But I'm the Landlord

As soon as I graduated from university, I suggested to my three roommates that we should rent a place together. The place I found was near our workplace, and it was cheap as well. It was much better than the house they used to rent in the suburbs. During the first three months of renting the place together, everything seemed fine. One day, I got off work early and heard them talking in the living room. "I did some research online. The rent of the houses in this area is at least 2 grand a month. But ours is only 800 dollars a month. How about we rent the master bedroom out for 800 dollars? That way, we won't have to pay any rent." "Alright, I'm in! Why does Jessica always get to sleep in the master bedroom? Even if she covered all the bills of this house, how much would that cost anyway?" "I've had it with her arrogant attitude. Thinking of her being homeless makes me want to laugh!" I laughed inwardly. 'You want to see me homeless? But I'm the landlord!' Chapter 1 The voices from the other side of the door continued. "Anyway, the contract for this quarter is expiring in three days. We don't need to continue the lease with her." "Serves her right. That's what she gets for bossing us around all the time. She makes it seem as if she owns the place." "And she even said it was her relative's apartment, that it was rented to us cheaply, so we should be grateful. Who the hell would believe that?" "I already contacted the landlord. He said he'd still rent it to us next quarter at the same price." The three of them quickly made their decision. But they seemed to have forgotten something. When we had just graduated from university, they had no money to rent a place close to our workplace, so they had crammed themselves into a remote suburb. Every morning, they had to get up at four o'clock, transferring between buses and the subway, with a three-hour commute. I couldn't bear to watch them suffer anymore, so I lied and said one of my relatives had a cheap apartment and invited them to move in and share the rent with me. In truth, this apartment had been a graduation gift from my parents. It was right next to where we worked, only a five-minute walk away, in a prime location, with four bedrooms and two living rooms, and there was never any worry about renting it out. My parents had taught me from a young age not to flaunt wealth, so I hadn't revealed that I was the landlord. I had only charged each of them 200 dollars in rent, with utilities and property fees all included. Now, all my goodwill had been treated like shit. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and went in. The laughter inside the room stopped abruptly, and the air froze in an instant. Sharon Lister was the first to react, forcing a smile onto her face. "Jessica, you got off work so early today. Have you eaten yet? We've made pizza. Come have some with us." As she spoke, she pulled me to sit down at the dining table. She cleared her throat and said, "Jessica, the landlord called and asked whether we were going to renew the lease." I lowered my head and ate the pizza without saying a word. She secretly watched my expression and continued, "We've decided not to renew the contract." My hand paused, and I looked up, confusion showing on my face. "We found a cheaper place," she said, her eyes flickering. "Didn't you ask us to share the apartment before because the rent was too much for you to handle alone? Now that we're not renting this place anymore, you should be moving out too, right?" My voice remained calm. "It's fine. If you decide not to continue renting this place, I can rent the whole place myself. I just finished a project recently and should be getting a pretty good bonus." Sharon's expression changed slightly. "Don't you think it's a little bit of a waste for you to rent such a big place alone? Listen to me, you should rent a smaller studio. You could save quite a bit of money." If I hadn't heard their scheming with my own ears, I might really have believed she was saying that for my own good. "I'm used to living here, and I can't be bothered to move." "Jessica!" Helen Jones, who hadn't said a word until now, finally snapped. She slammed her cutlery down hard on the table. "We wanted to leave you some dignity, but I didn't expect you to be so stubborn! I'll make things clear then. We don't want to live with you anymore, and we hope you'll take the initiative to move out. We don't want to fall out with you!" I looked at her coldly. "I found this apartment, and I was the one who signed the contract. On what grounds do you get to say you don't want to rent this place anymore and expect me to move out?" Wendy Shaw, who had been silent all along, finally said, "Jessica, living with you really makes us uncomfortable. If this goes on, we might not even be able to be friends anymore." Wendy was my best friend. She was from a poor family. Her mother had run away after giving birth to her, and her father was addicted to gambling and would beat her whenever he got drunk. She had fought desperately to get into university, but her father had wanted to sell her to an old bachelor in exchange for some money. I helped her escape that house overnight and helped her apply for student loans. During university, I shared half of my living expenses with her. Only then was she able to finish her university course and graduate. After we graduated, I didn't want to see her squeezing onto buses every day, so I suggested that we rent a place together. I only invited Sharon and Helen because I didn't want her to feel bad. Wendy bit her lip and looked at me timidly. "You always used to think of me first. Please, can you just agree to move out? We'll still be good friends." I looked at her indifferently, then suddenly smiled. "Alright, I'll move out." Their eyes lit up immediately. They kept saying that even if I moved out, we would still be good friends in the future. I didn't want to listen to them anymore and turned around to go back to my room. After closing the door, I took out my phone and called Mr. Lawson, who was managing my apartment. "Increase the rent to 2,400 dollars." Chapter 2 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!" Chapter 3 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?" Chapter 4 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!"