Chapter 11
My phone screen cast a pale glow across my face, my fingertips white from gripping it too hard.
In all three years of high school, Gemma and I barely had beef–we barely had interactions, period.
She was gorgeous, popular, always center stage at talent shows and surrounded by admirers of all genders.
I was just some bookworm nerd, basically human wallpaper in her world.
But precisely because she was so popular, she started staying out all night before we even graduated, cycling through boyfriends like they were seasonal accessories.
And if I remember correctly, she didn’t even hit the minimum score for a four–year college and had to repeat senior year just to get into some diploma mill.
Where does she get the audacity to claim I “got her leftovers p>
And ME begging HER to sell me chocolates?
I almost laughed out loud.
I’d actually tried this chocolate brand during a business trip once.
High–quality ingredients, flavors that hit for all age groups.
So when I found out she got the distribution rights, my first instinct was to help her business.
Never imagined that my favoritism and support would be twisted in her mind into some calculated charity flex.
Reading these poison–laced posts, whatever soft spot I had for our old classmate bond got completely obliterated.
I kept scrolling.
The comment section’s vibe was shifting as Gemma kept trauma–dumping.
More and more bitter people started relating to her:
[Babe, I totally get it! My cousin used to be broke AF until she married rich, now she shows up to family events with designer bags just to stunt on us p>
[Feel for you, girl. At least you’re being real about what most people actually think–all you virtue signaling Karens, can you honestly say you’ve never been jealous of someone doing better than you p>
Just for keeping it 100 about having dark thoughts, I’m team her! ]
Gemma was liking every comment that backed her up:
[ EXACTLY! Virtue signalers can shut up! I posted this asking for advice on how to humble her, not for your moral lectures! Don’t like it? Keep scrolling p>
Someone dropped some tactical advice:
(Just send her fake products! When the employee gifts are trash, that manager position is GONE p>
But Gemma wasn’t stupid:
[Can’t do that! The contract’s ironclad, products ship direct from the manufacturer. Even if I wanted to mess with it, I couldn’t! Plus if the manufacturer found out I was selling fakes, the penalty would bankrupt me p>
Digging through thousands of comments, she finally struck gold:
[Babe, if you just want her fired, that’s actually super easy! ]
Chapter 2
Gemma was immediately hooked:
[Spill the tea, bestie p>
The commenter laid out the whole scheme:
[Big corporations are STRICT about procurement departments. One whiff of kickback drama and they’ll throw the book at her, catch my drift p>
Gemma seemed confused:
[What do you mean? I’m already cutting her a sick deal because of the volume–making barely 100K on this whole thing. Now I gotta give HER kickbacks too?! She didn’t even ask! ]
The commenter sent a smirking emoji:
[Ever heard of entrapment? She’s not asking, but you can offer! Can’t catch fish without good bait. Then you report her! She gets fired, you get every penny back, and if you give her enough, she might even do real time p>
My blood ran cold.
This was absolutely diabolical.
The next second–Gemma texted me:
[Babe, thanks for looking out for my little business! Just talked it over with hubby–how about I kick back 20% under the table? ]
With a cute baby emoji.
Made my skin crawl.
If she was just venting her twisted feelings online, I could maybe understand–chalk it up to being broke for too long and going crazy with envy.
But this text was basically a declaration of war-
She wasn’t just talking shit, she was about to actually try to destroy my life!
I was about to tell her to forget the whole deal–I could eat the $20K deposit.
But wait-
How much did she just say?! Discover more novels at.net
Twenty percent?
On a $1.8 million contract, that’s $360K p>
Seems like this chick is willing to bankrupt herself just to send me to prison!
Well, since she’s going that hard…
Guess I’ll have to ask for the moon:
[That’s lowkey insulting. The profit margins on chocolates are insane, right? How about 30 p>
Gemma took forever to respond:
[Girl, 30 % is really pushing it … how about we just call it an even $500K?] (Crying kid emoji)
I sent back an OK.
[I’ll have finance send the first payment this afternoon. Get the manufacturer to ship ASAP p>
Sara Lili
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.