Chapter 99 Neighbor

Chapter 99 Neighbor

The urgent knocking interrupted Jonathan's thoughts. Irritation surged within him as he said impatiently, "Come in."

Seeing Isabella, he barely suppressed his anger and murmured, "So flustered and hasty. What's wrong with you?"

Isabella quickly apologized, then anxiously held her phone up to him. "Father, look at this!"

When he saw Olivia's name on the design competition semifinalist list, Jonathan's eyes widened in shock. "How did she make it to the semifinals?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he changed his tone, his voice softening. "Well, this is actually a good thing."

Although Olivia was unfilial, she was still part of the Harper family. If she could place in the competition, it would bring honor to the Harper family.

Seeing Jonathan's attitude change so quickly, Isabella was furious inside.

She forced down her rising malice and pretended to remind him with difficulty. "Father, I'm happy for Olivia too, but I remember she clearly didn't receive a semifinal invitation... Could this be a mistake?"

Jonathan didn't care much and replied casually. "Her name's already on there. We'll just go along with it. It's the organizers' oversight anyway."

"Father, I asked friends who made it to the semifinals, and they all received invitations. You need the invitation to get in, but Olivia doesn't have one..."

She looked conflicted, hesitating. "I heard Layla is one of the judges, and they seem so close. Could it be that..."

Even so, Jonathan still showed no reaction.

If Olivia could really connect with Layla, that would be good for the Harper family too.

Isabella was almost driven crazy by his indifference. With no other choice, she got straight to the point. "Father, the organizers are known for their strict verification process. I'm mainly worried that if this gets exposed, it might affect the Harper family's reputation."

Hearing about affecting the Harper family, Jonathan's expression immediately darkened. Just as he was about to contact Olivia to order her to withdraw from the competition, Albert, who had been eavesdropping at the door, finally couldn't help but burst in to stop him. "Father, there's no evidence that Olivia advanced through other means. We shouldn't jump to conclusions!"

"I visited her at Titan Enterprises. She's a team leader now, handling quite a few design projects. I think she can handle it. We should trust her more and try to understand her."

After following Olivia yesterday, Albert realized that where they couldn't see, she'd already learned to handle things on her own. They shouldn't restrict and tie her down like before—that would only backfire and make their relationship worse.

Isabella didn't expect Albert to speak up for Olivia. Jealousy instantly flared up.

She pinched her thigh hard. The sharp pain came, and her eyes reddened. She spoke with grievance. "Albert, don't blame Father. I was just worried Olivia might go astray, so I mentioned it."

"You're right. I shouldn't have been biased against Olivia. I was being petty." She sniffled, her voice choking. "I just didn't expect Olivia to improve so fast... I'm too stupid, always thinking Olivia's progress was similar to mine..."

"That's not your..."

Before Albert could finish, a cup came flying at him. "You bastard! Your sister was just trying to help!"

He dodged, and the cup shattered at his feet.Jonathan scolded. "Now you even dare to side with that bastard Olivia against me!"

"That's not what I meant..." Looking at the tearful Isabella and the furious Jonathan, Albert suddenly understood some of Olivia's past grievances.

The conversation ended with Albert being scolded.

Meanwhile, after finishing work for the day, Olivia made her way home.

Her stomach growled with hunger as she rubbed it and fumbled for her key.

After entering, she collapsed straight onto the sofa, her heavy eyelids slowly closing as she could no longer hold them up.

Noisy children's voices from next door suddenly broke out, snapping Olivia awake just as she was drifting off.

So noisy... Where are these kids from?

She groggily opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling, her sluggish brain throbbing.

The earplugs were useless against the noise. With no other choice, Olivia endured it until sleep finally overtook her.

The next day, Olivia overslept.

She rushed out the door. The moment she opened it, the door caught a garbage bag nearby. The bag tore, and some liquid spilled out, leaving a trail by the doorway.

Olivia didn't stop moving her legs. By the time she realized what happened, she had already stepped in the liquid.

"Whose garbage is this?" She was a bit confused.

"Ma'am, it's from my place." Just as she was wondering, the door next to hers opened. A middle-aged woman holding a child said with a grin. "I have to take care of three kids, I really can't spare a hand. Since you're going downstairs anyway, could you take the garbage down for me?"

"We're neighbors, we should help each other out. Thanks!" As soon as she finished speaking, she closed the door, giving Olivia no chance to refuse.

Looking at the dirty floor by her door and the seven or eight bags of garbage piled by the entrance, Olivia's face fell.

She kicked the garbage bags back to the neighbor's door, then knocked and said loudly. "Hello, please deal with the garbage at your door promptly, and the liquid at my door."

After getting her message across, Olivia headed to the company.

Although the new neighbor was rude, she didn't take it to heart, thinking they were just too busy and had no sense of boundaries. But she never expected that when she came home after midnight, those bags of garbage were still piled at her door, with even more delivery boxes added.

Olivia closed her eyes, feeling her headache worsen.

She tried knocking on the neighbor's door to communicate, but not only did they refuse to cooperate, they even scolded her.

She didn't want to argue with them and turned to contact the landlord, asking him to handle it.

The landlord replied quickly, but with nothing but evasive, responsibility-dodging words.

Olivia was so angry she called the landlord on the spot. "This is so unethical of you! I'm your tenant, and you're telling me to handle it myself? Don't forget when we signed the contract..."

"I've got something going on here, let's talk later!" Before she could finish, the landlord made an excuse and hung up.

When she called again, he played dead and wouldn't pick up at all.

The frustration stuck in her chest, making Olivia's face flush red.

At that moment, a cup of water was suddenly handed to her. The front desk staff of the residential building said gently. "Ma'am, I know you're angry, but take my advice—don't make too much of it."

She looked around cautiously and lowered her voice. "That family has been like this since they moved in two years ago. They're either disturbing others or being unsanitary, making the hallway filthy. Many people complained before, even called the police, but they haven't changed at all."

"They bullied the previous tenant so much, she ended up breaking her lease. You can't win against them." The receptionist spoke earnestly.

That may be true, but Olivia still felt indignant.

But what she didn't expect was that before she could think of a way to fight back, the neighbors suddenly went quiet. They moved their shoe cabinet in the hallway inside, stopped piling garbage at the door, and were quiet at night, becoming incredibly well-behaved.