Chapter 2
That night, I had just settled into bed when my phone rang. It was Wilmot Benson.
He didn't even bother to sugarcoat it. "Let's break up, Skye. I'm done with you. Don't come looking for me again."
I listened to his voice, my face blank. After he finished, I caught the faint sound of a woman's laughter in the background.
I knew exactly who it was, but I still put on a shocked act. "Are you cheating on me? Who are you with right now? Wilmot, you can't do this to me."
The angrier I got, the more amused they sounded on the other end.
Wilmot said, "Let me be real with you. I only dated you because you could get me into your company. Now that I've got what I wanted, I don't have to pretend to like you anymore."
My resume was pretty impressive, so I landed a job at a big company right after college.
After I got settled in, I referred Wilmot and Rowena for jobs there too.
Rowena grabbed the phone from Wilmot and said, "Just stop chasing us, Skye.
"We're going to be loaded now. We're on a whole different level, and we don't run in the same circles anymore. So just let it go."
"I can't believe you two stabbed me in the back!" I gasped, putting on my best shocked face.
They both burst out laughing.
I took the chance to fire back, "Oh, really? Let's see how far you two get without me. So what if you bought a crappy house? Big deal."
Rowena sneered. "Just wait and see. You're just a regular office drone. How could you ever compare to me?"
After hanging up, I let out a cold laugh. I found them quite stupid. In a society like this, if that much money just fell into their laps, the cops would have to notice it.
The next day, I showed up at work like usual and saw Rowena and Wilmot heading straight for the boss's office to quit.
The boss was totally thrown off by their sudden resignation and tried to convince them to stay, but Rowena just brushed him off with a smug grin.
Rowena said, sounding super full of herself, "Sorry, boss. I just came into some money, not a big deal, just a few million. So honestly, I don't need this job anymore."
The boss looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, and the other coworkers immediately crowded around. "Rowena, are you dreaming or something? Did you rob a bank to get that much cash?"
A person asked, "Did you hit the lottery or what? How'd you pull it off? Any tricks? Come on, spill!"
Another said, "Yeah, right, that's the biggest joke I've heard all day."
Hearing all the praise and skepticism, Rowena decided to give them a reality check.
"Why don't you all come over to my new place in three days? You'll see for yourselves," she said.
She dropped the address right into the work group chat.
Seeing how firm she was, the boss didn't say anything more and just signed off on their resignations.
As she was packing up, Rowena caught sight of the Chanel bag on my desk and totally freaked out.
"How can you even afford that?" Rowena demanded.
After a few seconds, she scoffed, "Oh, I get it. You bought a knockoff just to flex, trying to beat me at my own game, huh?
"Seriously, just give it up. No need to fake it. Those 10-dollar canvas totes are more your speed."
I rolled my eyes and shoved the bag right in her face. "Use your eyes for once. No fake has stitching this flawless. I bought it at the boutique yesterday. Want proof of purchase?"
Rowena locked her eyes on my bag, clearly checking if it was legit. Her gaze flickered for a moment, then she quickly regained her composure.
Rowena scoffed. "Big deal, it's just a bag. I could buy a hundred if I felt like it. With your measly salary, this must've been a stretch. Just don't let me catch your nudes floating around on some loan app one day."
I fired back, "Yeah right, talk is cheap. Why don't you actually buy one and prove it? I bet you're just bluffing."
"Watch me. I'll go buy one right now," Rowena snapped.
She shot me a glare, then stormed out of the office and headed straight to the mall, splurging on several luxury bags.
As soon as she got her hands on those bags, she flooded her private story with photos, even DMing me to make sure I saw every single one.
I did a quick mental calculation. Those bags weren't cheap. Altogether, they had to be worth at least 30 thousand dollars. It was obvious where all that money came from.
For the next few days, Rowena seemed dead set on competing with me. Every time I posted a new bag, she'd rush out and buy an even fancier one, just to try and outdo me.
What she didn't realize was that all my posts were set for only her to view. She was the only one who could see them.
Just as I planned, she took the bait.
On a weekend, I decided to hit the mall for some shopping.
I had a fancy dinner party coming up soon, so I figured I'd pick up a set of jewelry to make a statement.
When the salesperson heard what I was looking for, she presented several sets in front of me and explained the details one by one.
Just then, a loud commotion broke out at the entrance.
"What's the most expensive diamond ring you've got? Bring it out, I want to see it," someone shouted.
Everyone in the store turned to stare at whoever was bold enough to shout like that.
It was Rowena and Wilmot.
Just my luck. I couldn't escape those two even here.