Chapter 1The $5 Sharing Era

The day I came home from the hospital, barely a month after giving birth, a post caught my eye:

【Partied a little too hard during my pregnancy and caught HIV. Now my baby’s been born with it too. How do I pin this on someone else?】

Someone in the comments suggested she just infect her husband, then they’d be bound together for life.

But the original poster was clearly against it: 【No way!! I can’t do that to him!!】

A sarcastic user shot back: 【There aren’t many ways to transmit it, especially to a baby that small. You can’t exactly claim she got it from drinking someone else’s breast milk, can you?!】

Seeing the words [Liked by Poster] next to that comment, I felt a corner of my mouth twitch in disbelief.

The user was being sarcastic, but she seemed to have taken it as genuine advice.

Just then, a notification popped up from my building’s resident group chat:

「@Apt 1503, I heard you just had your baby… Congratulations…」

* * *

I stared at the profile picture and name on my phone, a little baffled. Apt 1003?

She must be the new tenant who moved in a little while ago.

But we’ve never even spoken. What was this all about?

I thought for a moment and typed back a polite reply: 「Thank you.」

After that, the group chat went silent.

Maybe she was just being nice. Still, how did she know I was home already?

Before I could dwell on it, my doorbell rang.

The security screen showed a woman holding a baby, glancing around nervously as she knocked.

「Apt 1503, it’s me, from 1003… Could you open the door…?」

I frowned at the tense look on her face, but I got up and opened the door anyway.

The moment it swung open, the woman’s face split into a brilliant, wide smile.

I froze for a second. That wasn’t the expression I’d just seen on the screen.

But she was a neighbor, so I pushed down my unease. 「Hi, can I help you?」

「I heard you just had a baby, so I brought you some milk. To help you get your strength back…」

As she spoke, her eyes drifted, not so subtly, down to my chest.

A wave of goosebumps broke out across my skin. The forum post I’d just read flashed through my mind.

I immediately refused. 「Thank you, but I can’t accept any gifts.」

The words had barely left my mouth when her expression stiffened.

Seeing the shift in her face made my own stomach clench.

But in the next instant, she was smiling again, a picture of earnest sincerity. 「It’s just a little something. My son is only three months old. I was hoping our kids could be playmates!」

Only then did I look down at the baby in her arms.

He was bundled up tightly, his face hidden. All I could see was a tiny sliver of his forehead.

So that was it. She was looking for a friend for her kid. That seemed reasonable enough.

We’re neighbors, after all. Maybe I was just overthinking things.

But the milk…

I kept my voice polite. 「They can definitely play together when we run into each other, but please, take the gift back.」

Her reaction was immediate. She seemed to panic.

She shoved the carton of milk down by my feet, spun around, and bolted for the stairwell.

I instinctively took a couple of steps after her, but then I remembered my daughter was sleeping alone inside and stopped.

Whatever. I’ll just have my husband return it when he gets home.

But before I could, she was back at my door.