Chapter 4The Nine Dollar Tenant

Things escalated, just as I expected.

A few days later, I found my car keyed in the garage. A long, deep gash ran from the hood to the trunk, cutting straight through the paint.

The security camera in that section was, of course, broken. “Aging wiring,” the building management told me. “It’s being repaired.”

I didn’t need a camera to know who did it.

Next, my deliveries and takeout orders started to “disappear.” I’d find them overturned and spilled on the floor of the mailroom, or tossed directly into the trash.

I stopped ordering in and started cooking for myself.

Then came the late-night phone calls. Blocked numbers. When I’d answer, there was only the hiss of static. I’d hang up, and they’d call right back. Over and over, until dawn.

I blocked all unknown callers.

She was determined to wear me down.

At work, she became even more brazen. She somehow managed to get assigned to one of my project teams and used her limited access to create chaos. I’d ask her to schedule a meeting with a client, and she’d deliberately give them the wrong time, causing them to show up to an empty conference room.

The client was furious and complained directly to Mark.

Mark, in turn, chewed me out again.

When I walked out of his office, Jenna was waiting for me.

“How does it feel, Audrey?” she asked, clutching a stack of files to her chest, a smug smile on her face. “I told you this wasn’t over. As long as you refuse to let me in, I will make your life a living hell.”

I just looked at her, my own feelings a complete blank.

“Is that so?”

I walked away.

She watched me go, her expression shifting from simple hatred to something more cunning.

I’d heard that my building had recently switched management companies due to some operational issues, and there was a lot of new staff. She must have heard something too, and figured that I was just another tenant. She thought that by getting a job with the new company, she could control me from the inside.

She yelled after me, “Don’t look so smug! I found a new job! At the property management company for your precious building!”

I paused.

She caught up to me, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I pulled some strings to get in. From now on, I’m the one who manages your floor. Your water, your electricity, your gas—it’s all under my control. I can have it shut off whenever I want.”

The look on her face was a terrifying mix of madness and glee. “Audrey, our little game is just getting started.”

She thought she held the trump card. She thought she finally had me by the throat.

She thought she could finally crush me.

Looking at her distorted, triumphant face, I felt a sudden urge to laugh.

So this was it. This was the brilliant plan she’d spent all this time and energy on. To get inside my world, just so she could abuse her petty authority to make my life miserable.

When I got home, I sent a text to Ethan.

“Is there a new hire starting at the management office tomorrow?”

His call came a second later.

“Ms. Ross, you found out? It was my call, I apologize. I thought—”

“It’s not your fault,” I cut him off. “Hire her. And then, do exactly as I say.”