Chapter 2

2: 2

2

"Ms. Lawrence, don't call the police." Asher reached out to stop me.

I turned away. The call was already going through.

He kept at it in my ear.

"That ten-star civilized resident award is a badge for this whole complex. Property values here are a good bit higher because of it."

"You put an incident on record with the police, it hurts next year's selection, and that hurts everyone's interests.

"Yours included, doesn't it?"

The second they heard property values, the people around me turned too.

"You want to make a scene, don't drag the rest of us into it."

"Selfish witch!"

The line connected.

"I've already called! Who's right and who's wrong will be sorted out on its own."

A few minutes later the officers from the station arrived.

Hope Chavez was still wailing to the heavens, calling me heartless.

The officer said nothing and logged straight into the security-cam account.

After a while, he looked up at me.

"This is a civil dispute. Nothing illegal here."

"You hear that! Not illegal!"

Hope perked right up and scrambled to her feet.

"However, this behavior of throwing trash and letting a dog urinate at a neighbor's door."

The officer cleared his throat, a warning in his voice.

"More than three times, that's disorderly harassment and public defamation!"

"What?!" Just like that, all the bluster drained out of Hope.

"You'll compensate for the damage and apologize publicly." The officer's face was stern.

"Just wash the doormat and give it back to me clean," I said.

"But the important thing is that today she stood here with all these people and turned the truth on its head.

"She apologizes to me in front of every single one of them!"

I looked Hope dead in the eye, and I wasn't backing down.

"Refuse mediation and you come down to the station with us for administrative penalty proceedings."

Seeing Hope hesitate, the officer laid out the second option.

She looked mutinous, but she didn't want to get fined either.

"I'm. Sorry." The three words ground out from between her teeth.

"And next time?" the officer pressed.

"I promise… there won't be a next time…"

Hope rolled her eyes.

"All right, that settles it. Wash the woman's mat.

"Everybody clear out!"

The officer switched off his body cam and declared the matter closed.

The crowd drifted off, sulky.

The moment Hope saw the officer gone, she slammed her door shut.

I turned and went back inside, hoping she really meant there'd be no next time.

The next morning I left for work on schedule.

The doormat at my door still hadn't come back.

The second I walked into the company tower, people around me caught sight of me and started pointing.

I made out a snatch of it.

"Look at her, doesn't she look like the woman in that video?"

What woman?

"Director Lawrence is here! Morning, Director Lawrence!"

The moment I stepped onto our office floor, the girl at the front desk called out to me, loud.

The sliding door pulled open, and inside a knot of employees were clustered around one computer.

So absorbed they hadn't noticed me at all.

"You guys really think this is…"

"I think it's her! So much like her!"

"Never would've guessed she was that kind of person…"

I stood behind them and leaned in for a look.

A headline glaring across the screen.

《Heartbreaking! Elderly Woman Nearly Passes Out After Cruel Neighbor's Rage!》

My face wasn't even blurred in the video.

There I was, shoving Hope over, snarling like a monster.

The AI tells were obvious.

The comment stream was nothing but abuse.

"My heart breaks for that grandma!"

"Expose her!"

"Boycott bad neighbors!"

…

A video some old woman put together, and it spread this fast.

"Lucas Hull! Where is he! Get over here!" I was livid.

The employees in front of me flinched.

The screen went black in an instant.

"Director Lawrence…"

"This video's been topping our site all morning.

"We were just curious…"

"No need to explain. Back to work, all of you!" I waved them off.

Lucas came over to me, nerves showing.

I pointed at the computer.

"Why is a video like this on our site?

"Nobody vets whether it's real or fake?!

"Take it down now! Look into it! Who approved putting it up!

"Send the video for forensic authentication. Get all the evidence together.

"Don't tip anyone off."

Finished giving the orders, I turned to head down to the garage for my car, ready to go back and have it out with Hope Chavez.

But I'd barely reached the garage.

Splat! A sticky layer smeared across my eyes.

Everything went to a blur, my footing gave out, and I dropped down onto the floor.

A sharp, rotten stench drove straight up my nose.

I was about to blow up.

My phone rang. It was Lucas.

"Director, I've got it all figured out."