Chapter 2

Looking at the familiar, eager pleading in her eyes, my mind began to replay the past few years...

It seemed like every time we faced a crisis, I would mindlessly agree to her demands.

But looking back, my reputation in the company had been quietly deteriorating.

I did all the heavy lifting, yet somehow, others got the praise while I got the reputation of being "careless but capable."

The Reddit thread echoed in my mind. I looked straight into her eyes.

"Maya, if I recall correctly, you were the one who did the final verification before submitting the report."

Maya flinched.

"Chloe, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Are you accusing me of sabotaging the data to frame you?"

"We're best friends! How could you even think that of me?!"

She began to sob, burying her face in her hands.

"I didn't say you did it on purpose. I'm just trying to verify the workflow."

Maya seemed to realize she had overreacted. Just as she was about to smooth things over, my phone buzzed. It was David Higgins, our direct manager.

Higgins had always been decent to me, acting as somewhat of a mentor.

"Chloe, I heard about the Project Nova disaster," Higgins said as soon as I picked up. "I'm not letting you take the fall for this. It's not fair."

"Even if Maya has family issues, she can't keep using you as a shield."

"Come to my office first thing tomorrow. We'll pull the logs and find out exactly whose keycard modified that data. Let the chips fall where they may."

Hearing his words, my eyes welled up with relief. Higgins was looking out for me.

I looked up at Maya, then lowered my voice. "Thanks, David. Let's discuss this in your office tomorrow morning."

I hung up, bypassed a stunned Maya without giving her a chance to speak, and went straight to my room, locking the door behind me.

Once my heart settled, I opened Snapchat and navigated back to that Reddit thread.

Sure enough, there was an update.

*[Ugh, I don't know what went wrong. My roommate didn't take the bait this time. She actually wants to audit the raw system logs.]*

*[The manager is going to hold us accountable tomorrow morning. I was counting on this project to get a promotion! What do I do?]*

The comment section was filled with users mocking her.

*[If you don't want to take responsibility, just say it. You're a toxic leach pretending to be a victim. The mask always slips eventually.]*

*[This 'poor little innocent girl' act doesn't work forever. I'd love to see your roommate's face when she realizes what a snake you are.]*

Curiosity piqued, I clicked on the poster's profile.

Her post history went back over a year.

*[My roommate makes more money than me. How do I get her to pay for all the utilities and groceries without asking?]*

*[My coworker is way better at sales than me. How do I steal her clients and make them mine?]*

*[My roommate is going on a date. She’s going to ignore me if she gets a boyfriend. How do I sabotage her blind date?]*

Her older posts had very little engagement, mostly just a few comments calling her a parasite.

But one specific user had been consistently replying, acting as her "tactician."

*[Keep crying and playing the victim. Make her feel guilty for having more money than you. She'll feel too bad to bring up splitting the bills.]*

*[Build a sweet, self-sacrificing persona. Gaslight her into thinking you always have her back. She will capitulate under the psychological weight of gratitude.]*

*[Never underestimate the power of weaponized guilt. Once she's hooked, getting her to hand over her clients will be a piece of cake.]*

*[To steal clients, blame it on company policy. Paint yourself as the victim of a ruthless boss. She'll feel sorry and hand them over.]*

Reading those words made my skin crawl.

I sat there in the dark, cold dread pooling in my stomach.