Another Woman Acting as the Lady of My House

chapter 1

When I, Amber Lynch, returned from a business trip and just stepped into my home, I found the water was out. After contacting the property management, the repair personnel quickly came to check.

But as soon as he walked in, he looked at me with a puzzled expression. "The owner's group sent a notice yesterday saying there would be a water outage today, and you even replied. Don't you remember?"

My heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable unease quietly arose.

Because we found it troublesome, my husband Leon Burton and I never joined the owner's group.

After the repair personnel left, I immediately joined the owner's group, opened the chat history, and found a woman claiming to be the owner of unit 1206 constantly speaking in the group.

But 1206 is my home, how could she possibly be the owner of 1206?

I immediately called Leon. He sounded relaxed. "It's probably just a mistake. With so many buildings in the neighborhood, mixing up unit numbers is normal. Want me to remind her to correct it?"

I smiled slightly and told him not to bother, it wasnt a big deal. After hanging up, I immediately used another phone number to send a friend request to that 1206 owner.

It's only 8 p.m., and shortly after I sent the request, the other party accepted it.

She sent a message: [Who are you? Do you need something from me?]

My fingers quickly tapped the screen, sending a message: [Hi, Im your downstairs neighbor. Theres been noise from your place, like someone walking around. Could it be a break-in?]

The other party quickly replied: [Ill go check right away.]

I put away my phone, walked to the door, entered the password skillfully, and pushed the door open.

This apartment is near the airport. Leon and I dont stay here often; its just a temporary stopover when were in a rush during business trips.

At this moment, Leon is in the downtown penthouse, and this place should be empty.

A few minutes later, the crisp sound of high heels echoed in the hallway. I quietly looked over and saw a young woman standing at the door, naturally entering the password and pushing the door open.

Now Im finally sure she didnt make a mistake with the note; my guess was right.

The phone vibrated, and her message came: [Did you mishear? The waters out today, theres no one at our place, and the sound didnt come from our house.]

I replied perfunctorily with a couple of sentences, said nothing more, and walked out through the fire escape, re-entering my home.

"Who are you? Why are you in my house?" I spoke first before the woman could react.

Her face instantly turned red, her lips trembling slightly. "You must be Leon's wife, right? I'm Ariana Roberts, his hometown friend."

"He said this house is vacant for a long time and was worried about thieves breaking in. Since I work nearby, he asked me to drop by occasionally to check and do some cleaning."

I don't stay in this house often, but I specifically hired a cleaning service to come regularly. There's no need to trouble anyone else.

However, I didnt expose her. Instead, I patted her shoulder, smiled, and said, Thank you so much. Its getting late today, so you should head back. I need to rest now.

Ariana nodded and dashed out quickly, as if something was really chasing her.