BossNovelEverything happened way too fast.
Lester, quick on his feet, managed to raise an arm in defense, but he still couldn't avoid the sneak attack entirely
a blast of pepper spray left one of his eyes stinging and blurry.
Sylvia glanced outside, startled. "Ms. Ward? What are you doing?"
Ms. Ward froze in the hallway, realizing who she'd just sprayed. The canister slipped from her hand and clattered
to the floor.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! | didn't know it was you guys!"
Sylvia's gaze dropped to the rolling can on the floor. Pepper spray-of course.
She quickly ushered Lester inside, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and helping him rinse his eye.
Thankfully, he'd blocked most of it, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
After a couple minutes, Lester took the towel Sylvia handed him and dabbed at his face. "I'm okay. Really."
Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief, pulling out her phone to order sover-the- counter eye drops for same-day
delivery.
Then she finally turned to Ms. Ward, who was standing in the foyer looking as guilty as a kid caught sneaking
cookies before dinner.
"Ms. Ward, what happened?"
"Didn't you hear?" Ms. Ward said, wide-eyed. "There have been reports about single women in our area being
followed. It's been all over the news. | felt like someone was tailingtonight, so I-" She shot an apologetic look
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtat Lester. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sanford."
Lester managed a small laugh. "It's alright. But are you sure someone was following you?"
Ms. Ward nodded emphatically. "Ever since | got scammed by that guy last month, I'm super cautious around
men. | don't even let the delivery drivers bring food up to my apartment anymore. Yesterday, while | was picking
up my dinner downstairs, | saw this man hanging around the entrance, glancing inside like he was looking for
someone."
"| asked who he was looking for, and he said he was working on renovations in the building next door. I didn't
think much of it at the time."
She took a shaky breath. "Tonight, | got off the bus early to buy apples from the fruit stand near the entrance,
and | saw him again. He followedall the way back."
"If he really was a contractor, there's nothing strange about him coming in, but then | remembered yesterday, he
leaned in to look at my takeout and asked what it was, how it tasted. | think he was trying to see how much food
| ordered, maybe how many sets of utensils, to figure out if | live alone."
Listening to her, Sylvia could understand why Ms. Ward was so on edge.
She scrolled through the building's group chat on her phone and saw three new
community alerts-reminders not to open the door for strangers.
She'd been so slammed with work lately that she'd missed the updates.
Handing her phone to Lester, she sighed. "Look at this."
Lester scanned the posts, then nodded, giving Ms. Ward a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, really You should get some
rest its late Don't worry about me.
Ms. Ward still looked mortified, but when she met Lester's eyes, something seemed to click.
"I'll head back, then. | need to check my door locks. Sorry again for the trouble," she said, already edging out the
door.
Sylvia realized what Ms. Ward was
probably thinking and felt
flush
but the woman already
had Cheeks
made her escape, hustling down the
hall.
Sylvia gave Lester an awkward smile. "You should sit down. The eye drops should be here soon."
He nodded, holding up her phone. "I'm just gonna use your bathroom, if that's okay."
"Of course."
No sooner had Lester closed the bathroom door than the doorbell rang.
Sylvia checked the peephole, her
nerves on edge, apdogly opened lp
[
when she 6aw frie delivery guy. The
content is on novelenglish.net! Read
the latest chapter there!
He looked at her for a second, then
apologized. “Sorry, | Tonal the
stairs * pysted Vol ag. Can you
chetk if anything's missing? If so, I'll
make it right." The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Sylvia looked down at the torn bag, but everything seemed to be there. "Nope, we're good. Thanks."
"Great. Please leave a good review," the delivery guy said, peering past her into the apartment.
Sylvia felt a prickle of unease and shifted to block his view, then quickly closed the door.
She was still frowning as she headed
back to the living r ni-pagiohand,
j tas WE 49) from the
AMIN The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
