Chapter 3

I raised an eyebrow.

"Let me get this straight. You stole the coffee off my desk, decided it made you sick, and now you want me to pay your hospital bill?"

Brenda sneered, entirely devoid of shame. "Exactly. It was your coffee, so it’s your fault."

I glanced down at the $400 clinic bill, then turned to Taylor. "And you? Did you also only budget two dollars for meds?"

Taylor looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. "Yes."

Miller chimed in right on cue, applying pressure.

"Chloe, apologize to your roommates and pay the cashier. It's just a few dollars, don't make a scene over nothing."

Ashley muttered under her breath, "Don't forget the Uber ride here."

They claimed they didn't want to take advantage, yet they were trying to pin the ride-share bill on me too. The sheer hypocrisy was breathtaking.

Even a saint would snap, let alone someone who had already been murdered by them once.

I smiled, nodding cheerfully, then waved over a passing nurse.

"Excuse me, could you pull their IVs out?"

Brenda shrieked instantly.

"Chloe, are you insane?! Who gave you the right to pull my IV?!"

I crumpled the paper bill into a tight ball and jammed it straight into Brenda’s wide-open mouth.

"I did," I whispered with a toxic smile. "Because I'm the one who's supposedly paying for it."

Taylor lunged forward to shove me, but I sidestepped and shoved her hard, sending her crashing back into the plastic chair.

I turned to the bewildered nurse, smiling sweetly.

"Please pull their needles out. Thank you."

Despite my smile, my eyes must have looked murderous. The terrified nurse hurriedly pulled the needles from Brenda and Taylor’s arms and scurried away without even handing them a cotton swab.

Miller was a tall, bulky man, but seeing me turn completely unhinged, he froze in place, too cowardly to step closer.

As for Ashley, she curled into a ball like a trembling quail, flinching every time I raised my voice.

Miller swallowed hard, trying to regain authority.

"Chloe! It was just a small fee! Do you have to cause such a scene? Where is your sense of community?!"

I grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the payment desk. "Oh, Mr. Miller, since you love community so much, why don't you pay for Brenda and Taylor?"

"Oh, and don't forget their Uber ride! After all, I'm just a poor student without that kind of cash.

If I end up starving to death, you might just find me on the roof of the campus building."

Having his own sanctimonious words thrown back in his face, Miller turned purple with rage.

I could practically hear his teeth grinding as he tapped his Apple Pay.

Once the transaction cleared, he glared at me. "Happy now? Now apologize to your roommates!"

I pulled two blister packs of Imodium from my pocket and slapped them into Brenda's lap.

"Now that your bill is settled, let's settle mine. These are for diarrhea—sixteen dollars a box. Since you and Taylor both need them, that's eight dollars each."

"Eight minus your two-dollar budget means you each owe me six bucks. Plus the Uber fare, plus the coffee you stole from my desk..."

I pulled up the calculator on my phone. "All in all, you guys owe me twenty bucks each."

Brenda stared at me in disbelief, utterly shocked that I was using her own twisted math against her. Her trembling finger pointed at me, stuttering, unable to form a coherent sentence.

I flashed my Venmo QR code right in front of her contorted face.

"Come on, pay up, my 'generous' roommates."