The Tenant Who Stole My Wife

On New Year's Day, my tenant Terry suddenly sent me a TikTok video.

The title was New Year's Landlord Rent Reduction Contest.

I was about to tell him that next month's rent would be completely waived when he sent another message:

Did you fucking see my message or not? Just so you know, I'm only paying a hundred next month!

Seeing his terrible attitude, I angrily replied:

"You don't need to pay next month's rent. Just get out this month."

That evening when my wife Chloe came home, she brought Terry with her.

His arm was intimately wrapped around Chloe's slim waist.

"If you won't rent the house to me, then I'll just have to move into your place."

The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

The door behind them was still open, with luggage blocking the entrance completely.

I looked at Chloe. "What's the meaning of this?"

She leaned against Terry, arms crossed, and immediately started interrogating me.

"What right do you have to refuse to rent the house to Terry?"

I laughed coldly.

"What right?"

"That house normally rents for twenty thousand. I only charged him two hundred out of consideration for you. And he still wanted to haggle!"

Houses in that neighborhood were extremely popular and had no shortage of renters.

Back then, I had already found a tenant and signed the contract, but Chloe came up and tore up the contract on the spot, breaking the agreement.

"I have a friend coming to Brooklyn. We grew up together."

"Save this house for him."

"Just charge him two hundred a month for rent to make it look good. Don't make things difficult for me."

She threw out a few sentences and left in a huff, leaving me and the prospective tenant staring at each other awkwardly.

In the end, I had to apologize profusely with a forced smile, compensating them with two months' rent before the matter was finally settled.

Chloe frowned at my words.

"Alexander, when did you become so petty?"

"I was planning not to charge anything at all. To make you feel better, I specifically had Terry give you two hundred every month. What more do you want?"

A house with an annual rent of two hundred forty thousand became an annual rent of two thousand four hundred, and Chloe still thought I was stingy.

I suddenly had nothing to say.

Moreover, the things she took from our home to give Terry every month were worth far more than two hundred.

Holiday gifts from her company, shopping cards from my company, even the fruits and home-cooked meals my mom sometimes brought overshe would pack everything up and take it to Terry.

The New Year's clothes I bought online yesterdayI never even saw them before she eagerly grabbed them and left.

"Terry's all alone in this city. It's not easy. We should help him as much as we can."

"You're a grown man. Don't be so petty."

"We're all from the same hometown. If I don't help him out, people back home will gossip about me."

For the sake of Chloe's reputation, I had endured it all before.

But today, Terry's arrogant attitude completely ignited the anger I'd been suppressing for so long.

My attitude remained cold and hard.

"Move in? Impossible."

"In this house, it's either me or him. It can't be both!"

Seeing this, Terry tugged at Chloe's sleeve with a wronged expression.

"Chloe, I should just leave. Worst case, I'll find some random place to stay tonight."

Fake sympathy. It made me sick.

"Leave? Why should you leave!"

Chloe pushed me aside forcefully and led him straight to the guest room.

Though Terry kept his head down, the smugness in his eyes as he passed me was impossible to hide.

After settling him in, she finally came over to me.

"Stop making a fuss. It's just for one night."

"Tomorrow I'll take him to look at other places."

"You wouldn't let him live in the south side place, and Terry obediently didn't insist. Did I say anything about that?"

I clenched my fist, opened my mouth, but ultimately said nothing, telling myself to endure it for just one more night.

The next morning, I received a call from the property management.

"Is this Mr. Alexander?"

My heart suddenly lurched.

"Yes, it's me."

"Could you please come over? Your house seems to be leaking and has flooded the downstairs residents."

"We can't reach your tenant and have no way to open the door."

That completely woke me up.

I hastily got dressed and rushed to the rental property.

A crowd had already gathered at the door.

Seeing me, someone angrily approached.

"You're the landlord here, right?"

I nodded.

"What's going on with your place? My ceiling started leaking last night, and this morning when I woke up, there was a layer of water on my floor!"

"We knocked but no one opened! We called out but no one answered!"

I quickly took out my key and opened the door.

As soon as I pushed it open, a foul stench hit me in the face.

I couldn't help but bend over and dry heave several times.

The onlookers outside also covered their noses.

"What's going on here?"

"How did they trash the place this badly?"

The bright floor was covered with garbage mixed with unknown stains, floating on the water's surface. There wasn't even a place to step.

The walls were painted over with black paint, and even the bedroom bed was piled high with takeout boxes.

Grease had soaked through the mattress, giving off a nauseating smell.

I followed the sound to the bathroom and found the sink faucet turned to maximum, water gushing out.

Seeing all this, the downstairs residents' faces darkened.

It was obvious this accident was deliberately caused by someone.

She waved her hand in front of her nose, her brow tightly furrowed.

"Alexander, next time you rent out the house, you need to screen tenants more carefully."

"Your tenant kept making noise late at night. My husband has a bad heart and often couldn't sleep."

"Property management reminded him several times, and we talked to him too. Who knew he not only wouldn't listen but got even worse!"

Several other households chimed in, their faces showing disgust, clearly having suffered greatly.

Someone lowered their voice.

"You should disinfect this house. I've seen that young man bring different people home. Who knows if he has any diseases!"

I nodded, suppressing my anger.

No wonder Terry had moved out without a second wordhe'd left me such a huge mess.

The downstairs resident grabbed my arm. "You have to compensate us for our losses!"

I nodded repeatedly in agreement, having already cursed Terry a thousand times in my mind.

After settling the compensation with the downstairs residents and contacting someone to handle the house, I called Chloe.

The phone rang for a long time before going to voicemail.

I called Terry's number, but again, no one answered.

The fire in my heart burned hotter and hotter. I drove straight home.

Standing at the door, I could hear chaotic noise inside, as noisy as if there were a flock of ducks.

I forcefully pulled open the door, and everyone inside instantly looked up at me.

The originally tidy living room looked like a typhoon had hit it, utterly chaotic.

Several burlap sacks were piled on the floor, muddy water seeping out from them, tracked into messy footprints.

Besides Chloe and Terry, there were several people I didn't recognize.

"Who are you?"

An old woman with her hands on her hips demanded, eyebrows raised, face full of aggression, saliva spraying onto my face.

"Is there no law anymore? How dare you barge into someone else's house in broad daylight?"

"Terry, hurry up and throw him out!"

A huge sense of absurdity washed over me.

I ignored Chloe's winking signals and said coldly.

"This is my home. Who are you?"

"If you don't get out now, don't blame me for calling the police."

"Alexander!"

Chloe shouted coldly, her voice so loud it completely drowned out mine.

She grabbed my arm and yanked me outside, closing the door partway so the people inside couldn't hear us.

"Terry's parents came today. To put their minds at ease, I told them this house was bought by Terry with his own money."

"Watch what you say. Don't let it slip!"

I forcefully shook off her arm.

"When did my house become his?"

"Yesterday you clearly said he'd only stay one night, but now lookthe whole family's moved in!"

"And the house he was living in before..."

Before I could finish, a domineering voice interrupted.

"Chloe, who's this? You know him?"

It was Terry's mother.

She leaned against the door, eyes narrowed, looking me up and down.

Chloe pulled me behind her, her hand viciously pinching the flesh on my arm. I couldn't help but hiss in pain.

"This is my husband, Alexander."

"He heard you were coming today and came specially to see you."

I started to say something but Chloe immediately covered my mouth.

Terry's mother looked at my empty hands with complete disdain on her face.

"Coming without bringing anything, empty-handed. No manners."

"Chloe, I'm not criticizing you, but if you'd chosen our Terry back then, you'd be living in a big house by now."

I struggled hard to break free from Chloe's grip and immediately shouted.

"This is MY house. All of you get out now!"

"What!"

Terry's mother's eyes widened instantly.

"Pfft!"

She spat viciously at me and pushed hard on my chest.

"Did you fall and hit your head walking around without watching? What kind of poor wretch is so eager to claim a house?"

"Terry said this is the house he worked hard to buy. You think I'm stupid?"

"Right, Chloe?"

Chloe stood behind her and glared at me angrily, her tone full of disappointment.

"Alexander, stop making a scene. No matter how much you want a house, you can't steal someone else's."

"Go home. Stop embarrassing yourself here!"

Chloe's protective words slapped me in the face like repeated blows.

"Mom, Chloe, come eat."

Terry suddenly appeared at the door.

Wearing my pajamas, holding a spatula, he looked exactly like the master of the house.

Seeing me, his face didn't even flash a hint of guilt.

"Alexander, you're here too. Perfect. Come in and eat with us."

I laughed coldly, thinking Terry's face was thicker than a city wall.

Knowing it was useless to argue with these people, I took out my phone.

Just as I pressed 9-1, my phone was slapped away by a strong force.

The screen landed face-down and bounced a few times, instantly covered with spider-web cracks, though the screen was still lit.

I bent down to pick it up, but Chloe stepped hard on the back of my hand and ground her foot.

Glass shards embedded into my palm, and a sharp pain instantly shot through me.

"Ah!"

I cried out in pain, veins bulging on my neck.

"Chloe!"

I stared at her with reddened eyes.

She snorted coldly and kicked the phone far away.

After multiple impacts, the screen went completely black and was utterly unusable.

Only then did Chloe lift her foot off my hand.

She crouched down and lowered her voice in my ear.

"It's not like we're not giving the house back to you."

"Just go find some random place to stay for now. In a couple days when they leave, I'll let you know to come back."

I never thought she would go this far for Terry, completely disregarding our marriage.

Terry's mother took the opportunity to kick me while I was down.

"Chloe, this man has no money and no looks."

"Why don't you divorce him and be with Terry? I won't mind."

As she spoke, she took Chloe's hand and placed it gently in Terry's right in front of me.

Terry laughed and pushed his mother playfully. Chloe blushed but didn't refuse.

Blood from my hand dripped onto the floor drop by drop, but Chloe never gave me a single glance.

I took a deep breath, my heart already completely dead.

"Chloe, let's get divorced."

Hearing this, she finally reacted, but her first words were still blame.

"Alexander, don't be childish. I was just joking around."

"You're a grown man. Why make such a big deal of this?"

"Terry's relatives are all here today. Don't spoil the mood!"

Her eyes held disgust and disdain, but not a trace of love.

Smugness flashed in Terry's eyes as he reached out to pull Chloe by the waist, ushering the two of them back inside.

"Forget about him. Let's go eat."

"Chloe, I made your favorite dish. You have to try it later."

Hearing this, Chloe smiled and helped Terry's mother back into the house.

The door slammed shut in my face, completely shutting me out.

Laughter and cheerful voices came from inside.

"Who was that outside?"

"Some unimportant person. Don't worry about him."

"Everyone eat and drink as you like. Make yourselves at home. Don't be shy!"

How ridiculous. It was my house, yet now I was being shut out by a group of strangers.

I clenched my fist, turned around, and knocked on my neighbor's door. It opened quickly.

The neighbor looked at me in surprise.

"Alexander, what happened to you?"

I smiled bitterly. "Can I borrow your phone to call the police?"