Chapter 4 - MRS. CHEN’S OBSERVATION
Three days into the digital siege, our building's eighty-two-year-old resident informant, Mrs. Chen, knocked gently on my apartment door. Barely five feet tall and equipped with an uncanny awareness of every tenant's schedule, she offered a pleasant smile that instantly turned my blood to ice. “Your blonde friend is very sweet,” Mrs. Chen remarked casually, adjusting her floral sweater. “The one asking when you work”.
My skin went cold as I forced myself to maintain a neutral expression, asking which friend she meant. Mrs. Chen elaborated that a glamorous blonde woman had been lingering in the lobby, casually questioning building staff and neighbors about my weekly courtroom hours under the guise of planning a "surprise visit". The realization that Jasmine was physically mapping out my residential routines drove home the terrifying reality that my private sanctuary had been compromised from the inside out.
