Chapter 3

The air froze for about three seconds.

In those three seconds, a million thoughts raced through my mind. 'Holy crap. I'm doomed. I'm toast.'

I quickly pulled out my phone, opened WhatsApp, and scrolled to my chat with Nathan.

The latest message was from him: [Don't forget the End-of-Year Party on Friday.]

Scrolling up, I saw the work files I'd sent last week.

Scrolling further, there was nothing. But that was not right.

I opened my chat with Jonathan. The latest message was: [Just bank-transferred you ten grand. Let me know if you need more.]

I scrolled up. There was my cheeky text from last week: [Nate, my coworker bought a new bag, and I'm so jealous.]

Scrolling further, there was another message from Jonathan saying he'd transferred 4 grand. Everything looked normal.

Nothing was wrong? Then how did that message end up on Nathan's phone?

I looked up, about to ask, but Nathan was already shoving his phone screen right in my face. "See for yourself."

I stared at the screen. It was a WhatsApp chat. The profile picture was my selfie. The contact name was "Nicole."

The message read: [Nate, I'm home. Thanks for the money today. Love you!]

There was a selfie of me in a champagne-colored dress. It was sent at 7:47 PM.

I froze. At 7:47 PM, I was at home, finished trying on my dress, and sent a message to Jonathan.

But this chat window... I checked the profile picture again. Yep, that was definitely my selfie.

The contact name said "Nicole," for sure. But this wasn't Jonathan's chat.

Jonathan's profile pic was a picture of us as kids, and Nathan's was a snowy mountain.

No way I got them confused. So why was this showing up on Nathan's phone?

I suddenly looked up. "W-When did you change your profile picture?"

Nathan paused for a second, then frowned. "Three months ago."

That was right when I started sending those overly affectionate, money-grubbing texts.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought hit me. "What was your profile picture before?"

Nathan answered, "A snowy mountain."

"When did you change it?"

Nathan paused for two seconds, thinking back. "Late September."

At the very beginning of October, I had sent my first cheeky message to Jonathan.

I nervously scrolled through my contacts and found the one labeled "Nate." His profile picture was a snowy mountain.

Then I kept scrolling and spotted "Jonathan." The profile picture was us as kids, grinning at the camera.

I stared at those two pictures for three seconds, then slowly closed my eyes.

That was when it hit me. One day near the end of September, Jonathan texted me to say he'd changed his profile picture to the snowy mountain photo I liked.

I was swamped with overtime, so I replied with a quick "Looks good" and didn't give it another thought.

After that, I never paid attention. Anyway, whenever I messaged Jonathan, I just tapped the chat and typed away.

And Nathan's profile was a snowy mountain before. So what did he switch it to at the end of September?

I opened my eyes and stared at Nathan. "So, what did you change your profile picture to at the end of September?"

Nathan stayed silent. The crowd around us kept growing.

Murray was standing nearby, casting a gossipy glance our way.

Lillian from finance had her phone raised. I was not sure if she was recording or texting.

Even the receptionist had squeezed in to see what was going on.

Jonathan stood off to the side, glancing between me and Nathan, his expression turning tense.

"Nicole," he finally spoke up, "what's going on here?"

I took a deep breath. There was no way out of this now. Time to bite the bullet and explain.

"Mr. Bennett," I said, trying my best to sound calm, "have you been getting a bunch of sweet texts these past three months?"

Nathan didn't say a word, but the look in his eyes said everything.

"Like, asking for a new bag, shoes, or maybe some allowance?" I pressed.

He still stayed silent.

"And you transferred the sender money every single time?" I asked.

Nathan finally spoke, his voice rough. "What do you think?"

I was speechless. I was doomed. I really screwed up. I never should've messed with the nickname in the first place. And after that, I should've double-checked the profile picture. If I'd done that, I wouldn't have sent those messages.

But then, something hit me.

"Mr. Bennett, didn't you ever think it was weird? I'm always so formal with you. How could I suddenly start acting all sweet and asking for money?" I blurted out.

Nathan's expression changed ever so slightly.

He paused for two seconds, then dropped a line that left me completely frozen. "I thought you had a crush on me."

What the heck?

He added, "You used to be so cold to me, and then out of nowhere you started acting all sweet and asking me for money. I figured you were trying to get me to notice you.

"You always messaged me at night or on weekends, so I thought you were too embarrassed to say that stuff during work hours.

"You only ever asked for bags and shoes, never anything else. I thought you were hinting that you wanted me to buy you presents.

"I make 15 thousand a month, and I sent you 14 thousand. What did you think that meant?"

As he spoke, his voice got quieter and quieter, and his eyes were turning red.

The crowd let out a collective gasp.