”What?!” I gawked at her. “You have to be kidding. Please, Dorothy, just tell me that that was a joke.”

“Here.” Dorothy whispered, dropping the paper on my hand.

I held my breath as I unfolded it. My gaze soaked in the printed words, and my stomach tightened. Was this some kind of prank? April fools when it wasn’t April? Why was I seeing words that weren’t making logical sense?

“This is impossible. No, it can’t be.” I threw the paper to the ground. “How can he increase the rent by fifty percent?! Fifty percent! Who increases rent by fifty percent?! We can’t pay that!”

It was exorbitant. Who just...