My Neighbors' Fertility Cult Declared War on My Perfume
The first rule of living at The Serenity Crest Condominiums, as I was about to learn, was that serenity was a lie.
It arrived not as a whisper, but as a public declaration on The Crestwood Chronicle, the building’s self-important internal social app.
A notification pinged on my phone, sterile and demanding.
I glanced at it, my hand paused mid-air, a glass dropper filled with a shimmering, sun-colored liquid hovering over a crystal beaker.
The final touch for a new batch of "Solaris Bloom," the star of my perfumery, Alchemy & Aura.
The post was from a user named BabyBoyManifesting.
【Hello, my husband and I are trying to conceive. Please refrain from wearing perfume, as it may affect the fruits of our labor. Oh, and thank you in advance!~】
I blinked.
Then, a follow-up post, barely a minute later.
【Also, my husband and I take a walk downstairs every evening. We would appreciate it if all females could avoid wearing makeup, so as not to attract my husband's attention. Kisses!~】
And the grand finale.
【Oh, and one last thing, darlings. Please don’t hang your lingerie on your balconies. It’s… distracting for our marital activities. You understand.~】
I stared at my screen, the delicate scent of Sicilian blood orange and jasmine from my beaker suddenly feeling like a weapon of mass destruction.
This wasn’t a request.
It was a hostile takeover of basic human autonomy.
I put down the dropper, the golden liquid swirling.
I picked up my phone and found her post.
With surgical precision, I tapped the @ symbol next to her username.
【The psychiatric hospital is to the left of the building. The fertility clinic is to the right. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.~】
I posted it.
Then, I went back to my perfume.
Serenity, I decided, was overrated.
Justice, however, had a very appealing scent.
§01
The first day in a new apartment is supposed to be a symphony of cardboard boxes and the satisfying ache of progress.
Mine began with a warning from the building manager, a man named Mark whose smile seemed permanently strained.
He added me to The Crestwood Chronicle with a strange, almost pleading look in his eyes.
"There's a couple in 12B, the Beckers... they're trying to conceive," he'd said, his voice low. "Just... be patient with them, okay?"
The comment was odd.
What did my neighbors’ reproductive plans have to do with me?
But I nodded politely, eager to start my new life. "Of course. No problem."
Hours later, drenched in the sweat of unpacking, I emerged from a long shower and finally checked my phone. It was buzzing like an angry hornet.
A user named BabyBoyManifesting had tagged me relentlessly. It was Marlene Becker.
BabyBoyManifesting: 【To the new neighbor, miss. I saw you in the lobby earlier. Your perfume is quite strong, dear. But you’ll have to stop wearing it. It’s having a terrible effect on our household!】
I frowned.
An allergy, perhaps? That would be understandable.
I scrolled down.
BabyBoyManifesting: 【You see, my husband and I are trying to conceive. Your scent might capture his attention, and that would negatively impact our conception results. Okay?~】
My thumb froze over the screen.
BabyBoyManifesting: 【You know how men are. There's no such thing as a man who doesn't cheat. A good wife’s job is simply to help him cover up the smell of his indiscretions.~】
BabyBoyManifesting: 【You look so young and pretty, sweetie. You wouldn’t want to be mistaken for a homewrecker, would you?】
BabyBoyManifesting: 【There are plenty of men outside this building for you to dazzle with your charms. No need to start a female rivalry in here, right? It’s bad for the community’s image!】
She punctuated this with a string of grinning emojis.
I felt a dizzying mix of disbelief and rage.
Then I remembered the manager’s warning. *This* must be the woman.
Taking a deep breath, I reined in my temper and typed a response.
Odette Langley: 【I’m sorry to hear that. I understand the stress of trying to conceive, but my work is in perfumery. It’s impossible for me not to be around fragrances.】
Odette Langley: 【Which unit are you in? I’ll do my best to avoid your floor in the future.】
BabyBoyManifesting replied instantly.
BabyBoyManifesting: 【That won’t do. We lived here first. We are your seniors. It's not right for the established residents to have to accommodate a newcomer.】
BabyBoyManifesting: 【Or are you trying to deliberately provoke a conflict between my husband and me?】
I felt my sanity fraying.
Odette Langley: 【Ma'am, with all due respect, this building has hundreds of residents. You really don’t need to focus on me. I have absolutely zero interest in your marital life.】
The app fell silent for a full ten seconds.
Then, her husband arrived.
A new user, BabyGirl4MyWife, chimed in.
BabyGirl4MyWife: 【Hey, what’s your tone? Show some respect. The government is encouraging people to have more kids! It’s people like you who are causing the birth rate to decline!】
BabyBoyManifesting: 【Oh, honey, you’re the best. Always standing up for me.~】
BabyBoyManifesting: 【Attention, ladies of the building! My husband is here, so I'll say this only once. Listen up!~】
Download the Novellia app, Search 【 429173 】reads the whole book.
MotoNovel
Novellia
Bookworm« Previous Post
The Golden Child and The Unwanted Ghost