Thanksgiving week, my dead high school group chat pinged me: "Eleanor, Jessica’s getting married. Quit playing dead." Scrolling 99+ messages, I learned: Jessica Reed—our former queen bee—was marrying over the holidays. Entire class invited. "Can’t come. Abroad," I replied. Her minions attacked instantly: "Too scared to face her after stealing $500?" "Pretending to be overseas? Audacity!" Jessica "graciously" intervened: "Ancient history, Ellie! You must come!" The chat erupted praising her "kindness" to a thief like me. Joke. She’d framed me for that theft. Then I saw the groom’s name: James Cole. Family tree says he should call me Great-Aunt. "I’ll be there," I typed, smiling coldly. 2 After sending that message, I immediately had my bags packed and a flight back to the States booked. When my mother learned I was returning for James Cole’s wedding, she told me to be gracious and to pick out a suitable gift on her behalf. After all, he worked directly under her, and he’d earned our corporation a significant amount of money over the years. James was competent, no doubt about it. But his taste in women was abysmal. Of all people, how did he end up with Jessica Reed? Grumbling aside, I had my butler select some appropriately lavish gifts and load them into the car. After landing, I had the driver take me straight to the wedding venue. The scene was exactly as I’d expected. Jessica was the center of a fawning circle, basking in their sycophantic praise. “Jessica, you’re still as gorgeous as you were in high school. You truly were the queen of our class. And you landed such a brilliant husband! A Vice President at Aurelian Global at his age!” “Totally! If it weren’t for Jessica, we’d never get to set foot in a five-star hotel like this for a wedding!” “I know, right? My husband works at Aurelian too, and he heard that Jessica’s husband is getting promoted to CEO next month! Congratulations, Jessica! I guess we’ll have to start calling you Mrs. CEO soon!” The title “Mrs. CEO” was thrown around like confetti, and Jessica was blooming under the attention. The moment I walked in, the faces that had been beaming at Jessica instantly froze over, their expressions shifting to undisguised contempt. “Eleanor Brown. You actually have the nerve to show up?” “Seriously. Do thieves have no shame these days? Showing up at your victim’s wedding, bold as brass. Unbelievable.” “And you came empty-handed? Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?” “Oh, come on. She’s a thief, what do you expect? She probably can’t afford a gift. Look at her outfit—head-to-toe knockoffs. Probably stole those, too.” Every other word was “thief,” each one meant to grind me into the dirt. I laughed coldly to myself. That five hundred dollars had been a gift from my mother for concert tickets. The cash hadn't even been warm in my pocket before Jessica accused me of stealing it from her. Later, after the principal investigated and found the truth, he asked me to keep it quiet. He said Jessica’s family was struggling and five hundred dollars was a huge amount for them. It was only out of respect for him that I didn't press the issue and let her keep the money. I never imagined that after all these years, not only would she feel no gratitude, but she would also keep the lie alive. I couldn’t be bothered to argue with them. I just wanted the bellhop to bring up the gifts from the car so I could drop them off and leave. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I decided to go downstairs and check myself. But in the next second, Jessica rushed toward me, and her hand cracked across my face in a vicious slap. “Eleanor Brown!” she shrieked. “After all these years, your hands are still just as sticky! Did you really think you could steal my ring and just walk away?” 3 The blow left me stunned, a smear of red lipstick tracing the path of her hand across my cheek. “What makes you think I stole it?” I demanded, my voice shaking with rage. “We were all in the back taking photos together! You were the only one out here in the main hall! If it wasn’t you, who was it?” Jessica shook out the contents of her purse, which she’d left in the hall. It was empty. “I can’t believe you haven’t changed a bit!” she cried, her voice ringing with theatrical despair. “That was a ten-carat, flawless diamond James bought for me from South Africa! It’s worth millions!” Her words hung in the air, and every eye in the room swiveled to me. “You shameless bitch!” one of her friends spat. “Jessica was just defending you in the back, telling us not to give you a hard time. And you turn around and steal her wedding ring?” “Once a thief, always a thief. A leopard can’t change its spots. Girls, let’s get her! For Jessica!” Before I could even react, Jessica’s pack of hyenas descended on me. One after another, their hands flew, each slap a fresh sting of humiliation. My hair was torn from its pins, cascading in a messy tangle around my shoulders. I tasted blood, a tooth chipped and sharp against my tongue. But that wasn't enough. They ripped the emerald earrings from my lobes, tore the necklace from my throat, and yanked the designer watch from my wrist. A searing pain shot through my ear as the stud was torn out, and hot blood trickled down my neck. The skin on my throat was raw and red. “Don’t hold back, girls! Don’t stop until this bitch gives back Jessica’s ring!” “I didn’t steal it…” I tried to explain, but they were like a pack of rabid animals, deaf to reason. The slapping stopped, only to be replaced by kicks. I was shoved to the floor, my dress shredding under their assault. I had never felt such profound humiliation. I tried to cover myself, to preserve some shred of dignity, but they gave me no quarter. They grabbed ice-cold bottles of champagne and red wine from the bar and poured them over my head and body. The frigid liquid shocked my system, an icy fire that made my body tremble uncontrollably. I tried to hug myself for warmth, but my arms wouldn’t obey. “Eleanor, just admit you took the ring,” Jessica said, her eyes unnervingly cold. “For old times’ sake, I can let this go.” I was about to speak when someone shouted, “Mr. Davison is here!” Mr. Davison, our old high school homeroom teacher, entered the room and immediately began fawning over Jessica. “Jessica, you haven’t changed a bit. Still as beautiful as ever.” Jessica offered a brittle smile in return. Then, she grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back to present my bruised and battered face to our former teacher. “Mr. Davison, you’re just in time. Tell us, right here, right now. Did Eleanor Brown steal five hundred dollars from me back in high school or not?” Mr. Davison flinched at the sight of me, his eyes darting away nervously. For a fleeting moment, I thought he might finally tell the truth. I was wrong. “Oh, that? Wasn’t that case closed years ago?” he said with a sigh. “At the time, to protect Eleanor’s dignity, I didn’t announce the details publicly. But yes, it’s true. She’s the one who took your five hundred dollars.” His words were the final verdict. The crowd erupted in sneers and disgust, some of them spitting in my direction. “See? Even Mr. Davison says so,” Jessica sneered, her voice dripping with triumph. “Stop playing innocent, Eleanor. You can keep the five hundred dollars as a charity case. Now, give me back my ring!” A bitter, cold laugh formed in my heart. So, Jessica had bought him, too. Before coming to the wedding, I’d had my butler do a background check on Jessica’s most ardent defenders in the group chat. Every single one of them was sucking up to her because she was marrying James Cole, currying favor with the future wife of an Aurelian Global VP. Even Mr. Davison was no exception. He was siding with her in the hopes that Aurelian Global would fund a new building for his school. What none of them knew was that they were betting on the wrong horse. And in doing so, they had just made an enemy of the one person they could never, ever afford to cross. 4 “You know damn well whether I took that ring or not,” I seethed. “And that five hundred dollars? That was money you stole to—” Seeing I was about to expose her, Jessica lunged forward and slapped me twice more, hard, before giving her friends a pointed look. In seconds, they were on me again, dragging my broken body from the hotel lobby and out onto the cold pavement. Just then, the hotel bellhop who was carrying my gifts from the car saw the scene, his jaw dropping in shock. “Ms. Brown! What happened to you?” I was a mess of bruises and blood, my mouth too swollen to form a coherent reply. Jessica and her cronies saw the bellhop speaking to me, their eyes falling on the luxury gift bags in his hands and then to the gleaming black Mercedes parked at the curb. They put two and two together. “Look at that, the bitch drives a nice car,” one of them sneered. “Probably a gift from her sugar daddy. Must be some old man’s kept woman.” “My ring is worth millions!” Jessica shrieked. “That piece of junk isn’t even worth a fraction of it! Girls, don’t be shy. Smash it!” At Jessica’s command, they grabbed loose bricks from a nearby planter and went to work on the car. The windows, headlights, and hood were shattered and dented in a frenzy of violence. Not satisfied, they tore open the gift boxes in the trunk, flinging expensive perfume bottles and a ruby necklace onto the asphalt. “What is this garbage? She actually thought this was a worthy gift?” They continued their rampage, slashing the leather seats and prying open a deep compartment in the trunk, pulling out a picture frame. My heart stopped. It was the only photograph I had of my late father and me. On the back was a message he had written by hand. It was the only one in the world. “See! I told you she was some old man’s plaything! Here’s the proof!” “Look, there’s even a note from him on the back! ‘To my darling Eleanor, may you be happy and healthy forever.’ Ugh, how disgusting!” With a sharp crack, the frame was thrown to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces. I scrambled to my feet to stop them, but I was too late. Shards of glass sprayed across my skin. The photo itself was torn into confetti and showered over my head. As I sobbed, trying to gather the pieces, Jessica’s stiletto heel slammed down on my hand, pinning it to the pavement. “Still won’t admit you stole my ring, Eleanor?” she taunted. “And you’re trying to piece together your little love note from your sugar daddy? Pathetic!” Pure hatred, cold and sharp, coiled in my gut. “Jessica,” I bit out through clenched teeth, “you are so, so finished. I will never let you get away with this.” My threat was met with howls of laughter. “Did I hear that right? A kept woman is threatening our future Mrs. CEO? That’s rich!” “Yeah, who the hell do you think you are? With one word, our Mrs. CEO could make sure you never work in this city again! And you have the nerve to threaten her?” “Looks like the bitch hasn’t had enough yet. Girls, let’s give her some more!” Jessica and her friends marched back into the hotel and emerged with a large can of red paint, ready to douse me in it. Just then, a top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce Phantom glided to a silent stop at the hotel entrance. The man who stepped out of the back seat was none other than today’s groom, James Cole. “Wow, now that’s a real power move! The VP of Aurelian Global! That’s a real luxury car, not like that cheap Mercedes some sugar baby drives after begging her old man!” “Jessica, you’re so lucky! Once you’re the CEO’s wife, don’t forget all the hard work we put in for you today!” Jessica preened like a peacock. “Don’t worry. All my friends who helped me today will be rewarded. When I’m the CEO’s wife, you’ll all get what you deserve.” Her friends gushed with thanks, ecstatic at the promise of future favors. Jessica, radiating triumph, ran into James’s arms and burst into tears. “James, thank God you’re here! Someone stole our wedding ring!” James’s brow furrowed. “Who would be so bold? To steal our wedding ring? They must have a death wish.” He stroked her hair. “Don’t cry, baby. I’m here now. I’ll make sure you get justice.” “It’s okay, honey,” she sobbed. “I already taught the thief a lesson. But you have no idea how stubborn she is. No matter what we did, she wouldn’t confess. If she doesn’t give back the ring, what will happen to our wedding?” Hearing this, James’s face darkened with fury. He was ready to fight for her honor. He strode over to where I lay on the ground. “This is the bitch who stole the ring?” he snarled. Everyone nodded eagerly, pulling out their phones to record, their faces alight with anticipation of the beatdown to come. My hair was a wild, matted mess, and my face was so swollen and bruised I was practically unrecognizable. James grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head up to get a clear look at my face. And then he froze. His face went pale with shock, and he stumbled backward, collapsing onto the pavement. “Great-Aunt… Eleanor? What… what are you doing here?”
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