In the dead of night, I came across a post online. “What should I do if I’ve fallen for my female tenant? I’ve never liked someone this much before.” Just when I thought it was going to be some sweet story about a secret crush, things started to feel strange as I kept reading. The photos in the post looked a lot like the hallway in my building. The description matched me perfectly, but I wasn’t the tenant – I was the landlord. People in the comments were giving him advice: “Women are just playing hard to get. Give her a forceful kiss, and she’ll give in eventually.” “Even the toughest girls can’t resist persistence. Plus, you’re so handsome, she definitely won’t be able to turn you down.” “That’s how I got my wife. Once you sleep with her, she’ll do whatever you want.” The more I read, the more unsettled I felt. This wasn’t romance – it was straight-up harassment. Just then, my tenant Lucas sent me a message. It was past midnight when I came across a post online. “What should I do if I’ve fallen for my female tenant? I’ve never liked someone this much before.” At first, I thought it was just another sweet story about a secret crush. But as I kept reading, things started to feel off. The photos in the post looked eerily similar to the hallway in my apartment building. The description of the girl matched me perfectly. But here’s the thing – I wasn’t a tenant. I was the landlord. People in the comments were giving him advice: “Women are just playing hard to get. Give her a forceful kiss, and she’ll give in eventually.” “Even the toughest girls can’t resist persistence. Plus, you’re so handsome, she definitely won’t be able to turn you down.” “That’s how I got my wife. Once you sleep with her, she’ll do whatever you want.” The more I read, the more unsettled I felt. This wasn’t romance – it was straight-up harassment. Just then, I got a message from my tenant, Lucas. “Hey, are you there? I think there might be a problem with the plumbing in my apartment. Could you come take a look?” If I hadn’t seen that post, I probably would have gone over without a second thought. As a long-time landlord, I was pretty handy with minor repairs like changing light bulbs, fixing pipes, or unclogging toilets. I always tried my best to help tenants with issues within my abilities. But now, I was hesitant to go. That post alone was enough to give me the creeps. Plus, I had just had the entire building thoroughly inspected a few days ago. All the plumbing and electrical systems were fine. How could there suddenly be a problem right after he moved in? I looked out at the pitch-black sky and felt a chill run down my spine. It was summer, but I felt an icy wind seeping under my clothes. I decided to assume the worst and be cautious. With that in mind, I typed out a response: “I’m not home today, and I’m not really sure how to fix plumbing issues. How about my boyfriend comes by to take a look tomorrow? What time works for you?” Lucas’s status immediately changed to “typing”. He seemed to be struggling with how to reply. I didn’t bother waiting and went to get ready for bed. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like there was a pair of eyes watching me from somewhere in the darkness. I didn’t even shower, just rushed to my bedroom. I wedged a door stopper under the door, finally feeling a bit safer. I had just picked up my phone when I saw Lucas’s reply. “How about 8 PM? That’s when I get off work.” I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it was just a coincidence after all. I mean, apartment hallways all look pretty similar. And there were probably tons of girls in the city with long black hair who were 5’6″ like me. Plus, the guy in the post said he liked his female tenant. I was the landlord, not a tenant. Most importantly, Lucas was pretty average-looking. You could easily forget his face in a crowd. He definitely wasn’t the handsome guy from the post. As they say, your face reflects your heart. Who would have thought such an attractive exterior could hide such an ugly soul? Just moments ago, I saw the poster like and reply “DM me” to one of the comments giving him advice. He clearly had bad intentions. Like many others, I saved the post, curious to see what he would do next. But now I had to figure out what to do about this fake boyfriend tomorrow. I wasn’t actually dating anyone. With that in mind, I called up my good friend Ryan and asked him to pretend to be my boyfriend tomorrow. It never hurts to be cautious. Pretending to have a boyfriend can help avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.
The next day, as I was getting ready to head out, I ran into Lucas face-to-face. I had rented him the apartment above mine. The elevator was working fine, so he must have been deliberately waiting there. When I opened my door, I saw him quickly step back. He had been standing right outside my apartment. My heart skipped a beat as I suddenly thought of all those news stories about women living alone who end up as victims. In that moment, I deeply regretted not having Ryan come over earlier. “Amelia? I thought you weren’t home?” Lucas said. Those words sent chills down my spine. If he thought I wasn’t home, why was he waiting outside my door? What was he planning to do? Trying to hide my fear, I replied coldly, “I got back early this morning. What are you doing outside my apartment? My boyfriend will be here any minute. If you don’t need anything, he can head to your place earlier.” Lucas scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “My cat got out. I thought I heard meowing coming from your apartment. Did it maybe sneak in there?” As he spoke, he tried to peek into my apartment, his eyes darting around. “I don’t have a cat. Go look somewhere else,” I said firmly. But he ignored me and took a step forward, wedging his foot in the doorway. “I’ll just take a quick look. I won’t bother you, I promise. Please let me in,” he insisted. I instinctively tried to close the door, but I was no match for a grown man, even a skinny one like him. “If you don’t back off, I’m calling the police!” I threatened. Just then, my savior arrived. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Ryan shouted. With one hand, he yanked Lucas away from the door and slammed him against the opposite wall. Lucas let out a yelp as he hit the wall and slumped to the floor. “Were you trying to break in? I’m calling the cops!” Ryan pulled out his phone, looking ready to actually call. Lucas scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain, and quickly apologized to Ryan. “No, no, please don’t! I was just trying to find my cat. She closed the door on my foot when I tried to look inside. I wasn’t breaking in, I swear. It’s all a misunderstanding!” “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to!” Ryan snapped. Lucas turned to me and bowed deeply, apologizing profusely. Now that I had calmed down a bit, I wanted to confirm one more thing. “This is my boyfriend,” I said, gesturing to Ryan. “Didn’t you say your plumbing was broken? Why don’t we go take a look now?” Lucas’s expression flickered for a moment before he replied, “Oh, the plumbing? I actually managed to fix it myself yesterday. Everything’s fine now. Sorry for the trouble.” With that, he turned and left, not mentioning the cat again. I was in no state to go to work. All I could think about was Lucas trying to force his way into my apartment. If Ryan hadn’t shown up, I didn’t want to imagine what might have happened. I sat on the couch as Ryan brought me a glass of water. “Are you okay?” he asked gently. “I’m fine. How did you get here so early?” Ryan stuffed a bagel in his mouth. “Your message last night freaked me out. I flew back first thing this morning and came straight here. Good thing I did.” “How long is your lease with this guy? Just terminate it. Having someone like that living nearby is like a ticking time bomb.” So I sent Lucas a message saying I was terminating his lease. He didn’t reply for a long time. But I saw that the post about the crush had been updated: “The female tenant has a boyfriend. He’s tall, dark, and handsome. But I think I still have a good chance. After all, girls these days prefer slim, fair-skinned guys like me.” “I went to her door today looking for my lost cat. We chatted a bit, and she even batted her eyelashes at me. Her boyfriend caught us and punched me.” “Now she says she doesn’t want to rent to me anymore. It must be her boyfriend’s idea. Can anyone tell me what I should do?” Now I was certain the poster was Lucas. Even if the earlier similarities were coincidental, there was no way this could be another coincidence. He must have stolen the profile picture from someone else. Some commenters were starting to catch on: “Homewreckers are despicable.” “Even if you’re handsome, it’s not okay to break up someone else’s relationship.” But some people still believed in “looks are everything”: “She flirted with him too! It’s not like the guy is delusional.” “OMG, not only is he gorgeous, but he’s also an animal lover? I’m in love!” “I live for this kind of forbidden romance.” “Keep pursuing her! Maybe she’ll dump her boyfriend and get with you. The tenant could become the landlady!” I forwarded the post to Ryan. “‘Tall, dark, and handsome’? Excuse me, this is called a sun-kissed glow. I worked hard for this tan, thank you very much! What does he know? Who would want a scrawny guy who goes down with one punch? My lean muscles are what’s trendy now!” Ryan’s finger swiped left, opening the poster’s profile. “Wait a second. This photo…”
“What about the photo?” I asked. Ryan’s face lit up with glee as he pointed at the profile picture. “This guy is our CEO’s son. He’s usually such an arrogant jerk. Can you imagine what would happen if he found out Lucas stole his photos and was posting this kind of stuff online? Or what if the CEO learned someone was tarnishing his son’s reputation on the internet? What do you think he’d do?” Ryan cackled and forwarded the post to our CEO. “Big news, boss! Your son is trying to be a homewrecker!” Then he deleted the message exactly 2 minutes and 50 seconds later. I asked if he was worried about getting in trouble with upper management. He shook his head. “The CEO isn’t that petty. He might even thank me for letting him know before his son does something worse.” I could only pray that guy wouldn’t get beaten too badly. Sorry, dude. Lucas was still replying to comments: “Thanks for the support, everyone! I won’t give up. Even if I have to be the other man, I’ll win over my female tenant!” What a joke. He was the tenant, pretending to be the landlord. How insecure must he be about his own identity? He also argued with those calling him a homewrecker: “You don’t know anything! This is about pursuing true love!” “I know you’re just jealous because you’re unlucky in love. It must kill you that I’m handsome and own several rental properties.” “I’m not blind. I know when a woman is flirting with me. She wore a short skirt when she came to view the apartment. If that’s not seduction, what is?” Good grief. Wearing a short skirt is seduction? Then every woman on the street must be trying to seduce him. It’s summer – am I supposed to wear snow pants instead of a skirt? The more I read, the more disgusted I felt. How could someone so ordinary be so delusional and such a liar? That familiar username popped up again with more “advice”. His handle was WildHeart. “Don’t doubt yourself. When a woman wears a short skirt, she’s deliberately trying to seduce men. That’s how I got my wife – I couldn’t resist when she wore a short skirt. She cried and threw a fit afterwards, but after I sweet-talked her, didn’t she end up marrying me? She went from a country bumpkin to a city girl overnight. Now she’s living the high life. You’re being too gentle. Next time her boyfriend isn’t around, just force yourself on her. She’ll give in eventually.” This was straight-up inciting criminal behavior. Did he think there were no consequences for what you say online? I saved his comments as evidence and consulted a lawyer, but they said a case couldn’t be opened without something actually happening. I was furious but felt helpless. Women in this world have to face so many dangers and endure so much malice. Not only is wearing a skirt seen as an invitation, but even walking down the street can lead to harassment. It’s terrifying. WildHeart’s comment section was flooded with angry replies, but he didn’t care. He just blocked anyone who criticized him. I clicked on his profile and found it was full of toxic posts. He said being assaulted wasn’t a bad thing for women because it could increase the birth rate. He also claimed women these days don’t have children because they’re too educated. The guy was clearly insane. That night, Ryan stayed in my guest room. He even skipped work, worried something might happen to me. When my mom heard about the situation, she told me to move out immediately. These days, losing money was nothing compared to encountering someone truly dangerous. What rotten luck – I was the landlord being forced out by a tenant. As I was packing my things, Ryan called out from the window. “Our CEO’s son just showed up with five huge guys and a baseball bat! His face looks a bit swollen – the CEO probably smacked him around. Looks like he’s here for revenge on Lucas.” From the stairwell, we watched the young man kick down Lucas’s door. “Open up!” he shouted. When Lucas didn’t answer, the young man ordered his crew to pick the lock. “So you’re the ugly loser pretending to be me online and ruining my reputation?”
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