All Chapters of Public Parking? Sorry, They're All Mine: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

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."

Chapter 2

The group chat fell dead silent.The scrolling wall of text froze right on my last message.A solid 30 seconds ticked by.Jacob broke the silence first, his text practically vibrating with the excitement of someone who thought they had just caught a criminal red-handed."Carlos, explain this. I remember it crystal clear—Section Three of Parking Management Rules. For the sake of fairness, each household is legally capped at purchasing a maximum of two deeded parking spaces! It's written in black and white."Terrified that someone might miss it, he aggressively copy-pasted the exact line into the chat."Isn't that right, Carlos? What is management actually doing around here? How could you allow a blatant violation like this to occur?"Several minutes passed before Carlos replied. Even through text, I could hear how carefully he was choosing his words."According to… the current bylaws, that is technically the case in principle."This non-committal answer was all the ammunition

Chapter 3

Amidst the seemingly peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, the person who had started the entire incident remained completely silent.However, this superficial peace didn't even survive the night.A little after 11:00 pm, just as I was getting ready for bed, my phone lit up again in the dark. The homeowners association group chat icon was flashing, displaying a direct tag from Jacob.I clicked on it to find a massive, bitter wall of text."Everyone, don't you think that someone is getting a little too arrogant around here? So what if you own eight parking spaces? You could own 80, and it still wouldn't mean that you get to do whatever you want."Your car is parked crooked across two spaces, and it completely ruins the visual order and neatness of our underground parking lot. The parking lot is a common area, not your personal runway to show off! Have some respect for everyone else, will you?"We all pay our management fees to enjoy a clean, comfortable environment, not to watch y

Chapter 4

The next morning, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains.I wasn't sleeping very deeply anyway, and the continuous buzzing of the phone beneath my pillow woke me right up.Some people simply didn't deserve peace, and they refused to let anyone else have it either.When I unlocked my phone, the homeowners' association group chat was predictably lively again. Only this time, Jacob wasn't throwing a tantrum.Instead, he sounded eerily calm.He fired off a rapid series of screenshots.The first was an old article from a local news site with a glaring headline, "Jorham Rolls Out Its Strictest Housing Purchase Restrictions To Date."The key paragraph was aggressively highlighted in neon yellow."Local registered families, including spouses and children, may purchase no more than two residential properties within the city's restricted purchase zones. Unmarried adult individuals, including divorcees, are capped at a maximum of one residential property."The second screensh

Chapter 5

For a moment, the entire group froze in confusion.Unit 608 and 808? Simultaneous renovations? What did that have to do with anything they were just talking about?Jacob was clearly just as confused, because his next message came instinctively."W-Why are you telling me this? What do their renovations have to do with me? If you're trying to apologize—"My next text cut him off."Oh, you probably didn't notice. In the stack of deeds I posted yesterday, the bottom two are for Units 608 and 808."I forgot to mention that the apartments directly above and below you are both mine. Since construction is about to start and it's going to get incredibly loud, I figured that it was only polite to give you a heads-up."Before anyone could even begin to process this mind-boggling piece of information, I sent two more images.The first was a cropped section of the original blueprint layout for the community's underground parking lot.The second was a photo displaying the front cover and se

Chapter 6

That final statement put an absolute end to the parking space controversy.I didn't buy them. They were always mine.Half of the parking lot's undivided property rights were mine.Straight, sideways, diagonal—it didn't matter how I parked, as long as I wasn't encroaching on anyone else's deeded property, who could stop me?The group chat dissolved into a sea of exclamation points and bowing emojis.No one was interested in backing Jacob up anymore.After all, the sheer scale of the reality check had blasted right past the boundaries of a normal neighborhood squabble.Just then, a private message popped up on my screen.It was from Lilian Vaughn, the female resident of Block 9-2, Unit 1102, who had called out Jacob's misogyny the night before."Celia, that was spectacular! Seeing Jacob get put in his place like that felt so good! But knowing his character, I doubt he'll just take the loss. His ego took a massive hit, and it's going to make him hate you more. Who knows what kind

Chapter 7

From that day on, the peaceful mornings in Block 4-1 were officially over.Instead, at exactly 8:00 am every single morning, a low, rhythmic hammering would trigger right downstairs in Unit 608.The sound rattled through the floorboards, vibrating straight into Jacob's eardrums.Then, right on cue after 9:00 am, the high-pitched shriek of electric drills from Unit 808 directly upstairs would join the mix, competing for dominance.Sometimes, it went on continuously. Sometimes, it would cut off, only to start again without warning.Back and forth it went in an unpredictable pattern, a true surround-sound experience.The symphony blasted from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, strictly adhering to the construction windows authorized by the management office. Not a single minute more, not a single minute less.On the very first day, Jacob went roaring into the homeowners' association group chat."Carlos, what on earth is going on in Block 4-1? Are they renovating those places or trying to demol

Chapter 8

Jacob didn't stop there."Or if it's possible, we could handle the loud work in the afternoon, when we're usually not home. "I'm begging you, Celia. We're at our wits' end here. We're all neighbors, and neighbors are supposed to look out for each other. Please do us this huge favor, and I swear I'll never forget it."His tone was earnest, even humble.Staring at the screen, I let out a long sigh.To be honest, if he had genuinely come to apologize and his wife's situation were real, I might have even considered asking the contractors to adjust their schedules.My goal was never to push someone off a cliff, after all. I just wanted to teach him a much-needed lesson.But just as my fingers hovered over the screen to type out a response, another notification popped up.It was Lilian."Celia, take a look at this."She sent over three screenshots."I knew that bastard was up to no good. He's a two-faced prick! Look. He made his own little group and added a few male residents who

Chapter 9

"Block 4-1, Unit 708 for sale. Fully renovated, all appliances included, great floor layout. Serious seller, price negotiable. DM for serious inquiries."The sender was none other than Jacob himself.But just like before, absolutely nobody in the group chat showed a shred of interest.Later on, through a few casual conversations with the operations director, Michael Hanks, I managed to piece together the rest of the story.Jacob was in a massive rush to sell, slashing the asking price by nearly 200,000 dollars below market value, so low that it was practically a fire sale.The day he moved out was a bleak, overcast afternoon.I happened to be out on the balcony watering my plants when I glanced down and noticed a moving truck idling right outside Jacob's block.Jacob and his wife were loading several packed cardboard boxes and storage bags into the back of the truck.His silhouette looked somewhat slouched and defeated, a far cry from the arrogant keyboard warrior who used to s

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