Chapter 75: Fay's snap

"We are here to evict you, sir," the officer responded to my question with a mix of awkwardness and determination in his eyes.

Then, as if it was some sort of theater, another man walked from where my aunt left her car, stepping into the scene like some dramatic hero of the third act, the climax of the story.

"This man here is the owner of this..." the policeman raised his eyes and took a look at the shed, "this apartment." The officer sighed. "And he complained that not only did his rent money never arrive, but he was unable to contact you for the last two weeks."

'Two weeks?' I raised my eyes a little bit. 'But I'm living here for only thirteen days?' I thought, baffled by how poorly this scheme was prepared.

"Oh, the rent?" I asked, echoing the officer's words. "You mean, the two hundred thousand bucks that were stolen from my account by my dear aunt posing as me, and sent over to that man in lieu of the monthly rent for this rundown shack?" I asked while putting a big smile on my face to cover the internal turmoil happening in my soul.

'How the heck do I know this?' I asked myself, doing my absolute best not to let my inner feelings show on my face. 'I mean, it's kind of obvious... but how did I just figure it out? And practically on the spot to boot!'

I took a deep breath and threw a short glance towards the displays of my systems.

'Maybe that knowledge and intelligence points were not wasted, after all,' I ventured a guess.

Maybe this strange ability to think a lot in what turns out to be a second or to easily see through my aunt's scheme... was related to how my intelligence was now much higher? Or maybe it was all thanks to my higher wisdom?

Sadly, as interesting as this question was, right now I didn't really have the time to think things through.

And as I raised my eyes and refocused on the officer, I found another proof to my guess. Because his face was now only changing to look how baffled he was.

"Excuse me?" the officer ended up asking, clearly failing to absorb all that I've just said.

"I'm talking about forgery, identity theft, and financial fraud," I explained while shrugging my shoulders. "Two hundred thousand. This amount of money vanished from my college account. And according to the bank, the only transactions that went through said account is the automatic deduction of varying amounts to cover my college apartment's rent fee," I revealed what I've managed to learn so far.

It was a high-class scheme for my aunt to somehow mess up with the banking system. But again, my college account wasn't with one of the major players of the financial market but with some local, small company.

A company that could easily be influenced by my aunt's social circle to cover up something like this.

"What's more, according to all the information I've gathered..."

"What the hell are you waiting for?!" my aunt finally exploded, unable to hold back from how everyone ignored her.

Just like I could expect of her. From the few years I spent living under her shoes, I learned that she believed herself and herself alone to be worthy enough to be at the center of attention.

"That's right! What the hell are you waiting for?!" the man introduced as the owner of my shack chimed in. "Kick this damn fraudster out of my place!"

"Officers," my aunt suddenly calmed down, putting back her usual, smug-karen smile. "If this continues any longer, I will have to lodge a formal complaint at your station!" she threatened the police with a triumphant smile returning to her ugly mug.

"Once I leave this place, I will hardly have any right left to challenge all that happened in relation to me renting it," I pointed out while looking at the officer... who stood further away.

'According to all the stupid series about police I've watched, he's bound to be the higher-ranking officer.'

"What were we even doing here..." the officer that stood closer only shook his head, still unable to come to terms with what was actually going on. As if the spell of confusion had just lifted from his mind, he still struggled to make sense of the current situation.

"You are here to evict this man!" my aunt, sensing that the situation was quickly slipping out of her control, made the last ditch attempt at using her fury and social standing to pressure the police.

But quite honestly, among all those on the scene... she appeared to be the most confused of them all.

As if the thought that her schemes could fail never occurred in her ugly, Karen-cut hair-covered head.

The officer in the back, though, didn't seem to take to my aunt's reaction kindly. He stepped forward, passing by his lower-ranking companion... only to fully ignore my aunt and stand right in front of me.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but the eviction itself is legitimate," he announced, to the return of a triumphant look on my aunt's face. Yet, those few days of interacting with Fay, Madam, and Leinei while constantly struggling to read their faces gave me a certain insight... An insight that allowed me to keep my calm.

"As for the crimes you've just reported, sir, I will be sure to..." the officer gave my aunt a long look. "I will be sure to go over them myself. But that still leaves the issue of eviction," he added, his face taking a turn for a helpless one...

Only to then shift right back to a happy, slightly amused smile.

"Thankfully, since you appear not to have a place to go if we kick you out of here, it is within my power to withhold the proceedings for up to two weeks," he announced, only to reach out and actually pat me on my shoulder!

'What is this strange feeling?' Sensing my soul suddenly filling up with a strange emotion, I had to put all my attention to holding back tears. 'Is this how it feels to be treated as human by strangers?'

A feeling I've lost my recollection of ever since the death of my mother. A sensation I couldn't experience when going to the school my aunt picked for me and surrounded only by the people she controlled or had ties with.

I opened up my mouth, eager to thank the man for even this tiny bit of mental support that meant the world to me...

Only to put my lips back together when I saw a lovely sight over the officer's shoulder.

A sight that screamed: "The cavalry is here!"

Before a few seconds could pass, the officers either noticed the changes on my face or heard something, turning around only to witness an entire column of black cars with shaded windows casually stroll into the area.

The black cars blocked both the police cruiser and my aunt's car, removing their option to just drive away as they wanted. And once all the cars came to a halt, a familiar person walked out from the one parked in the very middle of the column.

"What the hell is going on here?" Makary, the very first gang officer I've come into contact with, stepped out of his car.

And under his furious glance, even the two officers, people whose job it was to deal with men like Makary, started to shake.