The Landlord vs. the Crazy Sister-in-Law

I'd just come home from collecting rent when I heard my sister-in-law, Bernice Drummond, talking trash about me behind my back."Val, look at Randall. He never goes to work. He's got no ambition at all! What's the point of staying with him? Honestly, I know a boss who's easy on the eyes and, more importantly, actually has potential…"Bernice left home to work in Galanor and pulled overtime almost every night. I guessed it bothered her, watching me hang around the apartment all day.She was eating the crab I'd paid for and using the smartphone I gave her, yet she was still talking crap about me to my wife, Valerie Drummond. How was I supposed to stay calm?I tossed my keys down and was ready to march over there and let her have it. But as soon as I stepped inside, Valerie spotted me and rushed over to stop me.Bernice's husband came from a pretty average family. Valerie didn't want to make her feel bad or mess up their sisterly bond, so she never told her what my family was really

Over the next few days, Bernice and Mark were out from morning to night, and I had no idea what they were up to.Maybe Valerie said something to Bernice when I wasn't around, because suddenly she wasn't nearly as mean to me as before.If they wanted to crash here, fine. As long as it didn't mess with things between Valerie and me, I didn't really mind helping them out.That was just me, too nice for my own good. Back then, I started dating Valerie because I saw that same kindness in her.She and I believed that if we were genuinely good to people, they'd treat us the same. It turned out we were wrong about how the world worked.It took me some time to see that the nicer you acted, the more people assumed they could just step on you.About a month later, I came home from a grocery run and heard Bernice talking trash about me again. This time, I bit back my anger and stayed out of sight near the entryway, determined to listen to every word.What I heard knocked the breath out of m

Bernice hurled every line right in Valerie's face, her intention to sell Valerie for money all but written on her face.By then, it all finally clicked. Bernice and Mark never meant to borrow a dime from me. They just wanted to peel Valerie off me and use her to squeeze money out of Mr. Hale.They were nothing but vicious bloodsuckers!Even then, Valerie still hadn't seen Bernice for who she really was. She just quietly protested, "Stop saying things like that!"Mr. Hale looked more than satisfied. As he stepped out onto the balcony to take a call, he spoke over his shoulder. "Getting my investment is in your hands now."The second those words sank in, Bernice and Mark lit up like they were possessed, greed blazing in their eyes.I moved before they could, shoving Valerie into the bedroom and turning the lock.She stood there in a daze, whispering from the other side, "What's happening?"I could barely catch a few words from the balcony, something about a landlord and somewhere

Mr. Hale was still trying to talk me into pushing his rent back before he left, so I kicked him out on the spot.The agency managed the units I owned in Farlon Tower. All I had to do was collect the rent every month.He was already three months behind on rent and utilities and still thought he could haggle. On top of that, he had a thing for Valerie. The fact that I didn't beat his ass was me going easy on him.Valerie seemed pretty down, and I thought it was because she felt betrayed by Bernice, but I was completely wrong."Babe, you kicked Bern and Mark out. Where are they even supposed to stay now?"I laughed, more pissed than anything. "They almost sold you off to some old creep for cash, and you still feel bad for them? There's got to be a limit to how much of a saint you try to be."Valerie curled her lip. "She was just desperate. I really don't think she would've gone through with it if it actually came down to it."I was out of words. "And how exactly do you know she wou

Just to be safe, Valerie and I grabbed a few bags and moved into another place I owned downtown.Judging from the cigarette butts scattered outside last night, it was pretty clear Mark hadn't come to my door only because he was drunk. The way he hung around told me he'd already decided to force a confrontation.But even if he actually killed Valerie and me, what would that even do for him? In this age of cameras everywhere, did he seriously think he could get away with it?But it was still just a guess. I couldn't use that to pin anything on him, so all I could do was protect Valerie and myself as best I could.Once we had everything lined up, I told Valerie to resign, since Bernice knew exactly where her office was. She went along with it, knowing how bad things already were.For the next two nights, Mark showed up at my apartment drunk out of his mind, pounding on the door. More than once, he grabbed the handle and actually tried to force it open.We couldn't keep hiding like t