Chapter 2: The Fake Evidence
The deadbolt clicked again.
Jess and I froze.
“Maya?” A voice called. “It’s just me, Mrs. Alvarez from 3A. Your door was open.”
We exhaled. Too soon.
Mrs. Alvarez held out a manila envelope. “This was under my door. It’s got your name on it.”
Inside were printed screenshots. More fake party pics. A Venmo charge for “damages” I never made. A text thread where “I” admitted to breaking the lease.
“It’s all fake,” Jess said, but her voice shook. “Tyler’s framing us.”
I called the cops. They said it’s a “civil matter.” I called the landlord. Voicemail.
I called Tyler. Straight to voicemail.
“Okay, new plan,” I told Jess. “We prove Unit 4B is the real mess. We get timestamps. We find the real tenants.”
Jess was already pulling up Instagram. “Uh, Maya? 4B just posted a Story. From Cancun. Caption: ‘Landlord who? 😂’”
I grabbed my keys. “We’re going to 4B. Right now.”
We ran down the hall. The door to 4B was cracked open. Music thumped inside.
I pushed it — and stopped cold.
The place was spotless. Like, model-home clean. And sitting on the couch, sipping wine, was Tyler.
With the landlord.
And they were watching our TikTok. Laughing.
May you like
Tyler looked up at me and smiled. “Took you long enough.”
To be continued…
