When my neighbor's daughter-in-law falls pregnant, my neighbor issues a few "decrees" in a group chat for all residents in the area.

"Number 1: Anyone whose family has daughters has to avoid leaving the house when my daughter-in-law does. I don't want them to hurt my grandson!

"Number 2: Every family has to purchase meat and expensive fruits once a week and present them to my daughter-in-law!

"Number 3: After my grandson is born, I will bestow upon everyone the honor to bask in his fortune. Every family has to give us 300 dollars as a gift. I will personally visit each family that doesn't!"

She even singles me out with a message.

"Unit 401, I want you to immediately stop feeding stray cats. I'll also give you three days to get rid of your cat! My daughter-in-law is scared of cats, and the creatures are covered in germs. What if she catches a virus from your cat when she goes downstairs for a walk? What if you hurt my grandson?

"I command you to immediately bring me one thousand dollars as a deposit and guarantee. If I catch you feeding stray cats one more time, I'll confiscate the money!"

I transfer 20 thousand dollars to her, yet she grovels at my feet and begs me to take the money back.

My cat, Stinko, was lying on the scratching post, sleeping soundly with his little whiskers twitching. It looked absolutely adorable.

I picked up my phone and walked over. As I was ready to snap a picture of this cute moment, a flurry of message notifications popped up.

I checked my phone and saw that the notifications were from the homeowner's group chat. They were all from a user named "402 Nicole Porter" on WhatsApp.

"Hey, neighbors, I have some great news to share. My daughter-in-law, Brianna, is pregnant! I consulted a fortune teller, and he said this baby was destined for greatness. He will accomplish great things when he grows up!"

…

I clicked on her profile picture, and there it was—a round-faced, angry-looking old woman.

She looked kind of familiar. Then it hit me.

Yesterday afternoon, I'd been walking Stinko downstairs when I ran into a few stray cats, so I went back home to grab some cat food to feed them.

That was when this old woman suddenly approached, narrowing her eyes at me and the cats. "Are these all your cats?"

I didn't think much of it and casually answered, "Yeah, they're mine."

To my surprise, Nicole instantly became furious. She pointed a finger at me and said, in a harsh tone, "Who gave you permission to keep cats here? You need to get rid of them by tomorrow, or else…"

Nicole suddenly changed her expression, and it startled me.

But thinking it wasn't worth fighting with a neighbor right after moving in, I quickly grabbed Stinko and ran back home. I barely caught the rest of her words.

I figured she was just one of those crazy old ladies. Maybe she wandered out of her house without anyone noticing.

I had no idea, though, that Nicole lived right across from me!

I continued reading the texts from Nicole.

"For the sake of my grandson, I stayed up all night to set some rules. Each of you must follow them. If anything happens to Brianna or my grandson because of any of you, I won't spare you!"

With that, she sent a few photos.

"Open your eyes and look closely!"

I clicked on the first photo and saw that they were all handwritten rules. The first one already left me stunned.

"1. Brianna needs to go for a walk every day between 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Everyone needs to stay away from the elevator and the gym during these hours to avoid disturbing her!

"2. Anyone with a daughter at home must avoid these times to prevent harming my grandson!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Was this woman seriously out of her mind? Just because her daughter-in-law was pregnant, she thought she was some kind of queen?

I clicked on the second picture, and things just got even crazier.

"For my grandson's health, each household must buy beef, pork, expensive fruits like peach and cherries, plus some genetically modified vegetables. Bring them to my house so Brianna can enjoy them.

"Of course, I won't make you do this for free. When my grandson is born, I'll give each of you a chance to share in the good fortune. You'll need to prepare 300 dollars and deliver it to my door in an envelope. If anyone fails to do so, I'll come collect it personally!"

I kept scrolling through the pictures, and each one was filled with even more absurd demands.

What was going on? Did her daughter-in-law's pregnancy turn her into a queen?

I honestly thought someone would step in to call her out, but instead, the whole group replied with a simple "Noted".

I was stunned.

What the heck was going on? Was I the only normal person in this building?

Nicole suddenly tagged me. "@401 Bella Martin, don't think you can stay quiet and avoid this. I'm going to specifically call you out today!"

Call me out?

"I warn you. Get rid of your cat, and stop feeding the strays! Those cats carry germs and toxoplasmosis. Every time you feed them, you attract more strays. What if Brianna catches something while she's out for a walk?

"You even lied to me, saying they're all your cats! You're just a woman. How much money do you even make to feed all those cats? You must be doing some shady job. Do you treat your parents as well as you treat those strays?

"And if those strays start yowling at night while in heat and disturb Brianna's sleep, affecting my precious grandson, are you going to take responsibility?"

Precious grandson, huh? This was truly something else!

It turned out that there were not only drama queens in this world, but also some people who tried to crown themselves.

But I was no pushover!

I immediately sent a "confused" meme to the group chat.

Nicole quickly responded with a voice message, "Don't send me that stupid meme! Can't you understand simple words?"

I took a sip of water. Just as I was about to fire back, I received a private message from Robert Hunter, who stayed in unit 502 upstairs. "Don't mind the old lady from unit 402."

That only made me more confused, so I replied, "What's the deal? Is her family really that powerful around here?"

"Not exactly, but you really don't want to mess with her. Just keep your head down and avoid trouble," he answered.

I replied with a simple question mark.

Robert was about my age. He was tall, lean, good-looking, and pretty friendly too. When I first moved in, I had too much stuff, and he helped me carry it upstairs. That was when we exchanged numbers.

From him, I learned just how outrageous Nicole could be.

"That crazy lady is mean and unreasonable. You really don't want to get on her bad side. I was watering my plants upstairs once, and she saw me. The next thing I knew, she was banging on my door, accusing me of getting water on her clothes drying downstairs. She even forced me to pay her 50 dollars!"

I couldn't understand. "That's extortion. And you just paid her? Why didn't you call the police?"

"I did call the police, but it didn't help at all. As soon as the officers arrived, Nicole collapsed on the ground, saying I hit her, and then pretended to have a heart attack. She rolled around, saying she'd die right in front of my door unless I paid her.

"The cops couldn't do anything, so they just tried to smooth things over, saying we should be understanding of neighbors. I had no choice but to pay her off to make it stop."

"Does she have connections at the police station or something?" I asked.

I heard Robert sigh deeply in his voice message. "No. That's the scariest part. She's got nothing to lose. Once you provoke her, things will get really ugly."

He went on, "It's not just that. The parking spots for bikes downstairs are all shared. But Nicole has taken it upon herself to claim a section and says only her family can park there. If anyone dares to park their electric bike in 'her' spot, she'll go and slash their tires, smash their mirrors, or remove their seats.

"This kind of thing has happened more than once or twice. Everyone in the building knows not to mess with Nicole. I'm just telling you. Don't go head-to-head with her. You'll be the one who ends up suffering."

Robert sent a few more voice messages.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. Brianna used to work in the night club. It was hard for her to get pregnant, probably because of her job. I heard she's been trying for years.

"Now that she's finally pregnant, she's treating this baby like it's the second coming, so Nicole's laying down all these crazy rules."

I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed like this baby might not even be her son's after all.

Robert kept warning me. "Whatever you do, don't get into it with her. Just treat it like being bitten by a mad dog. Endure it! When a dog bites you, you can't bite back, right?"

I sent him a "got it" meme.

If a mad dog bit me, not only would I punish it, but I'd make sure it couldn't bite anyone else again!

Sorry, but I was the kind of person who always paid back a grudge.

In the group chat, Nicole noticed I hadn't replied and thought I was scared, so her tone got even more arrogant.

"@401 Bella Martin, stop feeding the strays. You have three days to get rid of your cat!

"I order you to pay one thousand dollars right now as a deposit! If I catch you feeding strays again, I'll keep the money!

"@401 Bella Martin, why are you not replying? Don't want to part with those filthy cats? I'm doing this for your own good and for everyone's good! With all the viruses going around, strays are even more likely to carry them. What if someone gets infected? The consequences would be terrible!

"And if one of those strays attacks someone, you'll be fully responsible! One thousand dollars won't be enough to solve that!"

This old hag really had the nerve to call my cute little Stinko a filthy cat.

Nicole kept going, full of herself. "Look, we're neighbors, so I won't make things too hard for you. 800 dollars! 800 dollars to guarantee the safety of everyone here. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

I couldn't hold back any longer and just rolled my eyes before typing, "Why are you so scared of stray animals? Is Brianna carrying a bastard like those strays?"

The group chat went completely silent for a few seconds. Then, Nicole completely lost it. She sent a barrage of voice messages.

"Watch your mouth, you tart! Who do you think you are? You've got no skills and only know how to spread rumors! I bet you're the one getting passed around by a thousand men, you harlot! I tried to be reasonable with you, and this is how you respond?

"You better not push it. I've got all the strength and methods to make you pay! I'm telling you. You're paying me that 800 dollars whether you like it or not!

"If you don't show up at my door with the money by 8:00 pm tonight, those strays won't live until tomorrow!"

I just replied, "Wow, you're really something, aren't you? I'm so scared."

That one line had Nicole completely stunned.

Immediately, everyone in the group started spamming thumbs-up emojis. They were clearly fed up with Nicole's behavior for a while.

Brianna Avila couldn't sit back any longer. She grabbed Nicole's phone and sent a voice message.

"Unit 401, not to be rude, but with how high the housing prices are around here, how can you even afford to live here? Are you some rich man's mistress or something?

"You can't have a child of your own, so you're just jealous of my baby! Our neighborhood doesn't welcome people like you. You'd better leave on your own!"

"Oh wow, such big words coming from someone who talks through their ass!" I replied sarcastically.