Chapter 3

At first, I thought that putting some space between us would help. We might not be as close as we used to be, but we could still be family.

I underestimated how dangerous jealousy can be.

It wasn’t long before I started noticing the way my neighbors looked at me—disdainful, judging, whispering behind my back.

Several times, I tried to greet them while walking my dog, but they would turn away, avoiding me like I had some sort of disease.

Then one day, I checked the Oak Hills Subdivision Group Chat and finally understood what was going on.

It all started with a faceless account stirring up rumors.

“Did you hear about the owner of 609? People say she’s some rich old man’s mistress. How else could someone that young afford a house like that?”

“Seriously? She seemed like such a nice girl. How could she do something like that?”

“Tsk, tsk, girls these days. No shame at all.”

“You’d better keep an eye on your husbands, ladies. If she sets her sights on one of them, it’s game over.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

What kind of nonsense were they spouting?

I tried adding the person who had started the rumors, but they left the group chat as soon as they’d done the damage.

Meanwhile, the others kept gossiping, acting like they knew everything about my life. They even said the man supposedly “keeping” me was in his seventies.

At that point, I had enough. I took screenshots of everything—over a dozen messages—and posted them back into the group, tagging each person who had spread the lies.

“Slandering someone is illegal. Expect a lawyer’s letter soon!”

After that, most of the people went silent. Some who had been lurking in the chat tried to play peacemaker.

“Oh, come on, 609. People were just joking around. No need to take it so seriously.”

“Exactly. We all live in the same neighborhood. Let’s just apologize and move on.”

I typed furiously in response, “Funny how you all are acting like good Samaritans now. Where were you when these people were slandering me?”

Finally, one of my upstairs neighbors couldn’t hold back any longer and tagged me in the chat.

“@609, what do you mean by slander? This came straight from your own family. Do you think we’d just make this up?”

My family?

I instantly thought of Delilah. But even so, it seemed too ridiculous.

Why would she do that?

At that moment, I wanted to rush over and confront her, but without any evidence, what could I do?

I took a deep breath, gathered all the screenshots, and headed to the Atlanta PD – West Precinct.

Let the police handle this.

When I explained the situation at the station, the officers took it seriously and immediately opened a case.

That same night, the neighborhood was in an uproar. Everyone who had participated in the slander was brought in for questioning. The panic was real.

One by one, they all tried to distance themselves, passing the blame around until eventually, everything pointed back to Delilah.

Some of the neighbors still had the nerve to defend themselves.

“Whose family would say such things if they weren’t true? She must have done something to deserve it.”

I still couldn’t understand why Delilah would spread such vicious lies about me. I had already moved out, just like she wanted. What more did she want?

I was trembling with rage. And then I thought about the faceless account that had started it all.

The police traced the IP address back to one place—my parents’ house.

They asked me if I wanted to continue pressing charges.

I understood that for many, family is reason enough to let things slide.

But I didn’t hesitate.

“Of course I want to press charges,” I said firmly.