Another Woman Acting as the Lady of My House
But as soon as he walked in, he looked at me with a puzzled expression. The owner's group sent a notice yesterday saying there would be a water outage today, and you even replied. Don't you remember?
My heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable unease quietly arose.
Because we found it troublesome, my husband Leon Burton and I never joined the owner's group.
After the repair personnel left, I immediately joined the owner's group, opened the chat history, and found a woman claiming to be the owner of unit 1206 constantly speaking in the group.
But 1206 is my home, how could she possibly be the owner of 1206?
I immediately called Leon. He sounded relaxed. "It's probably just a mistake. With so many buildings in the neighborhood, mixing up unit numbers is normal. Want me to remind her to correct it?"
I smiled slightly and told him not to bother, it wasnt a big deal. After hanging up, I immediately used another phone number to send a friend request to that 1206 owner.
It's only 8 p.m., and shortly after I sent the request, the other party accepted it.
She sent a message: [Who are you? Do you need something from me?]
My fingers quickly tapped the screen, sending a message: [Hi, Im your downstairs neighbor. Theres been noise from your place, like someone walking around. Could it be a break-in?]
The other party quickly replied: [Ill go check right away.]
I put away my phone, walked to the door, entered the password skillfully, and pushed the door open.
This apartment is near the airport. Leon and I dont stay here often; its just a temporary stopover when were in a rush during business trips.
At this moment, Leon is in the downtown penthouse, and this place should be empty.
A few minutes later, the crisp sound of high heels echoed in the hallway. I quietly looked over and saw a young woman standing at the door, naturally entering the password and pushing the door open.
Now Im finally sure she didnt make a mistake with the note; my guess was right.
The phone vibrated, and her message came: [Did you mishear? The waters out today, theres no one at our place, and the sound didnt come from our house.]
I replied perfunctorily with a couple of sentences, said nothing more, and walked out through the fire escape, re-entering my home.
"Who are you? Why are you in my house?" I spoke first before the woman could react.
Her face instantly turned red, her lips trembling slightly. "You must be Leon's wife, right? I'm Ariana Roberts, his hometown friend."
"He said this house is vacant for a long time and was worried about thieves breaking in. Since I work nearby, he asked me to drop by occasionally to check and do some cleaning."
I don't stay in this house often, but I specifically hired a cleaning service to come regularly. There's no need to trouble anyone else.
However, I didnt expose her. Instead, I patted her shoulder, smiled, and said, Thank you so much. Its getting late today, so you should head back. I need to rest now.
Ariana nodded and dashed out quickly, as if something was really chasing her.
After she left, I sat on the sofa and scrolled through her Instagram.
She had three pinned posts. The first was of her slender wrist wearing a mens watch, captioned: [Let me play with it.]
I instantly recognized the watch on her wrist as the gift I gave to Leon.
Looking at the post's date, I remembered tidying up the closet at home that day and noticing the watch was missing. Leon said he left it at the office, but turns out he used it to please another woman.
Her second post was tagged in another city, captioned: [The hotels soundproofing is terrible, I dont dare sleep alone.]
That day was my birthday. Leon and I were having a candlelight dinner when he suddenly got up and told me the company had arranged a business trip, and he had to leave immediately.
I was a bit upset and asked if he could leave tomorrow instead. He frowned at me and said he was working, telling me not to be unreasonable.
The third post was a huge bouquet made of cash, almost engulfing Ariana entirely.
If Im not mistaken, this bouquet must have cost a total of $520,000.
This money was withdrawn from my supplementary card.
He really went all out, giving his lover a $520,000 bouquet, while all I got was a cheap bunch of roses.
I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, lamenting how blind I was to have liked that idiot Leon.
He even dared to let his lover live in the house under my name, not fearing Id find out.
I just feel like my intelligence has been insulted.
Thinking of this, I immediately contacted my good friend Ella Stone. Shes a lawyer, specializing in divorce cases.
After hearing my story, Ella angrily said, "Leon, that freeloader living off your family, actually dared to cheat?"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he leaves with nothing."
I nodded with satisfaction. This is exactly what I want. I dont want a tainted man, and more than that, Ill make him pay.
I had just hung up Ella's call when Leon's call came through.
He said, "Why didnt you tell me you were coming back? I couldve driven to pick you up. The house near the airport has no water, so its inconvenient for you to stay there tonight."
"Also, youve met Ariana, right? Shes from the same place as me, and her parents know mine. Shes working hard here alone, so her parents asked me to look after her."
He brought it up on his own to ease my doubts, not knowing their little secret was already exposed.
I pretended to be casual and said, "Yeah, I met her. I've been really busy lately, and I have an early flight tomorrow. I'll just make do here for the night. You should get some rest too."
As I said this, the tablet in my hand was streaming the live surveillance of the downtown flat.
I didnt expect Ariana to be so bold. She had just met me and then turned around to go to the flat to act coy with Leon.
Leon sat on the sofa, holding her in his arms, one hand playing with her hair, looking like a loving couple.
On the other end of the phone, Leon clearly let out a sigh of relief upon hearing my words. "Alright then, it's getting late. You should rest early."
"Next time you come back from a business trip, let me know in advance. No matter how late, I'll drive to pick you up. Nothing is more important than you."
If I were still in the dark at this moment, I might feel touched hearing these words. But now, looking at the scene before me, all I feel is mockery.
After hanging up the phone, Ariana immediately gave Leon a kiss on the cheek. "I was so scared today, I thought we were going to get caught."
Leon pinched her cheek with a smile and said dotingly, "What are you afraid of? I'm here. Even if we get caught, so what? I'll protect you."
"In a couple of days, there's an auction. I'll take you there for some fun. Buy whatever you like."
Ariana's eyes lit up instantly. "Thank you, you're really the best!"
I contacted the assistant to freeze Leon's supplementary card, ensuring he couldn't spend a single cent.
I want to see how he'll "buy whatever" without my money.
Ella is always efficient; before dawn, a complete timeline was sent to my inbox.
Leon didn't lie; Ariana is indeed his childhood friend, and they grew up together.
A year ago, after Ariana came to this city, the two started getting close.
He treated her extremely well, providing the best in food, clothing, and essentials. The spending records alone filled a fifty-page PPT.
I roughly calculated, and the amount reached tens of millions of dollars.
What's more ironic is that many of those items are familiar to me.
For example, the sapphire necklace he gave me on our wedding anniversary, which he claimed was bought for a fortune at an auction.
Because the necklace was too extravagant, I mostly kept it in the cabinet and rarely wore it.
But I just realized that everything he gave me was fake, and the real ones are all around Ariana's neck.
Looking at the pages of spending records, I was so angry that I laughed.
Thinking about how touched I felt when I received those gifts before, I now feel nauseous.
And Ariana, who owns the real ones, has built a "rich wife" persona online, showing off her jewelry, designer clothes, and bags every day.
With these things, shes gained hundreds of thousands of followers online.
I clicked into her account and found her latest post, where she filmed me and Leons downtown marital home. Not only that, she even went into my walk-in closet, casually picked up my clothes, and said to the camera, I have too many clothes at home, lets pick a few lucky followers to give them away.
"Dont worry, these clothes have never been worn, some even still have tags. Ill give them away for free in a raffle. For those who dont win, dont be upset, there will be more of these events in the future."
The screen was flooded with pop-up likes, filled with envy and praise.
Some even asked her why she was so wealthy. She replied, "Its all my husbands money. We grew up together, and he always gives me the best."
"In a couple of days, hes taking me to an auction. Ill make a video for you when were back."
I left a comment with my new account: [Can you livestream the auction tomorrow? We ordinary people have never seen what a real auction looks like.]
Many people liked my comment, asking Ariana to livestream and let the fans broaden their horizons.
Ariana quickly replied, "Alright, Ill livestream tomorrow and let everyone join the auction immersively."
Seeing this, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Leon wants to use my card to let her buy whatever she wants; it wouldnt be right if I didnt show up.
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