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!”

Melinda came charging over, her shrill voice cutting through the noise.

“Do you even want to marry into our family anymore? Cece is the sweetest girl alive, and you've ruined her like this. You owe her an apology!”

Manager James squeezed through to the doorway with two security guards in tow.

“Miss Calloway, just cooperate and open the door.”

I kept my voice ice-cold.

“My apartment was just renovated. There are cameras inside. Set one foot through that door, and I'm calling the police.”

One of Celia's diehard fans shouted immediately.

“Quit the act! She's obviously hiding the admin account in there!”

“Get in and find it! Everything we've lost is on her!”

A deafening bang. The lock casing crumpled inward.

Bodies shoved through the door, shoes grinding across the white carpet I'd just had laid.

Someone tore through my entryway cabinet. Someone else slammed into the coffee table and sent it toppling. In seconds, the apartment I'd just finished renovating was trashed beyond recognition.

My pupils contracted. Thirty thousand dollars. I'd spent thirty thousand dollars on this renovation, and they were destroying it in front of me.

Before I could react, Melinda rushed me and cracked her palm across my face.

“That's what you get for causing trouble! That's what you get for hurting people!”

Daniel ripped the phone from my hand and hurled it into the wall.

“You want to call the cops? Apologize to Cece on her livestream first!”

Celia's livestream was still rolling. Tears streamed down her face, pretty as a wilting flower.

“Spring, just admit it. You refused to help, and that's why nobody can get into their homes.”

Manager James looked almost feral, desperate to dodge any blame. He pressed harder.

“Miss Calloway, confess your mistake now in front of the livestream audience and there's still room to fix this. Otherwise, you're done.”

I lifted my head and stared at them. My cheek burned like it was on fire.

These people. They'd caused this disaster themselves, and now they wanted to pin every last bit of it on me.

“You want me to take the fall for you? In your dreams.”

The instant the words left my mouth, Daniel and the others turned vicious. Fists raised, they closed in on me as one.

“Fine. You won't admit it? We've got plenty of ways to make you.”

I hadn't even opened my mouth when a furious roar tore through the hallway.

“Everyone, STOP!”

Clement Lambert stormed in with his own security team. He took one look at the wreckage and his face went ashen with rage.

“Who gave you permission to break into a homeowner's unit?”

“And who authorized changing every lock password in this building to Celia Sullivan's birthday?”