"You're not going anywhere! You just knocked me to the ground, and now I can't move. You need to take responsibility!"

What the hell? I never even touched her!

"Ma'am, please watch what you're saying. I never even touched you. The locksmith can be my witness!"

I cast a pleading look at the locksmith, but to my surprise, he quietly looked away, too afraid to meet my gaze.

A gleam of triumph flashed in the old woman's eyes as she held on tight to my calf, her sharp nails digging into my skin.

"See? No decent man would vouch for you. You should just pay up!"

Her gaze locked onto the gold necklace around my neck, greed shining in her eyes. Her intentions were crystal clear.

Realizing no one was going to help me, I took a quiet breath to steady myself and let out a cold scoff. "What's your name, then? How exactly do you expect me to make it up to you?"

The old lady's eyes lit up. She immediately pointed at my gold necklace and said, "My name is Jane Bernard. I can't even stand up, and a hospital visit will cost thousands of dollars. I'm feeling generous, so just give me your gold necklace, and we'll call it even."

I nodded. "Sure, but before I compensate you, can you answer two questions?"

Without thinking, Jane nodded greedily. "What do you want to know?"

I pointed at the black door and asked cheerfully, "Is this your apartment?"

"Of course it's my apartment!" she replied instantly.

I continued, "Oh, is that so? How did the apartment I bought become yours?"

Jane froze, and she stuttered, "W-What are you talking about?"

"May I know why you are living in my apartment?"

A flicker of guilt crossed her eyes as she stiffened her neck and shot back, "What do you mean, your apartment? I've been living here for years. What proof do you have that it's yours?"

"I have proof, of course!"

I pulled out the deed from my bag slowly and showed it to her. The name written on it was clearly mine, Kiera Cowell!

The neighbors broke into a loud discussion behind us.

"Is this really not Jane's apartment?"

"What? So this isn't Jane's apartment?"

"I knew it. Jane hoards junk all over her place. There's no way she could afford a place in this upscale neighborhood!"

Hearing the whispers around us, Jane flew into a fit of rage and lunged at me, trying to snatch the deed.

I immediately raised my hand, holding the deed out of reach with a faint smile. "I thought you couldn't stand up? Is this a last burst of strength?"

Jane belatedly realized she had already stood up. She had no choice but to give me a hard shove and demanded angrily, "I've been living here for three years, so this is my apartment! Where did you even come from?"

I almost laughed in frustration. "So by your logic, no one needs to buy a house. Just move into someone else's place for three years, and it magically becomes yours?"

"I live here, so it's mine!"

As we were arguing, the building's security guard, Eric Goff, finally made his appearance.

Jane's eyes lit up as she quickly started a new round of complaining.

"Oh, Eric, you're finally here. This young lady tried to break into my apartment and even claimed it's hers! You should help me!"

Eric moved in front of her, putting himself between us, and glared at me. "How did you even get in here? Do you have any idea where you are? Coming here to cause trouble for the homeowner, huh?"

I've seen unreasonable people before, but never one this ridiculous.

I brandished the deed and said firmly, "Take a look at this. I'm the real owner of the apartment!"

The moment Eric saw the deed, his expression froze. When he noticed the other neighbors giving us weird gazes, he immediately tried to snatch it from me.

After what Jane had just pulled, there was no way I was handing the deed over to him. I quickly stepped back.

"What do you want? I can hold it up for you to see!"

Eric snapped in frustration, "Who knows if that deed of yours is even real? You think you can wave a fake one around and claim the place? Get out of here, now!"

He moved as if to shove me aside, while Jane hurriedly took out her key and unlocked the front door.

The moment it opened, an indescribable stench rushed out, so foul it nearly made me throw up my last meal.

Through the half-open door, all I could see were towering piles of trash. A rat suddenly screeched and darted out through the gap!

"Ah!" I jumped in shock.

By the time I recovered, Jane had already slipped inside and slammed the door shut.

Just as I was about to rush forward and knock on the door, Eric planted himself in front of me and waved his baton. "You won't leave? Do you want me to throw you out?"

Maybe feeling a bit guilty for pretending not to notice earlier, the locksmith warned me, "Don't bother knocking. That old lady always causes trouble and loves taking advantage of others. She's notorious in this area. We all avoid getting involved with her, as you can't reason with her."

With that, he picked up his toolkit and hurried away.

Giving the burly Eric one last glance, I had no choice but to swallow my frustration and leave.

…

As soon as I left the residential complex, I rushed straight to the police station. I had no idea Jane was infamous at the police station, too.

The officer who received me looked completely exasperated. "This is a tricky one. We can't just force her out of the apartment. She's elderly and has a fiery temper."

The officer's words were careful, but I could already tell what he really meant.

Jane obviously liked to lean on her age to cause trouble, and the police couldn't do anything about it.

The officer then offered a friendly suggestion, "We can only help with a mediation at most. Since this is a civil dispute, you could file a lawsuit and get the court to evict her."

Get the court to evict her? How long would that even take?

Just thinking about the chaos inside the apartment made me feel sick. Jane had turned it into a dumping site!

I took a deep breath, then something occurred to me. I turned to the police officer. "Sir, it isn't illegal for me to enter my own apartment and clear out the trash, right?"

The officer cleared his throat. "If you didn't sign any tenancy agreement, then it's legal. Just make sure no one gets hurt."

After getting a clear answer, I instantly felt refreshed and strode out of the police station.

The moment I stepped outside, I spotted Jane sticking her head into a trash can by the road. Another person was standing beside her, holding a large plastic bag.

I took a closer look and realized it was the security guard, Eric.

I came to a stop and quickly moved closer, then hid behind an advertising board outside the store next door. Their conversation drifted over.

"Eric, that woman has come looking for us. She won't get the apartment back, will she?"

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll make sure she won't even get into the neighborhood next time!"

Well, well. No wonder Eric had been acting strange. He was in cahoots with her, stealing what he was supposed to guard!

Their conversation continued.

"She has the deed. What if she calls the cops?"

Eric patted his chest and declared smugly, "No worries. Next time, I'll find a chance to snatch the deed and tear it up. Once that woman has no proof, I'll get Uncle Frank to write us a new one since he's the property manager."

The corners of my mouth twitched. These idiots were driving me up the wall! They couldn't seriously believe that ripping up the deed would fix everything, could they?

I glanced at the screen showing "Recording Ended" and let out a cold snort.

I had been wondering how two strangers dared to move into my apartment, but now it looked like the property management was involved, too. Just wait. I'd make sure not a single one of them got away!

…

Early the next morning, I headed into the residential complex with a group of people, while Jane was out picking trash.

Eric tried to stop us, but the moment he saw the burly men behind me, he instantly backed down and trailed after us meekly.

When we reached the unit, I told them to pry the door open.

The moment it swung open, that same foul stench from yesterday rushed out. The piles of garbage inside were so high that everyone there stood frozen in shock.

Cans, cardboard, foam boxes, leftover unwashed food containers…

What I saw yesterday was just the tip of the iceberg!

"Ugh…" I gagged and pinched my nose. "Get everything out!"

After a pause, I added deliberately, "Be careful. Stack them neatly in the garbage area!"

I hired those guys with a hefty sum. Even though the mountain of trash was disgusting and smelled foul, they immediately put on their gloves and got to work.

Meanwhile, Eric quietly called Jane behind me, asking her to come back. I pretended not to notice.

When Jane stepped out of the elevator with her garbage bag, her precious trash had been cleared away by those whom I hired.

"Stop! You thieves! Put everything down!"

Jane, who had been wailing and crying like a frail old lady yesterday, leaped up high and screamed as she lunged at the burly men moving her precious trash.

Before she could get anywhere, one of the burly men grabbed her by the back of her collar and lifted her clean off the ground. He carried her a few steps and set her down in the corner.

Jane, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, quickly went silent when she saw the burly man's biceps.

Then she caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye and immediately screamed, "You again, you little bitch! You'll pay for this!"

Her sharp nails were right in front of me when the burly man grabbed her by the back of her collar again and hauled her aside once again.