To boost her online presence and craft a benevolent image, that obnoxious influencer tenant of mine offered my apartment to homeless people for free, claiming she wanted to give them a warm winter.
She earned millions of praises, her follower count skyrocketed, ad deals piled up, and she hit financial freedom.
But my home was turned into a reeking mess by mentally unwell homeless individuals.
They didn’t just relieve themselves anywhere; they smeared their filthy waste all over the place.
When I found out, I was absolutely furious. I confronted the influencer tenant, only to be met with her mockery.
“I rented your apartment, so it’s mine now. What right do you have to speak up?”
“Everyone, look! This woman here doesn’t want you to stay. She says you’re dirty and smelly, and she wants to throw you out to freeze to death!”
Driven into a frenzy, the homeless man stabbed me over twenty times. I was torn apart, bleeding out until I died.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day the influencer tenant planned to take in the mentally ill homeless individuals.
“Hey, my darlings, those homeless folks on the street are just so pitiful! It’s getting colder and colder, and I just can’t stand to see them freezing. So, I’ve decided to let them stay in one of my vacant apartments for free, to give them a warmth they’ve never felt before this winter.”
“Tomorrow at 10 AM, I’ll be live-streaming the entire thing! Remember to tune in, sweethearts. Let’s all do our part to help the homeless find a home this winter and contribute to a good cause.”
Watching Seraphina Stone, the influencer, giggling and filming her video across the street, my hands clenched into tight fists.
Sacrificing my life and my home for her own gain C she had absolutely no boundaries.
Seraphina finished her video, and her face instantly dropped. She tossed her phone to Leo, her assistant, with a disgusted look.
“Just thinking about having to interact with those dirty, smelly homeless people tomorrow makes me sick. If this stunt wasn’t going to bring in massive traffic, I wouldn’t want to see these air-polluting individuals at all.”
Leo handed her a hand warmer and chimed in.
“Seraphina, we just gotta tough it out for the money. We can’t miss out on this insane viral buzz. It’s not like it’s *your* apartment anyway.”
“I heard a few of the homeless folks around here have mental health issues; they often relieve themselves right on the street. Imagine if they do that inside the apartment! We can pretend to be all understanding, and boom, another wave of insane traffic, right?”
“Easy money like this? We can’t pass it up!”
So, they’d known all along what could happen. They just wanted to use me as a complete patsy.
I was livid. Looking at the video recorded on my phone, a plan slowly began to brew in my mind.
Seraphina was beaming.
“Heh, the title of top streamer will be all mine Oh, by the way, how are things with the rental? What time are we signing the contract? We need to make sure everything’s locked down.”
Leo replied casually.
“Don’t worry, that naive woman is desperate for cash to study abroad. She’ll definitely rent it out. Perfect, since she’ll be out of the country, it’ll make our plan even easier. Plus, the location’s perfect, right where a bunch of homeless folks hang out, which is great for our live stream. It’s like divine intervention!”
Just two hours ago, I’d settled the terms with Leo on a social media app. We’d planned to sign the contract at 4 PM.
Good thing the contract wasn’t signed yet.
In the afternoon, right before the scheduled signing, I picked up my phone and sent Leo a voice message.
“Hey, about the house, I actually can’t rent it out to you right now. My friend just moved to the city and plans to settle down here, so I’m going to rent the place to him instead. No need for you to come over this afternoon. Sorry about that!”
Leo’s reply came in almost immediately, but it was Seraphina texting. Her message was sharp.
“What?! I was clearly first! No, you have to save it for me!”
I didn’t reply. Seraphina, frantic, called me directly.
I feigned reluctance.
“But my friend offered me twenty grand a month, and he’s a buddy. He wouldn’t use my place for any weird stuff, so I’d feel more comfortable renting to him. Besides, we haven’t even signed a contract yet, right? Everything’s still fair game.”
Seraphina hesitated for a few seconds, a hint of guilt in her voice, then clicked her tongue impatiently.
“Alright, fine. I’ll give you twenty-five grand a month. Rent it to me.”
I stayed silent, pretending to consider.
“Well…”
Seraphina raised her offer again.
“Forty grand! Rent it to me!”
“It’s not that I don’t want to rent it to you, but I’ve already signed the contract with my friend. I can’t rent it to you anymore.”
“What?!”
“My tenant’s right here, just finished signing the lease. Don’t believe me? Listen.”
My “friend” immediately played along, his booming, rough voice echoing through the phone.
“That’s right, the place is mine now. First one to sign gets the place, so don’t even think about causing trouble. If you keep pushing, my hand doesn’t care if you’re a man or a woman.”
I’d specifically hired a professional actor from a gig website. He was 6’6″ and easily 330 pounds.
He was all muscle, his face bore a nasty scar from an old fight, making him look seriously intimidating.
Seraphina was enraged.
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?! What’s your problem? Trying to snatch what’s mine, are we? Do you know who I am? I’m a huge influencer, one you absolutely don’t want to cross!”
Diesel spat.
“I don’t care who you are. If you got a problem, come and find me.”
I could faintly hear Seraphina’s team talking in the background.
“Seraphina, what do we do? Pre-booked viewers for tomorrow’s live stream have already soared past eighty million! It’s never been this big! We absolutely *have* to seize this opportunity!”
“Maybe we can just find any apartment for now, just to get through tomorrow’s stream?”
Seraphina sounded utterly frustrated.
“You make it sound so easy! A decent, run-of-the-mill house isn’t easy to just pull out of nowhere, and a dump won’t fit my image as a top influencer… Alright, fine, we’ll use one of *your* apartments for now. You can kick the homeless people out right after the live stream.”
The person she’d pointed to quickly denied.
“No, no way! My wife and kids are home…”
“I can’t either, my parents are visiting lately…”
I heard the sound of Seraphina violently smashing a cup on the other end of the phone.
“This is no, that is no! I pay you guys to actually *do* something, not just sit around collecting a paycheck! You idiots!”
I knew the time was right. I nodded at Diesel, signaling him to start his act.
“Chloe, I’m heading back to D-City tomorrow to sort out some paperwork. My flight’s at 8 PM, so I’ll be gone for a few days. Make sure the place stays spotless, okay? You know how I am about germs.”
Seconds after Diesel started talking, the phone line instantly went quiet.
I knew they were definitely listening in, so I held my phone closer to Diesel’s mouth, making sure they heard every word.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. Oh, right, the house code is 267893. Remember that, okay? When you get back, you can just walk right in.”
As my words faded, the call disconnected.
That same evening, Seraphina posted another live stream teaser video. It featured six exterior shots of the apartment complex and interior photos of my apartment.
The caption read: “The ‘Homeless Haven’ charity event is about to launch! Which of my amazing fans can guess which complex this is?”
I immediately recognized it as my complex. Those four interior photos were the ones I’d sent to Seraphina as rental references.
It looked like Seraphina had really fallen for it!
I raised an eyebrow, quickly pulling strings and contacting the B-City Public Welfare Foundation, the B-City Police Department, and every official organization I could think of. I expressed my enthusiastic support for Seraphina’s event.
The next morning at 10 AM, the live stream started right on time.
In less than ten minutes, the viewer count had already climbed to ten million.
The chat was exploding with comments, clearly boosted by bots.
“That’s my Queen! So beautiful, so kind! The first influencer to rally the whole internet for the homeless! I believe with Seraphina leading the way, society will only get better. Everyone, hit that follow and like button for our Queen!”
“Compared to all those fake influencers, Seraphina is a breath of fresh air. She deserves all the success!”
“My darlings, if you have gifts, send them to Seraphina! All money from this stream goes straight to the ‘Homeless Haven’ project!”
Seraphina appeared on camera in a slinky gown, draped in a fur stole, with a full face of glam makeup.
“Hello, hello! My amazing fans are just too enthusiastic! Thank you all for your warm response; it’s truly warmed my heart this winter.”
Suddenly, Leo whispered something in Seraphina’s ear.
Seraphina’s face stiffened for a second, but her professional influencer persona kicked in instantly, her smile snapped back into place as she greeted the camera with feigned delight.
“Wow! I just got the news! Major official organizations have all joined the live stream! This is truly an honor! I won’t let you down!”
I’d never seen someone try so hard to smile, only to make their face look utterly grotesque.
“Alright, time’s almost up. Please follow my camera as we go to help these poor homeless individuals.”
The camera flipped. It panned to a middle-aged man, his skin grimy, his hair long and matted, reaching his waist.
At that moment, the man’s eyes were darting around, full of suspicion, as Seraphina’s live stream team surrounded him.
The moment I saw him, my blood ran cold.
In my past life, it was this man who’d stabbed me over twenty times. As he plunged the knife into me, he kept accusing me of deceiving him.
And if Seraphina hadn’t kept the door tightly controlled from the outside, I might not have died such a gruesome death.
But this time, she’d have to face the consequences herself.
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