Stella headed to her home with Roger next to Fern University. It was already very late when she arrived. After all, it took a couple of hours to travel by car from Ahn City to Fern City.
When she got out of the cab, it was already half past nine.
She dragged her luggage into the neighborhood and sensed that something was wrong. This was supposed to be a safe and quiet neighborhood in the university town.
Many people were coming and going. The people living here were mostly teachers and students, so it was rare for the neighborhood to be so crowded. Stella did not think much about it. As she entered the front door of her building, a man in uniform gave her a look.
The man was dressed in gray work clothes and spoke an unknown local dialect to her. He only made a gesture to her, but she did not understand him.
There was a group of people chattering about something there. She waited for a moment and saw that the man did not say anything other than showing the gesture earlier. She stopped caring about it and went into the elevator.
When she arrived at her floor, she walked out of the elevator. After taking a few steps, she saw several people standing in front of her house and pointing at the door.
She froze for a moment. âIs there something wrong?â The group of people heard her and looked back.
They did not care about her and said in annoyance, âWeâre working here! Donât disturb us! Go away!â
The man had a heavy accent, but Stella understood him. She frowned a little. âThis is my house!â
She took the keys and walked over. âWhy are you gathered here?â
One of the men who looked like the leader looked at her and said, âThis building is a major safety hazard. All the residents have been evacuated for safety reasons.â
Stellaâs face changed. âWhat do you mean? I never received a notice. The property management didnât say anythingâ¦â
She wanted to open the door. âThis is my house. I live here.â
When they saw her reaction, they directly pulled her away and stood in front of her, blocking her. âDidnât we explain just now? There are many safety hazards here! Before the notice is taken down, no one can live here!â
Stellaâs face changed again. âThen where am I going to live? I have no place to go. You have to give me a place to stay.â
âCan you be reasonable, miss? Weâre helping you to remove the safety hazards problem. Forget that youâre not thanking us-youâre even asking us to arrange a place for you to live?â
âBut if you donât let me in, I have nowhere else to goâ¦â
âThen what do you want us to do? Should we stop our job just because of you? Do you want every resident to live in a building with safety hazards just because of you?â
âThatâs not what I meant.â
âLeave! Donât disturb us!â That man chased Stella away impatiently.
Stella did not expect such an issue. She had to calm down and ask, âWhen will you be done?â
âItâs hard to sayâ¦â
A worker surveyed around and said, âYouâll have to wait until we eliminate the safety hazards. We canât treat your safety issues lightly, can we? If you have to stay in a building with safety hazards issues, youâd feel uncomfortable about it!â
Stella finally understood. They were just giving excuses to delay her!
She knew there was no point in arguing, so she had no choice but to head to the nearest hotel. When she took out her identification to check in, she felt something strange was going on.
The receptionist had helped check her in, but after processing her check-in on the computer, she looked troubled.
The receptionist returned her identification card with an awkward look. âMiss, Iâm sorry. Your ID isnât valid now, so I canât check you in.â
âWhy?â
The receptionist shook her head. âIâm not sure, but your ID doesnât match the security system on our computer. Itâs considered an unidentified check-in. The hotel has rules against this, so we canât check you in.â
Stella slowly clenched her first and thought of Weston.
She had known he would not let her go that easily. He did it on purpose! Everything from the group of people standing in front of her building and the hotel might all be his doing