*Shelby*I sat unpacking the last box of my personal belongings, the ones I asked the unpackers not to touch, placing my books on the built-in bookshelves in my office. I’d never had somewhere so nice to work and study, and my office had quickly become my favorite room in my house. It sat in the living room, and the large bay window filled the room with natural light.“Is that your last box?” Lin asked me.She was leaning in the doorway, and I hadn’t heard her sneak up on me. She was toweling her wet hair; she must’ve just gotten out of the shower. “Geez, Lin, you scared me. I didn’t hear you come in,” I said, holding a book to my chest.“That’s because this house is so damn big. We're used to living on top of each other. We always knew where the other person was,” Lin said, wrapping the towel around her wet hair.“That’s true. I guess I’m just not used to it yet. There’s a lot to get used to,” I said with an unnoticeable sigh.“Hey, I don’t know abo
*Michael*I waited for twenty minutes outside a seedy bodega; the sidewalk in front of the store was glowing from the neon signs in the window. The entire place smelled of stale beer and urine. Just when I had enough and was contemplating walking away, a man in a black tracksuit bumped into me, slipping a large padded envelope under my arm.“Watch where you’re going next time,” he called as he walked away from me.I tucked the package further under my arm and walked away from the fluorescent lighting. As I rounded the corner, I pulled out the envelope and ripped it open. I kept walking, seemingly aimlessly as I pulled the contents out. A pile of papers was crammed inside, and on top was a bright yellow note.*So far I’ve been able to trace 100 million to an offshore account. The account is registered to a women’s boutique that doesn’t exist. The funds haven’t moved since the original hack. I’ve included all of the evidence I found. P.S. Don’t forget to pay the man.*
*Michael*I stared at the website in front of me as Shelby waited on the phone for my response. The heading of the article stared back at me in bright red lettering.“Billionaire Playboy Turns into Billionaire Bad Boy: Michael Astor is an Abusive Boyfriend.”My stomach sank at the picture taking up the entire computer screen after the title of the article. It was a poorly timed photo of me pushing the woman away from me in the bar after she felt up my family jewels.The photo made it seem as though I was holding this woman’s wrists, pushing her across the room. Her face was conveniently turned toward the camera, and there was fear etched in each of her features. I looked at my own face and saw the anger flowing from my eyes. If I was Shelby, I’d be worried if I saw this picture too. It looked bad, really bad.“Michael? I need you to explain what’s going on in that picture,” Shelby said, her voice shaking with emotion on the other end of the phone.“Dammit,
*Shelby*As soon as I got to Michael's office, I could tell that something was going on. I made my way to the receptionist's desk, hoping that maybe she had some answers for me. I was glad to see the middle-aged woman sitting behind the desk. I liked her a lot more than Michael's previous receptionist, who had purposely embarrassed me in front of a room full of people.“Good afternoon Miss Hatton,” she said to me with a smile.“Is Michael here?” I asked.She lifted her hand, pointing to the conference room. I could see exactly what was going on inside because of the glass walls. Michael was standing there in front of three large cameras. I immediately recognized Bruce on his left, but there was another man with graying hair standing on his right. Both men looked extremely serious as Michael talked to the cameras.“What’s going on?” I asked his secretary.“Mr. Astor is pressing charges against the news source that leaked the fake story. He’s also goin
*Shelby*“Hey, Shelby,” Jerrick said, smiling at me as I stepped off the elevator and into the spacious office.Hastings Engineering was in a huge building not far from Michael’s office. The legal team occupied the entire fifth floor. There was a small reception desk in the center of the room, and several offices with glass windows, making them part of the space, but still separate. Cubicles divided up the rest of the open space.“Hey, Jerrick. I’m not late, am I?” I asked, already nervous enough.“No, not at all. My dad gets here obnoxiously early and dragged me along with him. Everyone else is still trickling in. As far as I know, we’ll be shadowing the different lawyers in the office, as well as doing all of the grunt work. I hope you’re ready to organize some files,” Jerrick said with fake enthusiasm.“I’m pretty good at organizing. I can’t believe how big this place is. I never expected an engineering firm to need such a large legal team,” I said.“We
*Shelby*The next day at my internship went so slowly as I waited for the clock to strike 5:00. As I sorted through countless files, all I could think about was the story the blackmailer was threatening to leak. It was a lie about how Todd and I had stolen the answers to multiple tests back when we were at NYU. The blackmailer claimed that Todd had approached him with the story explaining that I made him break into the professors’ offices to steal the test answers to make sure I passed all my classes. He did it because we were dating, and I threatened to leave him if he didn't help me.A story like this would not only ruin my reputation, it would get me kicked out of school. All day I felt like I was watching over my shoulder, waiting for someone to tell me to go pack my bags. When Michael first told me about the threat, I immediately thought Todd was behind it as some sort of revenge for breaking up his engagement with Lauren. However, as the day went on and I th
*Michael*I found myself back in front of the same seedy bodega way too soon for my liking. However, this time I didn’t have to wait long for the same man to ‘accidentally’ bump into me again. With the envelope under my arm, I made my way to the secret spot where I would find the duffle bag waiting for me to fill it to bursting with cash.I shoved the envelope of cash into the bag and threw it up the fire escape to the light of the burning cigarette hanging out of the shadow-covered man’s mouth. I took off down the alleyway, knowing another figure was following me. Bruce wouldn’t let me come on my own again; after he found out about the last time, he insisted on following me.This time I waited until I was back in the safety of my car before I opened the package. I hopped in the driver's seat and spilled the contents of the envelope into my lap. I picked up the front note on top of the papers just as Bruce climbed into the passenger's seat. Without a word, I
*Shelby*I closed my eyes in the back of the car as the driver made his way through the New York traffic. I was exhausted from the fight I’d had with Lauren the night before. I’d finally gotten everything off of my chest, and put Lauren in her place. She knew if she continued to help Blaine blackmail her father or me, I’d make sure she wouldn’t receive her trust fund.Lin and I had left the party before Lauren returned back inside. Jerrick seemed confused about everything that happened but didn’t ask questions when Lin asked him to come to a diner with us instead of staying at the party. We all sat in a booth, drinking decaf coffee and eating pancakes until the early morning hours. It turned out to be a lot more enjoyable evening than I’d expected.A text came through, and my eyes fluttered back open. I couldn’t help but smile seeing Michael’s name glowing on my screen.Michael: I can’t wait to see you later tonight. I’m sorry I won’t be there when you get home. I h