Chapter 1

1

I designed the digital wedding invitations for my best friend Sienna and built the platform myself. A week before the ceremony, I noticed one account had viewed her invitation page 298 times. It belonged to Chris, my boyfriend of seven years. When I asked him why, he snapped, "How do you even know that?" I blurted out, "Because I built the platform." He went silent, then looked up, eyes bloodshot. "Because I can't stand the thought of watching her marry another man." That was how I learned they dated in college. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm. "Piper, please. Don't ruin her wedding."

The next morning, HR received an anonymous report accusing me of running an undeclared side business and using company property for private commercial projects. I was currently ranked number one for Regional Creative Director. Sienna was number two. The attached backend screenshots were accessible only to Chris. Last night's confession wasn't honesty. It was me handing him the ammunition to destroy my career.

...

Staring at the screenshots in the compliance file, my head throbbed so violently that the print began to blur into double vision.

Those were the exact backend pages I had shown Chris on my laptop.

The lead investigator from Compliance slid the folder across the desk toward me.

"We received an anonymous tip alleging that you failed to disclose a related side business and leveraged corporate assets to take on private wedding contracts."

"There is also a record of a two-hundred-dollar Venmo transfer from Sienna."

I pulled out my phone and tapped open the transaction history.

"That was a fee for licensing music rights for her ceremony. The memo line clearly states it."

The investigator glanced briefly at the screen.

"The payment description can be verified, but the fact remains that you failed to declare the platform's existence to HR."

"Pending the outcome of this investigation, your eligibility for tomorrow's final review for Regional Creative Director is temporarily suspended."

Coldness seeped into my fingertips.

The final review was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

I had poured two years of my life into this promotion, pulling endless late nights and sacrificing my health to reach the top spot.

"How long will the investigation take?"

"Seven business days."

I opened my mouth, but my voice came out choked and thick with unshed tears.

"But the final panel evaluation starts tomorrow."

The investigator avoided my gaze.

"The promotional review will not be delayed for an individual inquiry."

The office door swung open abruptly.

Sienna burst in, her eyes red and brimming with tears. She grabbed my hand tightly.

"Piper, I swear I didn't know it would turn into this!"

"Someone came to me demanding an explanation for that two-hundred-dollar transfer. I was so terrified that I signed the statement they put in front of me."

My eyes locked onto the document clutched in her fingers.

I previously commissioned Piper to design my wedding invitations for compensation.

Black ink on white paper, bearing her signature at the bottom.

She had rebranded a simple two-hundred-dollar music royalty fee into an illegal private design fee.

I yanked my hand back, blinking rapidly to force back the tears stinging my eyes.

I turned my face away from her.

I didn't want her to see me break, and I couldn't bear to look at her performative sorrow for another second.

"Who made you sign it?"

Her lips trembled, but no sound came out.

A second later, Chris rushed into the room.

He held a warm oat milk latte from my favorite coffee shop, beads of sweat glistening at his temples.

Yet his very first words weren't aimed at comforting me. "Can Sienna still use her wedding invites normally?"

The air in the room plummeted to freezing.

Realizing how cold he sounded, he quickly added, "The wedding is only seven days away. The guest RSVPs and seating charts are all hosted on that link. Shutting it down right now will create total chaos."

Sienna looked at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "If Piper doesn't want me to use it, I can find a replacement."

"Except there's no time to swap everything out," Chris blurted out. "Your dress fitting is tomorrow, and the final reminder blasts need to go out Friday."

I wiped a stray tear from the corner of my eye and let out a soft, bitter laugh.

Some questions didn't even need asking anymore.

Sienna lowered her head, tears still clinging to her lashes.

Chris stole a quick glance at her before forcing his gaze back to me.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out into the hallway.

"Don't shut down the invitation link yet, and don't reach out to her fiance," he whispered urgently. "Once the wedding is over, I'll help you resolve this mess with HR."

I stared into his eyes.

"Was it you who reported me?"

Chris hesitated for two agonizing seconds.

"Does it really matter who submitted the report right now?"

"HR will clear your name once they finish investigating."

"Sienna only gets one wedding in her life."

A wave of sour pain rushed up my throat.

"Her wedding is once in a lifetime."

"So my promotion can just be sacrificed and restarted whenever it suits you?"

He offered no answer.

His silence cut deeper than any confession ever could.

That evening, a company-wide email landed in my inbox.

Due to an ongoing investigation regarding undeclared secondary business activities, Piper's candidacy for the Regional Creative Director position has been suspended.

Her place in the final review panel will be filled by the runner-up candidate, Sienna.

I sat alone in the dark office, staring at the presentation deck I had perfected over the last two years.

It seemed I wouldn't be needing it anymore.

A ping chimed from my laptop.

The backend notification panel refreshed.

User GH has accessed Sienna's wedding invitation.

Total views: 299.

A moment later, a system update showed that Sienna had changed her ceremony's background track.

The new song was the exact indie ballad Chris had played on repeat for four straight years during college.

I stared at the title on the screen as tears crashed onto my keyboard.

The groom standing at the altar wouldn't be him.

Yet every hidden detail of her wedding was infused with his shadow.

I didn't sleep a single minute that night.

I scrolled through years of Chris's and Sienna's social media posts, public comments, and old group chats.

The more I read, the more I realized what a pathetic joke I had been.

During a team dinner months ago, a platter of spicy blackened fish was placed right between Sienna and me.

Chris had immediately reached across the table, swapping it with a plain steamed dish from the far end.

I had frowned at the time. "You know I don't like steamed fish."

He had smiled gently. "You've been breaking out lately, babe. Spicy food isn't good for your skin."

I thought he was looking out for me.

Only now did I realize he was simply catering to Sienna, who couldn't handle spicy food.

Another time, when Sienna was stuck working late during a violent rainstorm, Chris had driven halfway across the city to pick her up.

When he returned home, he had grinned at me. "You're always worrying about her staying out late alone, right? I went and picked her up for you."

Not only had I suspected nothing, but I had genuinely believed I was blessed to have a boyfriend who got along so well with my best friend.

Whenever we went out for dinner, caught a movie, or booked a weekend getaway, I was always the one eagerly inviting Sienna along.

Looking back now, I finally saw the truth.

Every single move Chris made toward Sienna was executed under the guise of caring for me.

And I had acted like a brainless fool, orchestrating their reunions over and over again.

By dawn, a sharp, rhythmic throbbing hammered against my temples.

The moment I pushed myself up from the couch, my vision flickered dark.

The doorbell rang.

Chris stood outside holding a bag of fresh crab dumplings, unsweetened soy milk, and my favorite brand of migraine medication.

"I knew you wouldn't sleep well last night," he murmured softly.

He pulled the curtains shut, coaxed me to lie down, and expertly began rubbing my temples.

His pressure was identical to the way he had massaged my forehead over the last seven years.

My body almost instinctively relaxed under his touch.

Then the image of the HR complaint screenshot flashed across my mind.

I violently slapped his hands away and forced myself upright.

A wave of dizziness nearly knocked me off my feet, forcing me to grip the coffee table for support, but a scorching fire blazed inside my chest.

"I have to go to work."

He reached out to steady me. "I already called in sick for you."

"Who gave you permission to call in sick for me?"

Chris frowned, his tone exasperated. "Look at the state of you. How can you possibly work today?"

"Besides, haven't I always handled your sick leave before?"

I braced myself against the sofa, my stomach churning violently.

"Before was before."

"What gives you the right to make decisions for my life?"

His expression hardened. "Piper, I am trying to help you."

I changed into my work clothes and headed for the door.

As the elevator doors began to slide shut, he caught the frame, leaning in.

"Going there won't change anything."

"The internal audit takes seven days, and the final panel evaluation starts this afternoon."

I lifted my head, locking my eyes onto his.

"How do you know it takes seven days?"

Chris froze for a split second.

"You mentioned it last night."

I hadn't said a single word about the timeline last night.

I barely remembered how I walked out of the building or how I made it to the office.

All I felt was the searing ache behind my eyes and the blurred landscape passing by.

By the time I reached the regional office, my face was terrifyingly pale.

My supervisor sighed the moment he saw me.

"Didn't Chris call in sick for you? If you're unwell, go home and rest."

Coworkers gathered around my desk.

"He called early this morning saying your migraines flared up."

"Where do you even find a boyfriend that attentive?"

Someone else chimed in with a laugh, "Piper, you really don't have to worry about a thing. Chris plans everything out for you."

I stood in the center of the bustling office, my hands and feet icy cold, a loud ringing buzzing in my ears.

I couldn't process a single word they said after that.

Everyone envied me.

Nobody knew that the man who claimed to know me best had personally orchestrated my professional execution.

I marched straight to the division head's office, demanding to submit supplemental evidence.

He simply closed the folder on his desk.

"Sienna is already in the final review prep room. You cannot enter."

"Why?"

"Chris came by this morning."

"He told us you discovered he dated Sienna in college and that your emotional state is severely unstable right now."

"He was concerned that your personal drama would disrupt today's final evaluation process."

I gripped the edge of his desk, my knuckles turning bone-white.

So he hadn't brought breakfast to my apartment out of concern for my headache.

He had come to personally ensure I would be incapacitated and unable to show up at work.

My boss let out a long sigh. "Piper, Chris is trying so hard to protect you. Don't make things difficult for him."

Applause erupted outside the glass office.

Sienna stepped out of the presentation room wearing the sleek professional suit I had gifted her for her birthday.

Clutched tightly against her chest was the printed binder containing the exact promotional strategy I had spent two years building.

The moment the presentation room doors clicked shut, a system email popped up on everyone's screens.

Following panel review, Sienna has been appointed Regional Creative Director.

The office went silent for a beat before bursting into enthusiastic applause.

Sienna stood surrounded by the team, clutching my binder, her eyes brimming with modest tears.

"Piper, maybe I should step down," she whispered softly.

Yet even as she spoke of stepping down, the brand-new Director ID badge was already clipped proudly to her lapel.

A thick, metallic taste gathered in my throat. I pushed right past her, shoving her aside.

She stumbled against the corner of a desk, prompting a chorus of gasps from the onlookers.

I didn't look back, heading straight into my manager's office.

"The audit isn't even finished! On what grounds are you revoking my qualification?"

My manager slid a client transfer sheet across the table.

"Your three primary accounts are being reassigned to Sienna."

Those were accounts I had nurtured for six months.

To secure the toughest client, I had attended four separate menu tastings and pulled all-nighters revising event flowcharts.

I slammed my palm onto the paper, my fingernails digging into the printed margins.

"I won those accounts!"

"While under compliance review, you are barred from managing corporate accounts."

Hushed voices whispered outside the cracked door.

"She ran a shady side hustle behind our backs and blames everyone else when caught."

"Talk about poor character. The moment she loses a promotion, she claims people are stealing her clients."

"She was always ranked number one. Now that Sienna beat her once, she completely lost her mind."

My chest heaved violently as I fought to draw air into my lungs.

Those malicious whispers scraped against my eardrums, setting off a sharp, throbbing pain behind my temples and causing my fingers to tremble uncontrollably.

The rage inside me boiled over. I whipped the door open.

The gossip died instantly.

Sienna walked toward me with tear-filled eyes.

"Piper, I really had no idea it would come to this."

"That two hundred dollars, I didn't even have to send it. I just wanted to support your little project."

I couldn't hold it back any longer. My voice shattered the silence.

"That was a music licensing fee, and you know it better than anyone!"

Tears spilled down her cheeks in torrents.

Chris immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her from my gaze.

"Piper, that's enough!"

"You're the one who hid an undeclared business, and now you're pinning the blame on Sienna?"

I stared at him, the buzzing in my ears deafening.

"Get out!"

I turned and bolted into my private workspace, slamming the heavy wooden door behind me with a crash that rattled the glass panels.

Bracing my back against the door, my legs buckled. I slid slowly down to the floor, collapsing onto the cold carpet.

When tears finally burst from my eyes, I didn't even have the strength left to wipe them away.

That afternoon, legal counsel and the product compliance team called me in for an emergency meeting.

They demanded I hand over all backend administrative credentials, source code, and user data for the wedding invitation platform.

"The platform leveraged corporate project templates and case studies. It qualifies as company intellectual property."

"Pending the audit, the company is taking full operational control."

I forced out a raspy, strained answer. "I developed that software entirely on my personal time, using my own money and private server infrastructure."

The corporate lawyer slid the surrender agreement closer.

"Hand it over first. We can discuss ownership rights after the investigation wraps up."

I stared at the word Transfer printed on the form and let out a soft, bitter laugh.

If I handed it over now, would I ever see it again?

Before the workday ended, I exported every system log, backed up the entire codebase, and shut down the platform servers completely.

Sienna's digital wedding invitation link went dead instantly.

An hour later, my college alumni chat group exploded.

Wait, did Piper seriously just find out today that Chris and Sienna used to date?

Literally our entire graduating class knew about them.

She got caught doing shady side work, lost her promotion, and now she's sabotaging her best friend's wedding out of spite. That's absurdly petty.

Staring at the phrase entire graduating class knew, my shaking fingers could barely hold the phone.

Everyone knew.

I was the only idiot kept in the dark for seven full years.

My phone chimed while I was still curled up on the floor behind my locked office door.

Seeing the word Mom on the screen, I hurriedly wiped my face and swallowed a sob before answering.

"Mom..."

Before I could say another word, her furious voice screamed through the speaker.

"Chris called me and explained everything!"

"How can you be so petty and vindictive? Just because Sienna got promoted, you go and shut down her wedding invitations?"

"This whole drama is spinning out of control! Relatives are calling me left and right asking what's wrong with you! How am I supposed to show my face?"

I pressed my hand tightly over my mouth, but tears still trickled through my fingers.

Notifications flooded my screen in a relentless stream.

Digital invitation app unexpectedly pulled offline. Rumors cite founder's promotional failure and romantic rivalry for malicious service disruption.

Platform taking user money then pulling the plug, serious breach of trust.

I stared at the multiplying hate comments.

I didn't even register the exact moment HR walked in and unclipped my employee badge from my desk.

My phone kept vibrating uncontrollably.

A high-priority email from Legal flashed on screen.

Failure to hand over administrative access and source code by 18:00 today will result in immediate legal action.

Carrying a single cardboard box of personal belongings out of the office, every eye in the building locked onto me.

Some held up their smartphones to snap photos, while others whispered behind their hands.

"She acted so high and mighty, turns out she's a sore loser."

The distinct click of a camera shutter sounded behind my back.

I didn't turn around. I simply gripped the cardboard box tighter against my chest.

In less than ten minutes, a photo of me was uploaded online.

In the picture, my face was ghostly pale, holding my box with swollen, bloodshot eyes.

Overlaid across the image were four bold words:

Sore Loser Meltdown.

The comments snowballed instantly.

Lost the promotion to her best friend, boyfriend still carries a torch for the friend, completely broke down.

Can you imagine hiring a wedding planner like this? What if she snaps on your big day?

My hands were so cold I could barely hold my phone.

Sienna's fiance called my cell directly.

"Piper, I've known about Chris and Sienna's past for a long time."

"Sienna was completely transparent with me, and Chris never crossed any lines."

"Sabotaging her wedding just because you failed to get a promotion is vile."

I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat tasted like copper and blood.

They all knew. Every single one of them.

Chris's call came in right after.

"Piper, bring the invitation server back online."

"If you keep acting like this, we are done."

A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest, tears cascading down my cheeks.

"Fine."

"Let's break up."

Silence hung on the line for a few seconds before his voice turned ice-cold.

"Don't regret this."

He hung up. I sank onto the curb outside the building, feeling as though my chest had been hollowed out.

Seven years of love, ended with a cold snap of a phone call.

Meanwhile, my platform's support inbox was overwhelmed.

Fraud allegations, refund demands, and formal complaints flooded the system.

People accused me of running a scam, taking money then shutting down service, while others rallied users to file a class-action suit.

You ruined my wedding timeline! Can you afford to pay us back?

The link won't open! Who is paying for my emergency reprint costs?

We're suing for emotional distress!

The phone vibrated so violently my palm went numb.

By late afternoon, two police officers arrived at my apartment door.

Someone had filed a formal report alleging my app was an illegal operation engaging in financial fraud and data theft.

I sat at the station for hours, patiently explaining that the server shutdown was necessary to preserve data logs and evidence.

The officers requested my system logs, payment receipts, and user agreement terms.

By the time I walked out of the precinct, the sky was completely dark.

Over a dozen angry platform users were waiting outside my apartment complex, waving smartphones in my face and screaming for refunds.

One woman shoved a printed refund claim right against my cheek.

"You thought you were so clever? Pay us back now!"

The sharp edge of the paper scraped across my eyelid, leaving a stinging, hot tear.

I backed up against the brick wall, my knees trembling so violently I could barely stand.

It wasn't until building security intervened that I managed to break free from the mob.

My phone vibrated endlessly through the night.

Once inside, I immediately booted up my laptop, compiling server access records, financial transaction histories, and time-stamped chat logs into a secure file.

If they wanted an investigation, I was going to give them an exhaustive one.

At three in the morning, I dispatched the compressed data archive simultaneously to the police, corporate compliance, and the executive board at Corporate Headquarters.

At dawn, an email chimed in my inbox from Corporate HR.

Following an executive review, procedural irregularities were identified in the regional branch's evaluation process. The selection for Regional Creative Director will be reset, and responsible administrators face disciplinary action.

The position of Corporate Director of Digital Wedding Solutions is currently open.

Miss Piper Wilde, would you be interested in joining Corporate Headquarters?

Ten minutes after receiving the email, the Chief Human Resources Officer called my cell.

"Piper, this offer isn't a temporary consolation prize."

"Corporate HQ has spent six months prepping the new Digital Wedding Division. We've been searching for a leader who understands the wedding industry inside out and possesses the technical capability to build proprietary software."

"Your platform passed our corporate tech audit with flying colors."

"The role comes with double your previous salary. You will retain one hundred percent personal ownership of the platform, and the corporation will license it via an enterprise partnership model."

I gripped my phone, my fingers still trembling.

The screams, the police sirens, and the paper scraping across my face from last night were still ringing in my ears.

I could hardly believe that the very thing everyone labeled a career-ending stain had become my golden ticket to the top.

This time, I didn't hesitate for a single second.

"I accept."