Chapter 1

"Whose car is this? Talk about zero manners."

I had just gotten home and was about to have dinner when my phone started vibrating out of control.

On the screen, the homeowners' association group chat icon was flashing like crazy, the unread notification count instantly blowing past 99.

I frowned and unlocked my phone.

Jacob Turner, the owner of Unit 708, had posted a photo paired with a massive wall of text that practically had smoke coming off it.

"Whose car is this? They parked sideways across two spots! It's been sitting here all afternoon, and no one's moved it. Carlos, are you guys going to handle this or what? Is this what we pay our management fees for? What do you guys actually do all day besides collect our checks?"

The photo was a bit crooked, but I could tell with a single glance that it was my car.

The group chat blew up.

Our property manager, Carlos Garcia, was quick to respond.

"Got it. I've already contacted the security team on duty to handle the situation."

That was all it took for everyone else to chime in.

Brandon Kelly from Unit 902 was the first to pile on. "This is supposed to be a nice community. How do we still have people parking like this? Is one spot not enough for them?"

Jonathan Clark from Unit 603 joined in. "It could be a renter. Tenants don't always care about stuff like this."

Others began spinning their own theories.

"It might be a visitor's car that sneaked past the gate."

"Probably."

"Renters always bring the property value down anyway."

"The management office should be stricter about renter registration."

Watching the messages fly across the screen, I let out a quiet laugh.

Oh, rumors.

A single photo paired with a few wild assumptions, and they'd already gotten me completely figured out.

They were certainly efficient, if nothing else.

My phone buzzed again.

Jacob had tagged Carlos for the second time.

"Where's the security team? Why aren't they there yet? How long is this going to take? At this rate, I'm seriously going to reconsider paying my management fees next year!"

Carlos quickly sent over a frantic "on it" sticker.

I put my fork down and started typing.

"That's my car. Is there a problem?"

For a brief moment, the group chat fell dead silent.

Apparently shocked by how "brazen" I was being, Jacob immediately lost his mind. He fired off a voice message.

The second I tapped on it, a man's screeching voice blared out, an octave higher than normal. He sounded completely hysterical. Even through the screen, I could picture his face turning bright red.

"Is there a problem? You illegally parked, and you're acting like you're in the right? How can someone be so incredibly thick-skinned?"

A wave of text messages followed, packed with angry exclamation points.

"Do you own two spaces to park like that?"

"Is one spot not enough for you? Have some consideration for other people!"

I took my time in responding.

"It's not two."

Almost the same second my message went through, his furious responses popped up.

"Then who gave you the nerve to park like that? Get down there and move it right now! Stop blocking spots from people who actually need them! Otherwise, I'll have management tow your ass!"

The rest of the group chat began stirring again.

Someone sent a head-shaking emoji, while another sent over a sighing emoji to show their sheer disbelief.

Right on cue, Carlos popped back in and tagged me, his tone cautious.

"Ms. Hart, do you think it would be possible for you to head down and move your vehicle real quick? So that it doesn't affect the other homeowners."

Affect them?

I raised an eyebrow and sent the rest of the message I hadn't finished typing.

"I don't own two spaces. I own eight."