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.

I fired back without holding back, "Nicole Porter, it seems like your entire family is just a pack of mad dogs. If you can't afford rabies shots, I'll pay for them!

"First of all, I'm not getting rid of my cat, and I'm going to bring all the strays into my home. I'll be walking my cats right in front of your door every day just to piss you off! Second, I'm allergic to wretches, so I suggest you all move out. Otherwise, just looking at you people will ruin my health!

"Since we're neighbors, let's forget the money. All you need to do is come over every day and prostrate at my door, wishing me a long life. That's the only way I'll let you all survive living across from me!"

Nicole's family almost lost it. They spammed the group with insults like "vixen" and "tramp" and sent both voice messages and long texts, as if I'd dug up their family's graves.

But I didn't care what they were sending. I just replied with a "Wow, so impressive" meme.

Seeing Nicole fall apart like that almost had me in stitches. This was better than having a virtual pet!

I tossed my phone onto the bed, then went downstairs to collect all the stray cats.

Since the people across from me were essentially animals, they might abuse these small creatures. I figured I'd better find foster homes for these poor kitties for their safety.

"Little ones, you'll stay with me until I can find you a good home."

Stinko, seeing a bunch of unfamiliar cats suddenly in the house, was so mad it started yowling. I was about to scoop it up for a big cuddle when my phone rang.

"Hello, is this Ms. Bella Martin, the owner of unit 401 in building C5? I'm the property manager, Elliot Thornton. We've received a complaint from the owner of unit 402. They say your cats make too much noise at night and are disturbing the pregnant lady in their house. They'd like you to remove the cats."

I didn't even hesitate to fire back, saying, "Oh, so we do have a property manager? The homeowner's group chat is blowing up, and you haven't even bothered to keep the peace! And unit 402 has the nerve to complain about me? I haven't even complained about their illegal behavior!"

"Well, Ms. Martin, our neighborhood doesn't allow pets. Your actions are in violation of the rules."

Something didn't sit right with me. If the neighborhood had such unreasonable residents, the property management should've ignored them. Why were they suddenly siding with them and trying to lecture me?

But asking me to get rid of my cats? No way!

I snapped back, "What violation? When I moved in, no one told me I couldn't have pets! Now you're bringing this up after the fact? I've been paying my fees without causing any trouble, and you have the nerve to lecture me? You've got to be kidding!"

Elliot sighed deeply. "Look, Ms. Martin, it's important to keep things peaceful with your neighbors. I'm just relaying unit 402's concerns. Please don't take it personally. We'll never resolve anything if you act like this—"

"The problem isn't with me, so why should I have to solve it?" I interrupted, my patience thinning. "I've had my cat for years. It's vaccinated, has all its papers, and it's neutered. It has never caused any noise at night! If unit 402 can't stand it, they can move out or leave this world for good!"

With that, I hung up. Dang it! Did they think I was some kind of pushover?

I was really curious to see what tricks they'd try next.