files in server root not loading properly in Azure - azure

Question

I'm working on an app that instead of a database uses file system in the server's root directory. It's basically a note application that allows me to save notes. Each note is a serialized object of Note class represented by following structure \Data\Notes\MyUsername\Title.txt
When I'm testing this on localhost through IIS Express everything works fine and I can easily go step by step there.
However, once I publish the app to Azure, the folder structure is still there (made a test Controller that uses Directory.GetFiles() and .GetDirectories() to simulate folder browsing so I'm sure that the files are there) but the file simply doesn't get loaded.
Loading script that's being called:
public T Load<T>(string filePath) where T : new()
{
StreamReader reader = null;
try
{
reader = new StreamReader(filePath);
var RawDB = reader.ReadToEnd();
return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(RawDB);
}
catch
{
return default(T);
}
finally
{
if (reader != null)
reader.Dispose();
}
}
Since I can't normally debug the app on Azure I tried to dump as much info as I can through ViewData and even there, everything looks okay and the paths match, but the deserialized object is still null, and this is only when trying to open an existing note WITHOUT creating a new one first (more on that later)
Additionally, like I said, those new notes get saved in the folder structure, and there's a Note sidebar on the left that allows users to switch between notes. The note browser is nothing more but a list that's collected with a .GetFiles() of that folder.
On Azure, this works normally and if I were to delete one manually it'd be removed from the sidebar as well.
Now here's the kicker. On localhost, adding a note adds it to the sidebar and I can switch between them normally.
Adding a note on Azure makes all Views only display that new note regardless of which note I open and the new note does NOT get stored in the structure (I don't know where it ended up at all!) even though the path is defined at that point normally and it should save just like it does on localhost.
var model = new ViewNoteModel()
{
Note = Load<Note>($#"{NotePath}\{Title}.txt"), //Works on localhost, fails on Azure on many levels. Title is a URL param.
MyNotes = GetMyNotes() //works fine, reads right directory on local and Azure
};
To summarize:
Everything works fine on localhost, Important part doesn't work on Azure.
If new note is not created but an existing note is opened, Correct note gets loaded (based on URL Param) on Localhost, it breaks on Azure and loads default Note object (not null, just the default constructor data since it's required by JsonConvert)
If a new note is created, you'll see it on Localhost and you'll be able to open all other notes regardless, you will see only the new note on Azure regardless of note picked.
It's really strange and I have no idea what could cause this? I thought it had something to do with Azure requests being handled differently so maybe controller pushes the View before the model is initialized completely but that doesn't make sense since there's nothing async here.
However the fact that it loads a note that doesn't exist on the server it's even more apsurd and I have no explanation for that.
Additionally this issue is not linked with a session. I logged in through my phone and it showed the fake note there as well right away.
P.S. Before you say anything about storage, please note this. Our university grants us a very limited Azure subscription. Simple lowest tier App service and 5DTU SQL server and 99% of the rest is locked out of our subscription. This is why I'm storing stuff on the server, not because I believe it's the smart thing to do.