They Reported Me for My Own Building,So I Threw Them All Out

At the morning meeting, an intern suddenly pulled up the security footage from the employee housing building's hallway.

On the screen, a white-haired old woman was bent over, rummaging through the garbage bags by a doorway.

And that old woman was my grandmother.

Frowning, I reached to close the video.

Instead, the intern slapped a complaint form down on the table.

"Sir, the entire staff and I are jointly filing a complaint against Pauline Delgado for moving her relatives into the employee housing, illegally occupying company living space, and disrupting the daily lives of everyone in the office."

On that form, forty-nine names besides mine were written out in neat rows, each one stamped with a red fingerprint.

I looked around at all of them and asked calmly.

"Is this really what all of you think?"

My coworkers avoided my eyes.

"Pauline, the employee housing isn't your home. Bringing people in without approval was wrong to begin with."

"Right, exactly. And you let relatives on vacation crash there too. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was your family's free hotel."

I turned in silence to my boyfriend, the boss.

"Do you think so too?"

He made no move to defend me.

"Pauline, the housing is a perk for employees. It's not your private residence."

I laughed and threw the question back.

"So what is it you all want?"

The intern tilted his chin up, pleased with himself.

"You move out of the employee housing within three days, and for all the time you occupied it in violation of the rules, you pay housing fees at hotel rates."

The other coworkers chimed in their agreement one after another.

They seemed to have forgotten that I was the one who'd heard them complain they couldn't afford rent, and lent the building to the company for free.

...

"Pauline, because you moved your relatives into the housing, you've seriously disrupted the other employees' lives. Take these three days to pack your things and move out. As for the compensation for all these years you've been occupying the housing, finance will run the numbers and notify you."

Hearing my boyfriend Glen Harding hand down his ruling, I picked up the joint complaint from the table and looked at everyone.

"When exactly did my relatives staying in the housing disrupt your daily lives?"

One of the women curled her lip.

"That older guy you brought in last time stayed in the housing and walked around the hallway shirtless every single day. He was always peeking at us girls' rooms from the doorway too. Who knows what filthy ideas he had."

The man she was talking about was my uncle Marcus Delgado, who'd come here on vacation last month. He was used to country life, but after I reminded him on the first day, he never once stepped out without being properly dressed.

And the housing units were all one-bedroom apartments with their own bathroom, so aside from coming and going to work, no one was ever out in the hallway.

And if I remembered right, the whole time my uncle stayed there, he spent his days hauling water for these women, fixing their pipes, fixing their lights. Now, in their mouths, that had become improper intentions.

Another man spoke up, just as mocking.

"And that grandmother of yours, the whole time she stayed here, she skulked around outside our doors every day, even went through the garbage bags. Don't tell me she brought her habit of light-fingered country ways along with her."

The file crumpled in my grip before I realized it, and I looked at the man mocking my grandmother.

Last month, when he collapsed from a bout of acute gastroenteritis, it was my grandmother who happened to find him and got him to the hospital. Even after he was discharged, she made him a bowl of soothing oatmeal every day.

It was because of him that she was so often out in the hallway, afraid something might happen to someone. And they'd decided she was there to steal.

The others piled on about the rest of the relatives I'd brought around, saying my cousin's dog was vicious to people. But they'd forgotten that same dog had scared off a would-be intruder for them after their late shifts.

They called my aunt a shrill, sharp-tongued woman who loved to pick fights, and conveniently forgot that when those same people got cursed to tears at the farmers' market, it was my aunt who went back with them and set things right.

Just like now. They'd forgotten that the employee housing was mine to begin with, that I'd taken pity on them and lent it to the company and to them, free of charge.

Eleanor Cobb looked at me, smug and pleased with herself.

"Pauline, those lowlife relatives of yours have caused all of us so much trouble. What could you possibly have to say for yourself?"

I looked calmly over every one of them and asked again, one word at a time.

"You honestly believe the relatives I brought here have disrupted your daily lives. Is that it?"

Not one of them raised their head to meet my eyes.

"That's right, Pauline. But you're the boss's girlfriend, so none of us dared speak up."

I nodded.

"Fine. It's my fault."

My fault for going soft back then, for ever lending them the place.

Glen gave me a satisfied little smile.

"Pauline, since you admit it, move out of the employee housing, hand every key and access card over to Eleanor to hold, and pay the back-rent you owe. Do that, and we'll consider the matter closed. I won't hold you responsible."

I let out a short laugh and looked straight at him.

"Glen, do you still remember where the employee housing came from?"

His eyes slid away from mine, and he answered, impatient.

"The employee housing was rented by the company for the staff's convenience, obviously. By the rules, misappropriating company property is grounds for dismissal. I let you stay on out of consideration for the fact that you're my girlfriend and a longtime employee. Can't you show me a little understanding and stop making a scene?"

His flustered, defensive tone told me everything. He hadn't forgotten. He just refused to admit it, and worse, he was using Eleanor to turn my building into the company's.

Eleanor lifted her chin, strutting like a proud little rooster.

"Pauline, you're the boss's girlfriend, and you led the way in openly breaking the rules. Now you're even protesting your punishment. Aren't you deliberately putting him in a difficult spot?"

Glen looked at Eleanor with approval and patted her shoulder, his meaning far from subtle.

"Eleanor, if only every woman were as understanding as you."

Eleanor took his hand outright and shot me a taunting glance.

"Boss, if I had a boyfriend as wonderful as you, I'd never let you get upset or put you in a bad position."

The two of them gazed at each other like they were about to throw off sparks, and everyone else sat there like they'd bought tickets, waiting to see how I'd react.

I stood up and spoke to the rest of them.

"Not leaving yet? Or do you want to watch a live peep show?"

Eleanor's face changed in an instant, and Glen looked deeply humiliated.

"Pauline, don't talk nonsense. Eleanor and I are completely innocent."

I nodded, unbothered.

"No need to explain. The rest of the company and I aren't fools, and we're not blind either."

Glen watched the strange looks on everyone's faces, his expression so dark it could have dripped ink.

"Pauline, this is all because I told you to move out, isn't it? You're just sulking. Fine, I'll give more ground. You can keep living in the employee housing, but you pay three thousand a month in rent, and you don't bring a single other person in."

At that, the corner of my mouth couldn't help but twitch.

Making me pay my own money to live in my own place. How very amusing.

I smiled and turned him down without an ounce of mercy.

"Sure. The moment you produce a property deed, I'll pay rent."

With that, I turned and walked out of the meeting room without a backward glance.

That night, when I got home, Grandma wasn't there. I was just about to call her when a scream tore through the air outside.

When I stepped outside, I found Grandma standing at the door of Eleanor's room.

Eleanor had a hard grip on my grandmother's arm.

"Please, ma'am, I'm begging you, give me back the gold necklace. I'll pay for it, I don't care. That necklace was my mother's. It's all I have left of her."

Eleanor's voice pulled a crowd of coworkers over to gawk. Someone asked what was going on.

Eleanor's eyes were rimmed red as she said,

"I just got back to my room and found the gold necklace my mother left me is gone. I checked the security footagethis afternoon the only person who snuck into my room was this old woman."

Grandma tried to explain, flustered.

"I was only passing by her door. It was open, and I saw the gas burner still lit inside, so I went in to turn it off for her. I didn't take a single thing of hers."

Someone shoved forward and pushed my grandmother away.

"You old thief, I knew you were up to no good. Hanging around outside our rooms every single day, just waiting for your chance to sneak in and steal."

"That necklace was Eleanor's mother's keepsake. Aren't you afraid her mother's ghost will come for you in the middle of the night?"

"Hand the necklace over. Now. Next time we catch you stealing, we're calling the police."

Grandma was so frantic she didn't know what to do with her hands, and the tears started coming.

"I really didn't steal anything. I only turned off her gas for her."

Eleanor wasn't a careless person. There was no way she'd leave for work with her door open and the gas still burning. She'd done it on purpose.

I moved quickly and put myself between them, in front of my grandmother.

"What proof do you have that my grandmother stole anything?"

A coworker gave a cold snort.

"She was the only one alone in the building, and she went sneaking into Eleanor's room. Who else could it be?"

"I said it from the startyou shouldn't have been allowed to bring shady people in here. And look now, they're stealing from us. Everybody better go back and check whether anything of yours is missing."

Grandma clutched my hand, explaining helplessly.

"Pauline, I really didn't take anything."

I patted her arm to calm her and turned to Eleanor.

"Eleanor, where did you keep your gold necklace?"

Eleanor answered like it was obvious.

"I keep it in my vanity drawer. Nobody's been in my room except your grandmother."

I nodded and took out my phone.

"Fine. In that case, I'll call the police. My grandmother says she only turned off your gas and didn't touch anything else. Let the officers lift the prints around your vanity drawer, and we'll know for sure whether she touched your things."

Eleanor's face shifted, and she snatched the phone out of my hand.

"Forget it, Pauline. It's a small thing. No need to call the police over this."

I looked at her coldly.

"My grandmother helped you out of kindness and got branded a thief for it. If we're going to look into this, let's look into it properly."

Glen came over too.

"Pauline, can you not stir up trouble every single day? Bad enough you broke the rules bringing someone in to live in the employee housing. Now you're calling the police? Do you think you haven't humiliated us enough? You've made me lose all face."

My hands curled into fists before I could stop them. Eleanor smeared my grandmother, and while the old woman was being ganged up on, Glen was nowhere to be seen. Now that he heard me mention the police, he didn't even ask a single question before turning on me for costing him face.

I looked at Glen's familiar face and felt like I was looking at a stranger.

I turned to Eleanor and pressed her.

"Did you actually see my grandmother take your necklace?"

Seeing how serious I was, Eleanor started to panic.

"Ohmaybe I've just been too busy lately and put it somewhere else. Let's just drop it."

I fixed a cold stare on her.

"Since you falsely accused my grandmother, you can apologize to her."

Glen stepped in front of Eleanor at once, shielding her.

"Pauline, don't push your luck. It's such a small thing. Do you really have to make a scene until everyone's miserable?"

I let out a furious laugh.

"My grandmother tried to help out of kindness, and she got slandered and cursed at with all of you crowding around her. If nobody's willing to apologize, then we settle it with the police."

Something vicious flickered in Eleanor's eyes as she turned, grudgingly, to my grandmother.

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I hope you won't hold it against someone younger like me."

Glen watched Eleanor take the hit and rounded on me.

"Pauline, if you hadn't broken the rules and occupied the employee housing, none of this would have happened."

I was about to argue when Grandma sighed and took my arm.

"Pauline, honey, let's go home. The pork ribs I've been stewing for you are just about done."

I knew she didn't want to put me in a hard spot, so I forced the anger down and went back to the room.

The next day, the moment I walked into the office, Eleanor stopped me.

She shoved a printout into my arms.

"Pauline, I've already put together the records of all these years you've spent bringing people in to occupy the employee housing. Figured at a hotel rate of a thousand a night, so you can just pay the company a hundred thousand in back-rent."

I couldn't help the scornful laugh that slipped out. A thousand a night, five-star hotel priceshow did they have the nerve to open their mouths.

I tossed the printout in the trash.

"I'll pay, sure. But how are you going to prove the employee housing belongs to the company? Show me the property deed, or a company lease that proves it's the company's building, and I'll pay the hundred thousand right now."

With that, I pushed past Eleanor and went into my office.

Half an hour later, my office door was kicked open.

Glen stormed in, furious, and kicked my desk. It went over onto the floor, the computer and everything on it crashing down with it.

"Pauline, have some shame. You never get enough of freeloading off the company, do you? Eleanor asks you for the housing fees and you deliberately give her a hard time. I think you just don't want to pay."

I looked over the wreckage on the floor and spoke calmly.

"Glen, does the employee housing belong to the company? Why on earth should I pay?"

His eyes darted away for a second, then he answered like he had every right.

"The employee housing has had company staff living in it for years. How is it not the company's? Don't try to change the subject. Pay Eleanor the housing fees, and apologize to her."

I gave a cold laugh and asked back,

"And if I don't?"

Glen exploded again.

"If you won't, then get the hell out of the company."

I was quiet for a few seconds, then took out the resignation letter I'd already prepared the day before.

Eleanor walked in, her eyes full of triumph.

"Pauline, are you really quitting? Jobs aren't easy to find these days. There aren't many good bosses who'll give you employee housing this nice. Otherwise renting a place would run you two or three thousand a month."

Glen was just as certain I'd back down.

"Pauline, admit you were wrong and pay the full hundred thousand in housing fees, and I'll give you one more chance."

I pointed at the resignation letter.

"Don't forget to approve it."

Then I picked up my bag and turned to leave. Glen's shout came from behind me.

"Pauline, I'll be waiting for the day you come crawling back to me."

After that, I planned to rest for a while before going back to work.

A week later, while I was buying groceries at the store, my phone rang. It was Grandma, her voice choked and frantic.

"Pauline, come home quick. Your coworkers are trying to throw us out."

I raced back to the building and found my room torn apart. Clothes dumped on the floor, everything else smashed to pieces.

Grandma, one hand pressed to her chest, reached out to stop the coworker wrecking our family photo album. He shoved her, and she went down hard, her head striking the corner of the table.

"You old wretch, faking an injury on purpose, are you?"

I rushed in, my eyes burning red.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Eleanor looked down at me from where she stood.

"Pauline, you're not an employee here anymore. That means you've got no right to live in the employee housing. You wouldn't move out, so we all decided to help you along."

The others chimed in behind her.

"Never seen a nerve like it. Fired, and she's still squatting in the company dorm."

Grandma lay on the floor, blood pooling around her. I couldn't think about anything else. With shaking hands, I called 911 for an ambulance and the police.

In under ten minutes, Grandma was lifted onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.

The officers arrived and asked what had happened.

Eleanor answered as if none of it mattered.

"Pauline's been squatting in our company dorm, disrupting all our lives. My coworkers and I were kind enough to help her move out, and instead of being grateful, they went and faked an injury to shake us down."

I turned, pulled open the drawer, and slapped the property deed down on the table.

"This whole building is mine. Why would I move? You're the ones who should be packing up."