Chapter 1

The day I got back from my business trip, my downstairs neighbor, Eve Perry, cornered me at the entrance to my building.

She jabbed a finger at me and screamed, "You shameless slut, what were you moaning about in the middle of the night! My kid's got his SATs coming up, and you've got him so worked up he can't even sleep! I'm giving you three days to move out, or I'll expose you!"

I was still jet-lagged, so I just said irritably, "It wasn't me!" and pushed past her into my apartment.

The woman was furious, and that very night she went live to accuse me of having a wild private life.

I didn't offer a single word in my defense. I just posted a rental agreement on social media.

Lessee: Samuel Fox.

Just as the netizens were all buzzing about who this Samuel Fox could be, Eve's face suddenly changed.

At that moment, another resident of the same complex posted a comment.

"Samuel Fox? Isn't that Aunt Eve's husband?"

Section 1

The second that comment scrolled by, the livestream, which had been buzzing with gossip, froze for a solid two seconds.

Then the comment section straight-up exploded.

"Whoa? This twist really caught me off guard..."

"So she was chasing gossip and it landed right in her own house?"

"So Aunt Eve's husband rented the host's place? Then..."

I poured myself a glass of warm water and couldn't help laughing as I watched the comments scroll by on the screen.

I'm a lawyer, and I fly all over the place year-round.

The apartment next door was one I bought for my parents.

The plan was for them to move in when they got older, so I could look after them more easily.

I was worried the old couple might be germaphobes, so I left it empty after the renovation was done.

Later, I don't know where Eve's husband heard about it.

Last month, while I was away on a business trip, he tracked me down with a case of red wine and begged me to rent the place to him.

He said his kid had the SATs coming up and he wanted to give the kid a quiet place to study.

That way it'd be easy to keep an eye on him, and it'd also give himself some private space to relieve the pressure.

I thought it over.

I figured my parents wouldn't be moving in anytime soon, and besides, he was a student's parent.

He probably wouldn't pull anything out of line, and since the rent he offered was two thousand over market, I agreed.

When we signed the contract, Samuel Fox kept stressing that I should keep it quiet, saying his wife was tight with money and I shouldn't tell her about the rental.

At the time I even teased him about it—a man his age renting an apartment and having to run it like some undercover operation.

Turns out I'd hit the nail on the head.

He really was running an undercover operation—except what he was hiding was a mistress.

I watched the livestream screen as Eve's face flushed red, then went white, over and over.

Her fingers were shaking so hard she could barely hold her phone, yet she still insisted stubbornly, "What are you talking about? My husband isn't that kind of man! This woman must have forged the contract on purpose to slander him! My husband would never do something like this! I'm going to sue her! Yes... I'm going to sue her for defamation!"

Hearing her say that, I couldn't hold back a laugh.

Sue me for defamation?

I think I'm the one who should be suing her.

I went ahead and spent ten dollars on a pinned comment: "Aunt Eve... I'm waiting for your summons! If you don't sue me, then I'll be suing you!"