still switched on. It was obvious that they had been singing all night long.
My body began shaking due to the anger.
I had spent a huge amount of money to renovate the house. I hadn't even lived in it, but someone else used it to treat his relatives.
I charged into the master bedroom and lifted the quilt. What I didn't expect was that there was only a half-naked woman lying there.
The woman screamed and quickly used the quilt to cover herself.
"Who the hell are you? Why are you in my house?"
It seemed that the woman was still kept in the dark about who was the real owner of the house.
I took out my phone and recorded everything in the house. From the bedroom to the living and both women were included as well. I focused on the damaged parts of the house as well.
The elder lady chased me and wanted to snatch my phone. "What are you filming? This is my house. You have no right to..."
I couldn't stand her anymore and shouted, “Stop talking nonsense! This is my house, you fool!”
The elder lady looked at me as if she was looking at an idiot. Her voice was full of disdain. "Which mental hospital did you come out of? My son-in-law bought this house for me! Are you imagining things?"
The other woman had gotten dressed and charged out of the room as well. She pointed at me and cursed, "You were filming in my room. You've invaded my privacy! Don't you know that's against the law?"
'Two complete idiots!'
I suddenly realized that one would actually laugh when rendered speechless.
"You are the ones who have broken the law!"