I was so angry I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes.

“She does something idiotic and you want me to spend money to make her feel better? Daniel, what exactly is she to you?!”

Daniel's voice hitched for a second before he exploded.

“We're all going to be neighbors! Do you really have to make things this ugly?!”

“Neighbors? I wouldn't count on that.”

I hung up and blocked his number on the spot.

Less than thirty seconds later, Manager James from property management called.

His tone was dripping with condescension.

“Miss Calloway, you own the crown unit. If anything, you should be the first one supporting our move-in event. Miss Sullivan has a massive following. She's willing to promote the community, and that's a good thing. Why would you go after her just because you're jealous?”

Jealous?

I was genuinely baffled.

“Jealous of what, exactly? That she's out of her mind, or that you people are right there going along with the circus?”

Val James's tone hardened.

“It's just a temporary test password. Stop blowing this out of proportion. Your behavior is having a very negative impact on this community, and I'm ordering you to go apologize to Miss Sullivan right now.”

Celia's livestream viewer count was still climbing. More and more people now knew the building's password. Watching the numbers tick upward, I couldn't hold back a laugh.

“Sure. You all sit tight. I'll go apologize right now.”

I hung up. The living room went quiet.

But less than ten minutes later, someone was pounding on my door so hard the frame shook. Daniel stood in the hallway, his face dark with fury.

Beside him, Celia sniffled into her camera, putting on her most pitiful expression.

“Spring, I just wanted to make the neighbors happy. Why do you hate me so much?”

Daniel's brow furrowed.

“Spring, open this door and explain yourself to Cece. Now.”

I looked at Celia's face, that smug satisfaction she couldn't quite hide no matter how hard she tried, and the words left my mouth before I could stop them.

“If you want to make everyone happy, why don't you change your bank PIN to your birthday too?”

Celia's expression froze. Tears appeared on cue.

“Spring, I know you don't like me, but you don't have to humiliate me like this.”

Daniel immediately stepped in front of her and slammed his palm against the door.

“What is wrong with you, Spring? Cece was trying to bring the neighbors together, and you have to twist that into something as ugly as you are?”

I didn't bother responding. I turned around and walked back to the living room.

Through the door, Celia's sobbing drifted in, thin and broken.

“Maybe I'm just too stupid. I only wanted everyone to remember today, and I never thought Spring would think that about me. Did Cece do something wrong?”

Comments in the livestream were flying.

“That homeowner is straight-up heartless!”

“Cece made something special for the whole building and this woman gives her attitude? Guess not every girl can be as sweet as our Cece!”

Shortly after, Yvette sent me a screenshot from the homeowners' group chat. The entire feed was people consoling Celia.

“Don't cry, Cece! We all support you.”

“A shared password for the whole building is such a meaningful gesture. Spring Calloway is just spiteful. She can't pull off something like that herself, so when someone else does, she gets jealous!”

“It'll get changed back tonight after the inspection anyway. What's she so worked up about?”

Some were even more outrageous.

“If you ask me, her unit should get changed to Cece's birthday too. Otherwise she doesn't even deserve to live in this building.”

I stared at that message, so furious my fingertips went cold.

The phone rang again. This time it was Melinda Whitney, Daniel's mother.

The second I picked up, she tore into me.

“Spring Calloway, you're going to marry into this family! What is wrong with your head, making a mess of every relationship you have with the neighbors?!”

“Cece is a sweet young girl, everybody adores her. Why can't you just tolerate her?”

Her accusations were so absurd I could barely process them.

“She had the nerve to change the main door passwords, and you're calling her a little girl? Have you lost your mind?”

Melinda scoffed.

“It's just a temporary password. You work in furniture, don't you? If something goes wrong, can't you just fix it for her?”

“And watch your tone with me. I'm your mother-in-law. Talk to me like that again and I'll slap you senseless.”

The next second, Daniel snatched the phone away.

“Spring, I'm saying this one last time. Apologize to Cece. Now. Keep making a scene and we're postponing the wedding.”

There it was. He'd finally shown his hand. I let out a cold, mocking laugh.

“Postpone? Screw that. We're done. The engagement's off.”

Daniel sounded like he hadn't heard me right.

“What did you just say?”

I hung up.

Celia wasted no time. She clipped highlights from her livestream and posted them online. The title made my stomach turn:

《What's It Like When Your Whole Building Adores You? On Move-In Day, Every Unit Uses My Birthday to Get Home》

In the video, she showed off while dabbing at red-rimmed eyes, calling me antisocial. Daniel stood beside her backing her up. The comments section ate it alive.

“The vibe in that complex is incredible. Cece really is a princess, confirmed.”

“That homeowner who left the group chat is such a buzzkill. She should just move out.”

I was about to put my phone down when Yvette Lawrence messaged me.

“Spring, we just moved our wedding jewelry into the unit today. Is this really okay?”

I wrote back.

“The password's been broadcast to the entire internet. You tell me.”

Yvette went quiet for a few seconds, then sent another message.

“But people in the group chat are saying that calling the police right now would mess up the move-in inspection. Manager James told everyone not to stir up trouble.”

I stared at that line and typed back one reply.

“Manager James is just a manager. If something actually happens, he's not the one who'll be held responsible. You will.”

Meanwhile, Celia dried her tears under the comfort of her livestream chat and broke into a fresh smile.

“Don't worry, everyone! Manager James said the inspection wraps up at six tonight, and all the passwords will be restored with one click. Ten-minute countdown, and we'll witness the miracle together!”

I pulled up the back-end rules for the smart lock system and read the security notice. The corner of my mouth twitched.

Fifteen minutes before the official lockdown, the system would halt all batch overwrites.

Celia's miracle wasn't going to make it in time.

Five minutes to system lockdown. Celia's livestream viewer count had surged past a hundred thousand.

She held up her selfie stick and walked floor by floor from the eighteenth story down, pausing at every unit's door to flash a sugary smile at the camera.

“Watch this. This is Building 18's secret code for their favorite girl.”

She typed in her birthday. Beep——

“Verification successful.”

The chat exploded.

“The whole building actually adores her! What kind of princess treatment is this?!”

“I want to live in a complex like that. Going home would be like walking into Cece's castle.”

Celia was glowing from the praise. She deliberately panned the camera across my door number.

Soon, a few comments popped up.

“You're showing every floor number and the password on camera. Aren't you worried something might happen?”

“This is already a security breach. Someone call the police.”

Celia's eyes reddened instantly.

“I'm just sharing the warmth between neighbors. Why do people always have to twist everything I do?”

“Everyone here loves me so much, and I'm genuinely touched. It's only a few bitter people who can't stand seeing someone else be liked.”

The words barely left her mouth before Daniel slammed his foot into my door. The bang rattled the vase on the entryway shelf. It teetered, tipped, and shattered across the floor.

“Spring! Open the door!”

His voice was barely controlled, fury simmering just beneath.

“I gave you an out and you threw it in my face. You actually said you want to call off the engagement? Open this door. Don't make me break it down.”

Celia was crying outside the door.

“Daniel, please don't be like this. Spring is just jealous of me, that's all.”

Daniel slammed his fist against the door again.

“Did you hear that? Cece is STILL defending you! You sell furniture for a living and you think you're better than everyone? You've got the nerve to talk about calling off the engagement? You're nothing! Manager James said the system had a minor glitch. Your unit's the penthouse, so it's got the highest-level homeowner access. Hand over the admin account and let Cece restore everyone's passwords!”

“You hear me? Open the door! If anything goes wrong, it's ALL on you!”

I stood on the other side of the door and kept my voice cold.

“The homeowner portal only controls my own door lock. The penthouse isn't a server. What do you think my lock is, some kind of master key to the whole building?”

Daniel choked on that for a second, then came back even nastier.

“Cut the act. You're just jealous that Cece is popular. You'd love it if the whole building went to hell!”

Celia sniffled softly.

“Spring, if you really hate me that much, take it out on me. Don't punish everyone else just to make a point.”

I was speechless. I hadn't done a single thing, and somehow I was the one punishing everyone?

How was any of this my fault?

Right then, Yvette sent me a voice message. Her voice cracked from crying.

“Spring! Someone got into my unit! The wedding jewelry I kept in the master bedroom drawer is gone!”

“Someone broke in! My money, my things!”

More and more homeowners flooded the group chat, crying about stolen belongings, demanding that Celia come out and explain herself.

Seconds later, Manager James posted a warning.

“Everyone calm down. This falls under an internal test during the handover event. Any homeowner who contacts the police and causes reputational damage to the community will be held liable by property management!”

Celia followed up immediately with a crying emoji.

“Please don't call the police, okay? I'm really scared.”

Unbelievably, people in the chat actually comforted her.

“Don't be scared, Cece. Yvette probably just misremembered where she put them.”

“Exactly. If Spring Calloway had just helped out earlier, none of this would've happened.”

Manager James seized the opening and turned the target straight onto me.

“The system is about to lock down. Nobody touch anything. As long as Miss Calloway is willing to hand over the admin account, there's still a chance to fix this!”

The next second, a wall of messages slammed in.

“Spring Calloway, stop being selfish! We're all neighbors! Open your door and let Cece in to figure this out!”

“This is YOUR fault! If you'd just helped Cece, none of this would've gotten this bad!”

A notification blasted across my phone screen.

“Suspected large-scale temporary password breach detected in Building 18. Security lockdown initiated ahead of schedule. All batch password-change channels closed. Temporary passwords frozen. Homeowners must present valid ID for individual unit resets. Activity logs have been forwarded to the security department.”

The group chat erupted into total chaos.

“My family was supposed to move in TONIGHT and now the door won't open!”

“My parents are trapped inside and their phone is dead! Who's going to let them out?!”

“My wedding jewelry is GONE! Who's going to answer for this?!”

Celia sent a sobbing voice message.

“I said it from the start. If Spring had just lent us the admin account, the system never would have locked down. She could've saved everyone, but she hates me so much she dragged it out on purpose.”

Daniel kicked the door again.

“Spring Calloway, did you hear that?! Cece can barely breathe because of you! Hand over the account NOW. There's still time!”

I spoke through the door.

“Are you an idiot? I'm a homeowner. The admin account was never with me!”

“Shut the hell up!” His voice was raw from screaming. “If you don't hand over that account today, I'll break this door down!”