Chapter 2 - The Fall from Grace
By eight o'clock the following morning, the video of Sarah’s outburst at the restaurant had gone viral across every major social media platform.
The clip—captioned "Gold Digger Dumps 'Poor' Boyfriend, Finds Out He Owns the Billion-Dollar Enterprise"—had racked up over twenty million views overnight. Memes of Sarah throwing water on Ethan were trending on X, TikTok, and Facebook.
Inside her tiny luxury apartment—which she could no longer afford without the projected Apex Global salary—Sarah sat curled up on her sofa, her phone buzzing incessantly with calls from recruiters revoking their previous offers.
BRRRNG.
She snatched her phone, seeing the name of her former boss at her previous firm. "Hello? Marcus! Please tell me you have good news—"
"Sarah, don't ever call this number again," Marcus’s voice was stern and cold. "The board of Apex Global just pulled their forty-million-dollar tech partnership with us because of your association with our firm. You are toxic goods in this city. Every agency in the state has received the blacklist alert."
"Marcus, please! It was a private matter!" Sarah cried out, tears streaming down her face. "He set me up! He hid his wealth from me for two years! That's deception!"
"He lived simply, Sarah. You were the one who proved you only cared about his bank account," Marcus snapped before hanging up.
Desperate, furious, and refusing to take accountability, Sarah’s sorrow quickly morphed into white-hot rage. She refused to accept that she was the architect of her own ruin.
"He thinks he can destroy me?" Sarah hissed through her teeth, wiping her tears away angrily. "He lied to me for two years! He played mind games with me! I’m going to make him pay."
She picked up her phone and dialed the number of Carter Reed—Ethan’s fiercest business rival and the ruthless CEO of Reed Enterprises. Carter was infamous for using dirty tactics, corporate espionage, and smear campaigns to take down his competitors.
"Carter Reed," a deep, smooth voice answered on the third ring.
"Mr. Reed, my name is Sarah Jenkins," she said, her tone turning sharp and calculated. "I was Ethan Hayes's girlfriend for two years. I know his personal habits, his private passwords, his daily routine, and where Apex Global keeps its unreleased software patents."
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There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, followed by the sound of a low, sinister chuckle.
"Miss Jenkins," Carter said smoothly. "I saw your video last night. You're famous. Come to my office in thirty minutes. Let's discuss how we can ruin Ethan Hayes together."
