I'm actually lying flat on the floor! Wait—there isn't even a floor anymore. Did Lillian rip it all up just to mess with me?! Maisie's scream jolted the other three awake. As soon as their eyes opened, they froze in shock. "What's happening?!" "Where's my nightstand? My slippers? My bed?!" "Where did all the personal stuff go?!" Lillian and Jacob stumbled out of the room and rushed downstairs, only to be stunned again. The whole villa was stripped bare. Every cabinet was emptied and every appliance was gone. There weren't even any chandeliers, tiles, or a front door left! Rosalie came out after them, rubbing her eyes in disbelief. "Mom! How did our house turn into an empty shell?!" While they stood dumbfounded, Maisie, hair in a mess, stormed out of the guest room and yelled furiously, "Lillian, you shameless witch! How dare you—" She cut off mid-yell, frozen. "Did we ... get robbed?" Rosalie's eyes filled with tears. "Grandma, this feels more like a haunting." And it wasn't just their house. That morning, the whole neighborhood was in chaos. The difference? Instead of things going missing, the other houses were suddenly stuffed with an extra thing.Except for Whitney, Theodore, and the few who hadn't trashed Scarlett, every house had a note on the door. "Live peacefully and stop spreading rumors! Better apologize to the departed before eating, or you might get poisoned." Everyone stared at each other. Seeing the note on their doors, their first reaction was to check food and supplies. Shockingly, nothing important was missing—only some random emerald jewelry had disappeared. They breathed a sigh of relief, but the unease didn't leave. Every door and gate had been locked. So how could anyone have gotten in? No one knew when the intruder slipped inside and left the note. If that person had come for their food—or even their lives ... Everyone shivered at the thought. The words "rumors" and "the departed" on the paper made it clear who was behind it. Natalie was warning them. This time, she only swiped some useless emerald as a minor scare. Next time, she might kill them. Since nobody could figure out how she got inside, no one dared ignore what the note said. What if she did poison something? What if refusing to apologize meant death? Some people, scared and cautious, actually prayed and begged Scarlett for forgiveness before eating. Some people didn't believe it, scowled, and threw the note away. But they still chose not to cross Natalie again. Whether she acted alone or with Cassian, the fact that she could sneak in without a trace was enough to terrify them. After that, Natalie finally had some quiet in the neighborhood. But of course, not everyone knew when to stop. At Ashford Villa, Lillian was the first to snap out of her shock. Her face was dark. "It had to be Natalie, right?" Last night, Jacob was still angry at her reckless plans before going to bed. He snapped back, "What do you think she is? A fairy? She can just slip in and wreck the house without us noticing?" Lillian gritted her teeth. "Then who else could it be? Don't tell me it's ghosts!" Jacob glanced around speechlessly. It made no sense! There were four people inside. How could someone tear up the floors, take down chandeliers, and even remove doors without a sound? Did everything just vanish into thin air? Just then, Rosalie burst out of the basement, crying out, "It's over! Dad, Mom—our food is gone!" "What?!" Lillian and Jacob rushed down in shock. Maisie followed, sobbing and cursing, "Oh my god! Who would do this? Are they trying to starve us?!" When they reached the basement, every bit of food and supplies had disappeared. The rest of the villa was stripped bare too—even the gym mirrors were gone. It was unreal. Jacob ran to the storage room and saw that his stash of gold was gone. He completely broke down. To him, antiques were for peaceful times, but gold meant survival. In chaos, gold could be money itself. That was his last hope for the future. But now? Forget the future—they didn't even have food for the day.