Chapter 5

Jessica grit her teeth and demanded Tyler's phone. Tyler handed it over with a smirk, throwing me a dirty look.

Jessica opened his Snapchat and demanded, "Is this you?"

I looked at the profile picture. "Yes, that's me."

She triumphantly showed the chat history to the crowd. "Look at this, everyone! Look at how much money this leech dragged out of my boyfriend!"

"April 2nd: 'Tyler, sweetie, my appendix is acting up. I need ten thousand for surgery.' And my boyfriend sent it immediately!"

"June 8th: 'Hey Tyler, emergency! My landlord is threatening to evict me. Can you send your favorite girl five thousand?'"

"And just last month, on the 9th: 'Hey Tyler, can I borrow fifty thousand? I need it for tuition to further my studies.'"

The disgusting pet names made my stomach turn. I almost threw up on the spot. But I had absolutely no memory of any of these messages.

The crowd erupted in disgust.

"Ugh, that's vile. 'Sweetie'? 'Your favorite girl'? She's a professional leech."

Jessica shoved the screenshots right in front of Brad's camera lens. "See this? She's been using my boyfriend as her personal bank!"

She grew more and more furious. "Just two days ago, I told him to make her pay it back. You know what she said? She said she would 'pay him back with her body.' You hear that? She was literally begging to be his kept woman!"

"If I'm lying about a single word, let lightning strike me down!"

Her sheer confidence made Martha, the vegetable vendor, change her tune. She snatched the phone, looked at it, and glared at me with pure rage.

"And here I was, standing up for you! I can't believe you're actually a cheap gold digger! The screenshots and chat logs are right here. What do you have to say for yourself?"

She looked like she wanted to tear me apart.

Old Hank looked devastated. "My stand is ruined. Get out of here! I don't want your dirty money!"

The crowd's anger boiled over. They began shouting insults at me, and someone even threw a rotten cabbage leaf.

I was completely bewildered. I tried to step closer to get a better look at the screen, but Tyler suddenly kicked me right in the stomach, knocking me to the ground.

"Chloe! Since you want to play dirty, don't blame me for being ruthless. Pay me back my money right now!"

Martha led the chant: "Pay it back! Pay it back!"

Jessica clapped gleefully, crossing her arms in triumph. "How could a person like her have any money? We've known her long enough to know she's a broke loser."

She looked down at me with absolute contempt. "Tell you what. I did the math, and you owe Tyler about two hundred thousand dollars. We'll be generous. Just write a promissory note, leave a thumbprint, and promise to pay it back within six months."

Tyler kissed her on the cheek in front of everyone. "My girl is so sweet and understanding. She always knows when to be merciful." Then he turned to me with a wicked glint in his eyes. "Chloe, for lying about me, you need to get on your knees and apologize. Only then will we call it even. Don't say I'm being too harsh. A man's reputation is everything."

Brad, the live streamer, started chanting, "Kneel! Kneel! Kneel!"

Looking at Tyler's smug, punchable face, a sudden realization hit me. I clutched my stomach and struggled to my feet.

"I can prove I'm innocent. And I can prove you are the lying fraud here."

Jessica scoffed. "Oh yeah? Show us the proof then. Stop bluffing."

Just then, a voice called out from the crowd.

"Here's your proof."

Tyler looked toward the voice, and the smug grin on his face instantly froze. He turned white as a sheet.