My Neighbor -v2024-08-02- -completed-: Blackmailing

Leo didn’t sleep that night. He deleted the files. He packed a single bag. At 6:00 AM, he collected the $100,000 from Locker 117—a peace offering, or a bribe, depending on your morals.

So Leo went back to the fire escape.

But power, like a cheap high, fades fast.

Blackmailing My Neighbor Version: v2024-08-02 Status: Completed Blackmailing My Neighbor -v2024-08-02- -Completed-

“I’ll pay it back,” Richard whispered to the empty room. “Just give me forty-eight hours to run.”

A month later, Leo’s landlord raised the rent. His biggest client went bankrupt. The $50,000 was gone.

For six months, the arrangement continued. Leo bled Richard dry: $50k, $100k, $300k. Each time, Richard paid. Each time, Leo moved the money to a crypto wallet. He felt invincible. Leo didn’t sleep that night

And somewhere in a locked drawer in Richard Vance’s penthouse, there is a USB stick labeled “Leo_3B_Backup.” Just in case.

Three days later, Richard didn’t run. He stayed, pale and jittery, pretending everything was fine.

Leo pulled back into the shadows. His heart wasn't pounding from fear. It was pounding from opportunity . At 6:00 AM, he collected the $100,000 from

But on the night of the fourth demand—$500,000—Richard did something different.

Leo had lived in the shadow of 4A for three years. Not literally, but financially. Richard Vance was the kind of neighbor who made you feel poor without saying a word. Italian marble foyer? Richard paid for the upgrade. Roof garden? Richard’s name was on the donor plaque.

He couldn’t sleep. The hum of his cheap air conditioner finally died, and in the sudden silence, he heard a sound from the unit next door. Not the usual muffled television or the clink of a whiskey glass. A voice. Low. Desperate.

Leo opened the door. His hands were empty.