Beranda / Emotional Realism Cerita Pendek / Hands Off My Apartment / Bab 1 - Bab 8

Semua Bab Hands Off My Apartment: Bab 1 - Bab 8

8 Bab

Chapter 1

"Winona, can you stop making a scene already?" Felix Carter had both hands in his pockets, sounding impatient.I looked around the room full of torn cardboard boxes. My gaze fell on Felix's mother, Bertha Walker, who was squatting on the floor, picking at the tile grout."I bought this place, and I oversaw the renovation. Why should she get the master bedroom?"I pointed at Zoe Levine, who refused to let go of my silk pillow she had in her arms.Zoe bit her lower lip as tears welled up in her eyes.She said, "If Winona doesn't like me, I'll leave right away. Even if I have to sleep under a bridge or beg on the street, I can't let you all fight over me."Felix pulled Zoe into his arms and shouted at me, "Look how scared you made Zoe!"Then he said, "She's my mom's goddaughter, not an outsider. It's just you. Why do you need all this space?"Don't think buying an apartment makes you better than everyone else. Once you marry me, this house belongs to everyone in my family."Berth

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 2

I pushed open the door and pointed at all the furniture in the unit. "Other than the walls, take everything that can be moved. If there's something you can't lift, smash it."The movers hadn't even started when Bertha rushed over and yelled, "Winona, are you crazy? This is our stuff!""Your stuff?" I shoved away her hand as she reached out toward me.I took out my phone and pulled up the receipt for the TV that cost over $4000."Take a good look," I said. "Everything in this house is under my name on the receipts. Since you don't treat me like I own this place, then no one gets to use anything here anymore."Felix was still holding his half-finished takeout. With a loud slap, the leftover food spilled all over the carpet. Grease splattered everywhere."Winona, are you trying to humiliate me? What kind of stunt are you trying to pull with all these outsiders here?" Felix screamed. "If you dare touch a single thing in this place, you're not walking out of here today!"He strode

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 3

All of Felix's relatives looked fierce, each with a wrench in their hands."Winona, am I being too nice to you?" Felix shouted through the crack in the door at me."If you don't hand over the property rights to this apartment and pay up today, let's see who can save you!"Zoe stood behind him, holding the pair of gold bracelets I had prepared for my wedding.They were left to me by my grandmother."Winona, these gold bracelets are really heavy. Selling them should be enough for our whole family to live in the city for a while."Zoe grinned from ear to ear. Then, right in front of me, she slipped the bracelets into her pocket."Put that down!" I yelled, slamming hard into the door. But Felix held it shut from the outside.Bertha fed him ideas from the side. "Felix, unruly people like her need to be starved for a few days to behave."Go find the property deed. Then make her transfer it into your name."Bertha added, "She's an only child, and her family is rich. This apartment c

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 4

"Felix, not only are you going to prison, your whole family will be charged with stealing someone else's property." I said.Felix let out a loud roar. He grabbed a folding chair next to him and smashed it violently into the kitchen door.Without a loud bang, the glass in the sliding kitchen door shattered. Shards and debris sprayed all over me.He rushed in and locked his hands tightly around my throat."Winona, why are you forcing me into a corner? I loved you so much. I just wanted to get rich and give you a good life!" He yelled."Give me the evidence. Give it to me!"Bertha screamed from outside. "Strangle her! If she's dead, no one will know!"Once she dies, the apartment becomes part of her estate. You're her husband. You'll inherit it sooner or later!"Zoe was screaming too. "Felix, hurry up! Don't let her make a sound!"I looked at the twisted look on Felix's face and managed to choke out a few words."Look downstairs!"Felix instinctively turned to look out the wind

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 5

As I sat on the metal chair in the interrogation room, two police officers across from me opened a thick case file.One of them said, "Winona, we checked your bank records. The $1 million for the apartment was indeed transferred from your account."They added, "But the recipient wasn't the developer. It was wired to Westfield Capital's corporate account. The developer received full payment from someone named George Walker instead."I froze on the spot.How was that possible?Felix was with me the day I bought the apartment. He said a friend of his was a bank manager. The friend could get us into the VIP line, waive the transaction fee, and even get us a generous rebate.I had given Felix my phone to handle it. He knew my password."Who is George Walker?" I asked."He's Felix's maternal uncle," the officer said, sliding a photo toward me.On it showed a thickset man with a hard face."Felix's current statement is that his uncle paid for the apartment. It was put in your name a

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 6

"So you're Winona? You'll pay for killing my daughter. If you don't give us a million dollars, we're not leaving today!" Roger yelled.I looked at them and said calmly, "Felix pushed Zoe. The police have already opened a case. If you want money, go ask Felix in prison."Bertha got up off the ground and shouted to the neighbors watching the scene."Everyone, judge for yourselves! She bribed the police and pinned the crime on my son! Felix is an honest man. How could he possibly be a killer?" she screeched. "She's a vicious woman. She tricked us out of our house and even got my goddaughter killed!"The people around us started whispering.I took out my phone and played the dashcam video. I turned the volume all the way up, and held it high. The video clearly showed Felix pushing Zoe.Bertha's words died in her throat. Zoe's parents were also frozen in shock."See that?" I stared at them. "Felix was the killer. If you ever come back here causing trouble, I'll sue you for distur

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 7

I grabbed my jacket. "Come on, let's go to the apartment."We soon arrived at the neighborhood. The door to the apartment I had carefully renovated was wide open.Bertha was directing several workers as they carried out the furniture I had bought.She said, "Be careful. Everything's expensive. They'll sell for a lot."When she saw me, she smiled smugly. "Well, well. If it isn't Ms. Shaw. Here you see your unit? Too bad for you. This place belongs to the Carters now."I walked in and looked at the living room, now a complete mess."You took Zoe's phone." I stared at Bertha.Her expression shifted briefly, then she regained her composure."I have no idea what you're talking about!""The day Zoe fell, you took her phone from her pocket during the chaos," I said. "It has records of Felix's transfers and voice recordings of you scheming together."You didn't dare give it to the police or to Hank because you wanted to use it to blackmail him."I stepped closer."How much did Ha

Baca selengkapnya

Chapter 8

Bertha collapsed to the ground, her face deathly pale."How did you know?" she asked."The police recovered the data from Zoe's phone a long time ago," I replied. "They just didn't have enough evidence against Hank to connect the whole case."Now, not a single one of you is getting away."I turned and walked into the building. I left Bertha behind, screaming in despair.-Three months later, the court reopened the case. This time, multiple charges were tried together.I sat in the gallery, watching Felix and Hank stand in the dock.Felix had become frighteningly thin. His head was shaved, and he wore a prison uniform.Hank had also lost all the confidence he once had as a boss. He stood there with his head down.The prosecutor read the indictment.Fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, and intentional murder. Every charge was a serious felony.The judge asked the defendants whether they pleaded guilty.Hank suddenly pointed at Felix and shouted, "He was behind all of it. H

Baca selengkapnya

Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi