At ten o’clock at night, my neighbor from next door, whose screen name was StillWaters, suddenly tagged me in the resident group chat: 【To the fucking bitch in 705, can you tone it down a little? The whole building is supposed to listen to your bedsprings squeal all night? Are you trying to keep everyone awake?】 【My baby has a congenital heart defect. If you wake him up again, I’ll kill your whole family!】 I quickly tried to explain that I lived alone, but she refused to believe me. After a few patient attempts, I gave up and ignored her. I never imagined that two weeks later, she would burst into my apartment with a knife and stab me eighteen times. As I collapsed in a pool of my own blood, she kept slashing like a madwoman, her screams tearing through the air. “This is all your fault! My baby died last night! You’ll pay for his life with yours!” My vision blurred, and I lost consciousness. Even in death, I couldn’t understand how I had ever harmed her child. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the very day she had cursed me in the group chat. Faced with her familiar tirade, I didn’t back down. This time, I shot back with fury: “Stop your goddamn crazy talk! Your baby died three years ago!” 1 After I sent the message, the once-lively group chat fell silent. A few minutes later, my neighbor exploded: 【What the hell are you talking about, you whore? My baby is about to turn one! How dare you curse my child to die!】 【Everyone see this? The bitch in 705 can't have kids of her own, so she’s cursing other people’s!】 The other residents saw our exchange and immediately jumped to her defense: 【706, that’s way out of line. How could you say something so horrible about a child?】 Another person tried to placate her: 【Linda, calm down. We’re all neighbors here. Let’s just talk this out peacefully.】 That only made Linda angrier: 【Talk peacefully my ass! What is there to say to a slut like her? She’s just jealous that my baby is happy and healthy!】 【My baby has a heart condition! It’s a miracle he’s made it to his first birthday. The doctor said we have to be extremely careful!】 【And this whore? She’s shaking her bed like there’s no tomorrow! If anything happens to my son, she’ll be the first person I kill!】 The other neighbors piled on, their accusations aimed at me: 【Linda has a point. It’s late. You two should show some restraint.】 【Yeah, it’s ten o’clock. Give it a rest!】 Reading their messages, I felt a wave of absurdity wash over me. I’d lived in 705 alone since the day I moved in. There was no man in my apartment. As for Linda next door, her baby had died shortly after birth. How could I, with a non-existent man, possibly disturb the sleep of a child who was already dead? Just as I was about to explain, Linda started spamming the chat again: 【Are you starting up again, you bitch? Will you die if you don’t get fucked for one night?】 【Are you doing this on purpose? You don’t want my baby to live, do you? He’s fought so hard to survive, and you’re trying to kill him!】 【If he has a heart attack because of you, can you take responsibility for that?】 A few other neighbors chimed in, their messages dripping with annoyance. 【705, her kid has a heart condition. Do you really have to pick on a sick child?】 【Exactly. Linda’s a single mom, it’s not easy. The least you could do is be considerate, but instead, you curse her child.】 In my past life, I had explained over and over that I lived alone, but no one listened. Instead, Linda’s harassment escalated. I called building management, I called the police, but nothing worked. Finally, I’d had enough and went to stay with my best friend for a few days. When I returned, Linda forced her way into my apartment with a knife and murdered me. Even now, whenever I close my eyes, I can see her deranged face. The fury inside me finally boiled over. I switched to voice memo and sent a message to the group, my voice shaking with rage: “Can you just leave me the hell alone?! Your child is already dead!” 2 The group chat went silent for several seconds. I thought she’d finally shut up, but then a frantic pounding erupted at my front door. I looked through the peephole and saw Linda, her eyes wide with fury, screaming at my door. “You bitch, you’re asking for it! How dare you say my baby is dead!” “I just got him back to sleep, and you say that! Are you trying to kill him on purpose?” “If anything happens to my baby, I’ll kill you!” The commotion brought other neighbors out of their apartments. They immediately started pointing fingers at me. “Vera, you’ve gone too far! Linda’s baby is barely a year old. Have some decency!” “Exactly! You’ll have kids of your own one day. How would you feel if someone said something so vile about them?” “Picking on a baby… you’re just asking for bad karma!” Linda was still hammering on my door, her eyes bulging as if she wanted to tear me apart with her bare hands. “You goddamn bitch! Slut! Why are you cursing my son?” “I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill your whole family!” Her shrieks were piercing, drilling into my eardrums and making the late-night hallway feel terrifyingly cold. The memory of being falsely accused and then stabbed to death by this lunatic made my body tremble uncontrollably. When she screamed about killing my family, I snapped. I yanked the door open and slapped her hard across the face. “Shut the hell up! Where is this baby of yours? How come I don’t hear him crying?” “Bring your precious baby out here right now. Let me see him with my own eyes, and I will gladly be your free nanny for life!” The slap stunned her. She froze for a few seconds, then lunged at me with her nails out. I quickly dodged back into my apartment and stuck my foot out, tripping her. As the memory of my own murder flooded my mind, a fresh wave of rage consumed me. I sat on her back, grabbed her hair, and started pulling. “You like to scream? You like to bang on my door? Let’s see what you’ve got now!” Pinned beneath me, Linda could only let out strangled shrieks. “Vera, you’re an animal! This is insane! I’m calling the police!” Her cries brought the neighbors running. They swarmed in, pulling us apart and calling for the building manager. I glared at Linda, still breathing heavily, my anger far from satisfied. By my calculation, I had only been reborn for about an hour. An hour ago, I had been murdered by this very woman. How was I supposed to stay calm? But as the others held me back, they all turned on me. “Vera, you were already in the wrong, and now you’re getting physical? You think you can bully a single mother just because she’s alone?” “I never realized we had such a vicious person living on our floor!” “I’ve already called management! If you keep this up, we’re calling the cops and letting them handle it!” 3 Freed from my grip, Linda’s arrogance returned. She gritted her teeth and slapped me twice across the face, the sound echoing so loudly in the hallway that all the motion-activated lights flickered on. “You bitch! You disturb my child’s sleep, and then you dare to hit me! This is what you get!” I struggled to fight back, but the neighbors held me tight. “Are you still trying to fight? Just calm down!” Linda taunted me, her insults growing viler by the second, while the other neighbors scolded me for my lack of public decency. One woman, holding a small child, looked at me with pure hatred. “You’re a grown woman! Have you no shame? You woke up every child on this floor! Are any of us supposed to get any sleep?” “Linda is a single mother, and her baby has a heart condition! Who can stand you making all this trouble?” I fought against their grip, shouting back, “How many times do I have to explain? I live alone! What bed am I shaking? Am I shaking it with a ghost?” “And another thing—she says I woke her baby. Has a single one of you ever actually seen her baby?” My words gave them pause. A flicker of doubt crossed their faces. But Linda quickly retorted, “I just fed my baby! He’s sleeping soundly in his room right now!” I laughed coldly. “A minute ago, you said I was shaking the bed and keeping him awake. Now you’re out here screaming your head off, and suddenly he can sleep through it?” Everyone froze. The mother holding her child muttered to herself, “My baby is a pretty deep sleeper, but her kid is supposed to be sensitive to noise. How did he not cry through all that commotion?” Just then, the building manager rushed over. Hearing the argument, he immediately stepped in. “Ms. Linda, the sound you’re hearing might be coming from the aging wooden structures in your own apartment.” “If it’s convenient, we can come in and check for you now, so it doesn’t disturb the baby’s rest.” Linda, who had been so aggressive just moments before, suddenly went silent. After a long pause, she said reluctantly, “Come back tomorrow. My baby is already asleep. You’ll just wake him up with all your banging around.” I wasn't about to let her off that easily. “I think you’re just hiding something. I’ve lived here for months, and I have never once seen your child!” Linda grabbed my arm. “You keep saying my baby is dead. Fine. Let me ask you this: if my baby is sleeping peacefully in his room, what will you do then?” I didn't hesitate. “If your baby is in there, I will move out of this complex immediately. I guarantee you won’t hear another peep from me!” Linda turned to the others. “You all heard her! She said it herself!” With that, she dragged me into her apartment. “Fine! I’ll let you see him with your own eyes!” The neighbors and I followed her inside. The moment we stepped through the door, we were hit by the strong smell of milk. The living room table was cluttered with baby formula and half-empty bottles. Tiny clothes hung on a drying rack on the balcony. We walked into the bedroom. A crib, a mobile, soft floor mats, and padded corner guards—it was a perfect nursery. For a moment, I started to doubt myself. Did Linda really have a baby? She yanked me over to the crib. “Take a good look! Isn’t my baby right there?” I peered into the crib and was struck dumb. Linda was gloating. “You all heard her! Vera is getting kicked out of this building!” After she finished, she glanced into the crib herself. And then, with a choked gasp, she collapsed to the floor. Because the crib was completely empty. 4 Linda scrambled back to her feet and started tearing the room apart, muttering frantically, “Where’s my baby? Baby, where did you go?” She searched every inch of the room, but there was no child. The mother from the hallway tried to comfort her. “Linda, think carefully. Did you maybe move the baby somewhere else? A one-year-old can’t climb out of a crib by himself.” At her words, something seemed to click in Linda’s mind. Her eyes lit up. “Right! Someone must have taken him just now!” She spun around and grabbed my shoulders. “Aha! I knew it! I was wondering where your lover was. He must have snuck in and run off with my baby while we were arguing!” “Vera, if you’ve done anything to my son, I’ll kill you!” She screamed for the manager to lock down the complex. Security guards and the neighbors who knew what was happening joined the search. For over half an hour, thirty or forty people scoured the property, but they found no trace of anyone suspicious. The manager tried to calm Linda down. “Don’t worry. If the child is still in the complex, we’ll find him. If not, we have to call the police.” Linda shook her head violently. “No! We can’t call the police! It will scare the baby! My baby has a congenital heart defect!” The manager frowned. “But this is serious. You have to tell your family. What about your husband?” Linda’s reaction was even more extreme. “No! I can’t tell him yet! The baby isn’t one year old! I wanted it to be a surprise!” Her words left everyone baffled. Everyone except me. I sensed something was deeply wrong. I spoke up, my voice firm. “Her baby is no longer in this complex. You could turn this place upside down and you still wouldn't find him.” The manager’s face flushed with anger. “Did you really take her child? Do you have any idea that kidnapping is a serious crime?” A male neighbor, his face twisted in disgust, slapped me hard across the face. “You animal! This is all because Linda interrupted you and your lover, isn't it? This is your revenge!” Hearing this, Linda lunged at me, grabbing my arms in a death grip. “You bitch! My baby is so small, and he has a heart condition! How could you be so evil?” “Tell me, where is my baby?!” I gritted my teeth. “I told you. Your baby is already dead.” A collective gasp went through the crowd. They all assumed I had killed the child. They spat insults at me, calling me a heartless monster, completely ignoring my attempts to explain. Finally, the manager said, “We have to call the police.” The police arrived quickly. The neighbor across the hall from Linda provided security footage from his doorway camera. The video showed the entire sequence of events, from Linda banging on my door until the moment her “baby” disappeared. No one had entered her apartment. Next, the building management pulled footage from all the main gates. No one was seen leaving the complex with a child. After a thorough investigation, the police found no evidence that Linda’s child had been taken. In fact, over the past month, the only person seen entering or leaving her apartment was Linda herself. There was never any sign of a baby. All eyes turned back to me. Because from the very beginning, I was the only one who had been saying that Linda’s child was already dead.
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