Chapter 1 Seven Thousand for a Lie

My fingers trembled slightly as I kept scrolling up.

Cecelia was the group owner, and the group was created on January 12, 2023. That meant that she had already been plotting against me the day after I received my offer and shared the good news with her.

It meant that she'd known the landlord for a long time.

'Leonard, I found us a cash cow. She's my college roommate. She's naive, loaded, and all she does is study.'

'Not bad, Cece. We'll handle it the usual way,' the landlord replied instantly.

They didn't correspond very often. It was mostly Leonard asking Cecelia when she was moving in and if she needed anything.

Then, two more people joined the group after Christmas, specifically on December 28th. Those people were none other than Lillian Lauder and Isabel Corbin. They were both from Cecelia's hometown.

'Girls, welcome to the Free Riders Club.' Cecelia sent a celebratory emoji.

'Cece, can we really freeload here?' Lillian asked curiously.

'Of course! The sucker already paid the deposit.'

'Cece, you're amazing!'

'I love this group name.'

'Wow, we should've met sooner.' Isabel texted and followed with a "wish we'd known each other earlier" GIF.

'From now on, we'll be one big happy family!' Leonard chimed in as well.

I stared at those glaring lines of text, forcing down the nausea churning in my stomach, and quickly pulled out my phone to record the entire chat history.

Since Lillian and Isabel had just joined, they kept their conversations fairly restrained. Most of what they discussed was how to handle the rent and how payments would be made.

'I put this whole thing together, so I'm taking the master bedroom. No objections, right?' Cecelia asked.

'Isabel and I will share,' Lillian added. 'So, we'll take the larger secondary bedroom on the east side.'

'But we haven't talked about how the rent's being split,' Isabel reminded.

Cecelia promptly elaborated, 'The place is fully renovated. The market price is between 12 and 16 thousand. I told Ziegler it's 21,000 total, so that's 7,000 each for me, you two, and Ziegler.

'But the actual rent is 12,000. We'll split the remaining 5,000 among ourselves. Since I set this up, I'll pay 2,000, and you two can split the remaining 3,000.

'As for utilities, internet, and management fees… I'll hike up the prices for those too. We'll split it 4-4-2 for whatever extra we get. Leonard and I will take four each, and you two will take two. What do you think?

'Not only are you living for free, but you might also as well be paid to live here.'

'I'm game,' Isabel replied. 'Lillian, what about you?'

'I'm good with it too.' Lillian texted. 'This apartment is located in such a convenient area. I have no complaints.'

The rent was 12,000, and I had been paying 7,000. Worst of all, I was stuck in the smallest bedroom on the west side.

They really outdid themselves!

'Click.'

The sound of the door unlocking snapped me back. I slipped my phone into my pocket and exited WhatsApp.

Cecelia set down a package, picked up the tablet, and resumed watching her drama series. "Maddie, is dinner ready yet?" she called toward the kitchen.

"Almost," I replied, turning into the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

Just like always, I plated the dishes and called everyone to the table.