Livestream Says Rich Neighbor Innocent, I Insist He Seduced My Wife

Our new neighbor is a good-looking idiot who's always parking his Ferrari in my parking spot by mistake. Every time I angrily call him to move it, he politely apologizes. Then, ten minutes later, right on schedule, he comes down and moves the car. It annoyed me, but I felt too awkward to make a scene. That evening, I finished my work early and headed home, even though I was supposed to be working overtime. And once again, I saw that Ferrari parked in my spot. It reminded me of a conversation my coworkers had been having at work, about the tricks cheating wives use—one of them being to have their lover deliberately park his car in their own parking spot. My fists clenched. I didn't call the number on the rich kid's car to have him move it. Instead, I pulled a steel pipe I'd prepared in advance out of my trunk, ready to go up and kill this adulterous pair. The livestream chat scrolled like crazy. What is the male lead trying to do? So the rich kid parked in the wrong spot—that's no reason to kill anyone! Why does he look to me like he's about to catch someone cheating? Male lead, please don't think that way! Your wife and he are innocent! That rich young guy is handsome and kind—how could he ever be the kind of homewrecker who ruins someone's family? He really just parked in the wrong spot! I gave a cold laugh, dragged the steel pipe along in my hand, and pressed my thumb to the fingerprint lock on my own front door. ... "Verification failed! Fingerprint not recognized!" "Verification failed! Incorrect password!" "Multiple incorrect password entries detected. Suspected unauthorized intrusion. Emergency alarm activated!" A piercing alarm blared through the whole hallway. I hefted the steel pipe and started smashing it against the door lock. Soon everyone on the floor was awake. Finn from next door was the first one out. When he recognized me as the one banging on the door, his temper flared up even hotter than before. "Piers, why aren't you asleep? What are you smashing at in the middle of the night?" "Catching a cheater," I answered flatly. Finn was startled, and instinctively denied it. "Come on, really? Your wife seems like such an honest, decent person—every day it's just work and home, work and home..." "So who's the other man?" Finn's eyes lit up with gossip. I didn't even lift my head as I told him. "Hilary Delgado." Finn was stunned. "The Hilary Delgado in 1301? The rich guy with the Ferrari?" "Piers, I'm not saying this to knock you down." "Mr. Delgado's decked out in designer labels head to toe—the gifts he hands out to neighbors cost more than my whole pension. You really think he'd go for your wife?" I used to think the same thing. I'm Piers Perry, just an ordinary office worker. My wife, Hilary, is just a waitress at a restaurant. Average abilities, average family. And a face so plain you'd have trouble finding her again once she stepped into a crowd. Hilary Delgado is six-two, with a model's build, a movie star's face, and money. Why would he want my wife—barely five feet, a hundred and thirty pounds? But my coworkers said that the more unlikely a pairing is, the more sparks it throws off. And on top of that, that scumbag parks his car in my spot every single day. If he isn't my wife's lover, then who is he? I swung the steel pipe even harder, while the chat begged me to stop right now. Male lead, stop losing your mind! We know you love your plain little wife, but honestly, nobody but you has that kind of appetite! No matter how desperate that rich young guy got, he'd still book some busty, slim-waisted escort, wouldn't he? Even the cleaning ladies from building management are better-looking than your wife! I just came to watch an ordinary couple's daily life—don't get the whole book banned! The chat was one long wail, all of them calling me love-brained, deranged, mistaking a pig for a treasure. But the more they said it, the more certain I became that Hilary Delgado was using parking in the wrong spot as a cover to sleep with my wife! I was going to kill them both!

Bang! I smashed the keypad lock. I immediately set to work, forcing off the lock that was in my way. When it wouldn't come off, I bashed the door panel with the steel pipe in my hands. Soon I'd knocked several big dents into the security door. Only then did Finn realize I wasn't joking, and he quietly slipped back inside to call building management. But the instant he closed his door, I jammed the steel pipe into the gap. The dark steel pipe stopped less than an inch from his eyes. Finn was so frightened he collapsed to the floor. "Piers, you... you mustn't do anything rash." "Never mind that your wife and that rich Mr. Delgado are a total mismatch. Even if the two of them really did have something going on, I'm not the one who set them up..." I cut him off flat. "Do you have an axe?" Finn didn't dare say a word. I walked straight into his kitchen. I remembered he liked to buy beef marrow bones for soup. Every morning at six sharp, without fail, he'd get up and chop bones with an axe. I'd complained about it plenty of times. Sure enough, I found the axe in the kitchen. I carried it back to my own front door and brought it down hard on the security door. Finn, hands shaking, dialed building management. "Somebody come quick! Piers from 1302 has lost his mind!" "He keeps saying Mr. Delgado and his wife are having an affair! He wants to kill them both!" Building management showed up fast. Seeing that I'd already hacked the door half through, the man stopped me. "Mr. Perry, please calm down. What you're doing is against the law!" My answer was simple and blunt. "It's against the law for me to go into my own home?" The guard blinked, a little stunned. "But you still can't hack it open with an axe, right?" "It's the middle of the night, everyone's asleep. If you want to get in, you can knock or use your key..." My voice shot up in an instant. "My wife is cheating on me!" "With that shameless pretty boy next door!" "They locked me out and carried on their affair using some lame excuse about parking in the wrong spot—they've fooled me for three whole months!" "I'm going to kill them!" The guard was shocked. "Mr. Perry, you're joking, right?" "Mr. Delgado and your wife... how is that even possible?" "I've seen his girlfriend. She's gorgeous, like a celebrity. There's no way she'd be with your wife..." "I know you're mad your spot got taken again, but Mr. Delgado didn't do it on purpose." "I'll call him right now and have him move the car." I lunged forward and hurled the guard's phone to the ground, roaring at him. "Don't call! If you call, that pretty boy will get the tip-off and run!" "They've lied to me all this time, played me for a fool! Anyone who tries to stop me tonight, I'll cut them down too!" I raised the axe and swung it wildly at the guard in front of me. The guard, who I'd nearly hit by accident, didn't dare argue anymore. All he could do was back off and call the police. The livestream chat was scrolling faster than before. Male lead, calm down! Your wife really didn't betray you! The rich young guy is inside her own place too—go knock on the door if you don't believe it! Unbelievable. One phone call or a knock would settle it, so why keep hacking at the door with an axe? This guy has probably wanted to kill his wife for a long time. All this affair-and-betrayal stuff is just his excuse to murder her, right? I didn't respond. I kept hacking at the door with the axe. They wouldn't understand me. They had no idea how much I loved my wife. How good things were between us. That's exactly why his betrayal was even more unforgivable! It could only be me, ending them with my own hands!

Bang, bang, bang! Several more heavy blows landed on the security door in front of me. The already flimsy panel split wide open. I carried the axe into the home I knew so well. It was dark and silent all around. The security guard wanted to stop me, but he was wary of the axe in my hand, so all he could do was try to talk me down. "Mr. Perry, look, there are no lights in the living room. Nobody's home." "We all know Mr. Delgado. He's handsome, kind, and generous." "He paid out of his own pocket to install streetlights in the complex, and he even donated parcel lockers to make things easier for the commuters." "Don't you always say he's a good guy, nothing like those pretentious show-offs out there who look down on poor people?" "Maybe this is all a misunderstanding. It'll be fine once you talk it out. Put the axe down first..." The guards tried to slip the axe out of my hand, but I told them to get out. I didn't forget to add, "Being handsome and kind doesn't stop a man from wrecking someone's family. You can't take his side just because he did you a favor!" "Get out! Or I'll send you all to hell first!" The guards couldn't budge me, so they had to back out of the doorway. I reached the master bedroom door. The livestream chat was still trying to talk me down. Stop it, man! Didn't you see for yourself there's nobody home? Your wife really didn't cheat, and the rich kid isn't interested in her either. What you should do right now is go take a shower, then have a nice good sleep, and stop letting your mind run wild! I ignored it. I just stared at that faint, almost imperceptible sliver of light coming through the crack of the master bedroom door. I gripped the axe tight. I walked toward it, step by step. My palms were sweating. But just as my hand landed on the doorknob, the instant I was about to push the door open and go in— Several officers appeared behind me. They grabbed my wrist and slammed me down to the floor. The axe slipped from my hand, and I roared like an enraged beast. "Let me go! My wife is cheating on me! I'm going to kill this pair of adulterers!" The officers stayed calm. "Mr. Perry, we've already gotten in touch with your wife. She didn't cheat on you—she's just working some unexpected overtime." "And there's nothing improper going on between her and Mr. Delgado." "If this is only about someone taking your parking spot, we can help mediate. There's no need to be screaming about killing anyone." But I flatly refused to accept it. "You don't know a damn thing! That pair of adulterers is right in there in the master bedroom!" "Covering for a wife who steps out and the other man who wrecks a family! Do you people have any conscience at all?!" Left with no choice, the officer opened the master bedroom door right in front of me. The room was empty, nothing but one lonely bedside lamp. Afraid I still wouldn't believe him, he even dialed my wife's number right in front of me. "Honey, I'm out working a night shift. I could see how busy you were with work, so I didn't tell you." "Please stop this. How could anything ever happen between me and Mr. Delgado?" I bit down hard on my lip and abruptly hung up the phone. "That call was fake! The person on the other end isn't my wife!" "That pair of adulterers—they've got to be hiding in the house!" I rushed into the master bedroom and tore through it like a madman. The wardrobe, under the bed, behind the curtains—I didn't even spare the spot outside the window where the air conditioner unit was mounted. Several officers moved in to pull me away, but I laid the axe across my own throat. I warned them that if they took one more step closer, I'd spill my own blood right there on the spot. The mood froze in an instant. The livestream chat was cursing me for being a complete idiot. Even people from the other buildings heard the commotion and came over to watch the show. Then, all of a sudden, the door of 1301 next door opened. Hilary Delgado, immaculately dressed, asked sleepily, "What's going on out here? Why all the noise?"

The air went dead quiet. The officer looked at Hilary Delgado, who had suddenly appeared, as if he'd found his savior. He quickly pulled him in front of me and said. "Mr. Perry, you saw it, didn't you?" "Mr. Delgado's right here in his own home. He never went out, and he's not with your wife." The building manager stepped in to smooth things over too. "Parking in the wrong spot all the time really does damage neighborly relations." "Since Mr. Delgado happens to be here, how about we act as witnesses and have you and Mr. Delgado swap parking spaces, once and for all?" Hilary Delgado's face wore just the right amount of confusion. But as always, once the building manager spoke up, he apologized to me with a face full of remorse. "Did I take the wrong spot again? I'm so sorry." "Why don't we go with the manager's suggestion and swap our two spaces." "And you don't need to pay me the difference. Consider it my apology to you." Hilary Delgado gave a gentlemanly smile. The neighbors beside me told me to let it go, too. "Mr. Delgado's already apologized. We're all neighbors here, no need to make it this ugly." "Exactly, how many gifts did he send over to your place after he moved in? The gifts during the renovation alone were probably worth more than half a year's pay for you and your wife, right?" "He gives you a parking space that big for free, plus a charging station worth several thousand, and you should just count your blessings!" "And you spread rumors that he's got something going with your wife." "Have you even looked at what your wife looks like? Any female toad you grabbed off the roadside would be better-looking than her, right?" "Ugly people always make the most trouble! Falsely accusing handsome, kind-hearted Mr. Delgado, are you out of your mind?" Their coaxing quickly rose to the level of personal attacks. Hilary Delgado finally understood why tonight's mess had blown up so big, even bringing out the police. It was because I'd misunderstood, thinking he was using the wrong-parking-spot excuse to have an affair with my wife. But instead of getting angry, he actually spoke up for me. "Everyone, ease off. I know Mr. Perry didn't mean it." "He's just upset that I keep taking the wrong spot and causing him trouble." "Put yourself in his place. If someone kept bothering me like this, I'd be unhappy too." "I'm sorry, Mr. Perry. I've caused you trouble." Hilary Delgado apologized to me sincerely. He even went ahead and transferred over a sum of money as compensation. The livestream chat started taking his side, too. Stop making a scene, male lead. The rich guy's already apologized, what more do you want? Nobody's trying to steal your wife, can you act normal? I really can't stand these crazy cheating-obsessed types. Can the cops lock him up for a few days? I was the only one staring at the glaring 13140 on the screen. I raised the axe in my hand and brought it down hard at Hilary Delgado. Hilary Delgado screamed. The officer beside us pulled us apart in that same instant. But the axe in my hand still landed on his forearm. Clutching his wounded forearm, Hilary Delgado looked wronged. "Mr. Perry, I really don't know what I did to offend you and make you this angry." "If it's about the parking space, I can apologize." "Or name a figure, and as long as it's reasonable, I'll pay it." "But you actually raised a hand against me, even tried to kill me. This is too much!" The officer angrily pulled out his handcuffs, ready to slap them onto my wrists. "Mr. Perry, you're suspected of intentional assault. Please come with us!" I was the only one standing in front of Hilary Delgado, speaking coldly to his wronged face. "Stop pretending. My wife's in your place, isn't she?" With that, I ignored Hilary Delgado's attempts to stop me and forced my way into his home. I gave the wall shared between the two units a light push. The next second, everyone gasped and clapped their hands over their mouths!