After three years of renting, the landlord kept raising the rent, so I decided not to renew the lease.

I hired cleaners to thoroughly clean the entire place, inside and out. There was not a single scratch on the furniture or appliances.

I figured the landlord would not return the deposit easily, but I never imagined she would come out swinging with such outrageous demands.

“This dining table cost me 25,000 dollars! You got it dirty, and we can’t clean it. You owe me 25,000!

“How did this living room lamp get so dusty? Don’t you know how to clean as a girl? We’ll have to deduct 1,500 from your deposit!

“There are hooks on the wall. You damaged my walls! 2,000 for that!

“This mattress... Hmph. You live-streamers probably brought home who knows how many men. This one’s ruined anyway. There goes 15,000!

“Why are there strands of hair in the bathroom? How am I supposed to rent this out to the next tenant? Five hundred for cleaning fees!”

She tapped away at her calculator, then thrust it in my face. “You’ve lived here for three years. I’ll give you a friend’s discount. I won’t charge extra for the other damages. Pay me 50,000 dollars, and we’ll call it even!

“Otherwise, I’ll expose you online and make you lose followers!”

I glanced at the live stream that had 50,000 viewers at the time. When I looked up again, my face was only a mask of smiles.

“Ms. Lane, let me think about it. I’ll give you an answer in two days.”

“Two days?”

Naomi Lane, the landlord, drawled as her nails clacked against the phone while she calculated another number.

“Okay. Then I’ll give you two days to think about it. But keep in mind, this is the peak rental season. If you delay me from renting the place out, you’ll have to cover that loss too.

“Since we’ve known each other for three years, I’ll give you a discount. I’ll charge you 2,500.

“After two days, when you’re done thinking about it, just transfer the money to me. Otherwise, don’t blame me for exposing you online.”

The smile on my face froze.

“Naomi, never mind all the other random fees you’re charging; the rent for your house is only 7,500 dollars a month, and you’re charging me an extra 2,500 dollars if I’m two days late?

“This isn’t how you should be charging me, right?”

Naomi snorted coldly as she smacked the table loudly.

“Random charges? My nice house has been so dirty after you lived in it for three years. How are these random charges?”

She was just yapping nonsense.

I found the photos left at the beginning of the rental.

“Naomi, it was obviously like this when you first rented the house to me. I have added a lot of things little by little in the past three years. It’s no exaggeration to say that I have renovated the place.

“I put thousands into upgrading this place, left everything to you, and even paid for professional cleaning. Don’t you slander me!”

Naomi sneered and smacked my phone away.

“I didn’t ask you to spend money to remodel it. Did I agree to it?

“Who knows if the next tenant even likes your style? If you’re so reluctant to part with the place, you can renew the lease!

“If you don’t want to renew the lease, get the house back to its original state!”

I got it. Her outrageous demands were not just to annoy me, but also to pressure me into renewing the lease.

After living there for three years, I had to get the house back to how it was. I had never seen such an unreasonable person.

Her house had been a simple shack in the beginning.

If not for the decent natural light, the spacious layout, and her playing the sympathy card as she claimed her family was desperate for cash and needed to rent it out urgently, I would not have chosen this place.

Plus, when I was renovating the rental, she kept calling me “Sasha dear” in an overly sweet tone, saying how lucky she was that I was putting in the effort to fix the place up.

I thought I had found a good landlord and treated her with courtesy.

For three years, I never once paid rent late. Even during the toughest times, I borrowed money to make the payments on time.

Not to mention, I had brought her gifts during the holidays. Sometimes, when brands sent me promotional items, I would share some with her.

I did not consider us close friends, but at least we were cordial.

But as the three-year lease neared its end, Naomi dropped all pretenses.

First, she raised the rent three months in a row, from 5,000 to 7,500 dollars a month.

Then, when we discussed renewing the lease for the final month, she made an outrageous demand, claiming the housing market was tight and pushing the rent up to 10,000 dollars per month.

I checked similar units nearby. Even the most lavishly decorated ones barely exceeded 5,000 dollars. Naomi clearly thought I was a sucker with deep pockets and assumed I would not walk away after investing so much into the house.

But I was not about to be taken for a ride. In response, she started finding ways to squeeze more money out of me.

Did she really think I was a pushover just because I was fresh out of college?

Well, guess what? I was a streamer, and my channel specialized in consumer rights advocacy and education!

She had bitten off more than she could chew.

I glanced at the livestream. The concurrent views had already hit over 100,000.

I suppressed my anger and forced myself to speak calmly. “Alright, Naomi. Name your price. I’ll give you my answer in two days.”

Naomi snorted coldly, picked up her bag from the sofa, and shot me another disdainful look.

“You should’ve been this cooperative earlier. Now you’ve ruined my mood. I’ve changed my mind. In two days, you’ll pay me 55,000!

“After all, you’ve got some public exposure. You must have plenty of followers, right? Don’t ruin your career over a measly sum.”

She looked smug, certain I had no choice but to swallow the silent humiliation.

I gritted my back teeth and agreed with a forced smile.

After she vanished from sight, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When I opened the livestream, the comments were already exploding.

[Goodness, I’ve never seen such a disgusting landlord. This is extortion, right?]

[This feels scammy. Even the pickiest form of damage assessment doesn’t calculate damage like that. Her beat-up table isn’t worth 25,000 dollars!]

[Exactly! Sasha’s renovation videos are still online. She spent at least thousands on this place. This landlord is clearly doing this on purpose!]

[And her words were disgusting. She actually spread degrading rumors about Sasha!]

[Did she just bite off more than she can chew? Our Sasha has taken down unscrupulous businesses before. Taking down a shady landlord should be a piece of cake, right?]

Many comments were cheering me on. As I read these heartwarming words, the anger in my heart subsided considerably. I looked into the camera and genuinely smiled.

“Everyone, don’t worry. I know how to deal with people like her.

“But as you all saw, she tried to twist facts around. If she posts any nonsense, everyone in the livestream can be my witness.”

The comments flooded with words of agreement. I added a few more reminders, asking them not to share any clips or videos for now.

With Naomi being so confident, I naturally had to give her a little “surprise.”

I could get a lot of things done in two days.

First, I moved my belongings to the new place.

Naomi’s relentless rent hikes had finally pushed me to buy a home.

A well-furnished second-hand apartment in the neighboring complex caught my eye. My savings on hand were enough to cover the full purchase price, so I secured it on the spot after viewing.

Renewing the lease? Not a chance!

She wanted to try and squeeze more money out of me? There was no way!

Still, seeing the place I had meticulously planned over countless sleepless nights, I could not help but feel a pang of sadness.

I truly believed I would stay here for a long time.

From the coffee mug on the shelf to the cream-colored new flooring, every detail was arranged exactly to my taste.

This room had been with me from the days when my social media following started from tens of thousands and eventually grew to millions. Whenever I introduced it to friends and fans, I called it “my home.”

In this unfamiliar city, it was once my only sense of belonging. I even considered using my savings to buy it outright.

Little did I know that, in the end, fate would not allow us to be together.

After moving all my belongings, I called a few handymen over.

I had been smart enough to stash the worn-out wooden floorboards and rusty appliances from back then in a rented storage unit.

She said others might not like my renovations? Fine. I would tear out my modern cream aesthetic decor and restore it to its original state!

In just one afternoon, my flooring was laid, and I flipped the old stuff on second-hand sites. I even saved enough for a nice steak meal.

Anyway, I was not about to leave my belongings for someone like Naomi.

The big TV, the smart toilet, and all the cabinets I had bought myself. I had them all dismantled.

I restored the place to its original state based on photos, and even the hook holes were filled back with putty. The two days were soon up.

Naomi showed up again, banging on the door like a madwoman.

I opened it just a few seconds late. Her tone was already unbearably impatient.

“Sasha, are you deaf? Open the door now!”

When I opened the door, I was nearly blinded by her outfit.

Fur coat, designer handbag, and a chunky gold necklace around her neck. The textbook definition of a nouveau riche look.

Come to think of it, she had earned over 5,000 dollars a month in rent alone without lifting a finger. Over three years, she had made nearly 200,000 dollars off me.

But human nature was always greedy.

After taking my 200,000, she was not satisfied at all. Before even stepping inside, she reached out for more money.

“The two days are up. How do you plan to pay me? Cash or transfer to my card?”

Her words were direct, and she deliberately shifted her stance to reveal a heavily tattooed man with marked sleeves following behind her.

My heart dropped.

Alright then, was she planning to start politely and then resort to threats if the negotiation failed?

But I still mustered up the courage to speak up despite the menacing glare from the tattooed man. “Ms. Lane, I’m not planning on giving you this money.”

Lane froze for a second. Just as she was about to snap, she suddenly thought of something, and her face lit up with surprise.

“You’re renewing the lease, right? No offense, Sasha, but you’ve been living here just fine. Why move at all?

“Sure, the rent went up a bit, but you make decent money with your content, right? For a girl living alone, staying in a familiar place is safe and reassuring. It’s perfect!

“This time, let’s sign a five-year lease. Don’t worry. The rent stays at 10,000. I promise not to raise it again for five years.”

Compared to her first arrogant and domineering attitude, Naomi now seemed downright pleasant.

That was easy for her to say!

5,000 to 10,000? That was double the rent! 120,000 a year, 600,000 over five years. Adding on the 200,000 I paid over the past three years, it was even enough to buy a small apartment.

She really dared to ask for the moon!

I thought sarcastically but kept my smile intact.

“Ms. Lane, why don’t you come inside and take a look first?”

When she noticed I had not mentioned renewing the lease, Naomi’s expression froze for a moment.

Stepping inside, she saw the completely different decor from just days ago and sucked in a sharp breath. Her face darkened like a storm cloud.

“Sasha, what do you mean by this?”