“Please pay asap.
No more wiggle room.
Jenny freaked out. Her face turned white.
“He was supposed to invite me to dinner, not
ask me to pay for repairs!”
“Where am I supposed to get that kind of
money?”
She looked at Dad.
Dad finally remembered I was there. He said
my insurance would cover it.
“The most the insurance company will pay for
third–party property damage is $30,000.
That’s not enough!”
I reached for my suitcase.
“I didn’t even have time to buy the insurance.
There’s $20,000 liability insurance though.”
I thought for a moment.
“Oh yeah, Jenny doesn’t have a license. The
insurance company won’t pay.”
My room was small.
There wasn’t much to pack besides a few
dolls Mom made for me.
As I went out the door, Wendy blocked the
doorway, glaring at me.
“You can’t leave. It’s your car. If we call the
cops, you’re the one who pays!”
I expected that.
I took out the car registration. It had Jenny’s
name on it.
Dad helped me with that.
He switched my ID with Jenny’s.
From the time Jenny was a kid, she always
got the first new things.
Wendy lost it, started hitting and kicking Dad.
<
“You’re a screw–up. You ruined Jenny.”
“He is Blake. He’s rich. We can’t get away
with not paying.”
Dad curled into a ball, stuttering and saying
he didn’t know this would happen.
Then, Jenny clutched her head and yelled,
“Stop. I’m calling my mentor.”
The mentor was the head of the finishing
school.
I saw her leading a group of girls into a fancy
club.
The rumor was that she knew everyone. She’s
married a bunch of students off to celebrities
and tycoons
<
Jenny was clinging to her last hope, waiting
for the mentor to answer the phone.
A woman answered.
“Jenny, I’m not gonna help you if you don’t
pay for my services.”
“Pay me the $30,000. I’ll tell you what to do.”
Jenny kept agreeing.
While she was listening to her, I pushed past
Wendy and left without looking back.
They were beyond saving.
Two weeks later, I saw Blake again in the
company’s reception room.
く
In the bright lights, his scars were hard to
see.
To my surprise, Jenny was with him.
She was wearing a blazer, looking like a
businesswoman.
I wondered how she got the $30,000.
Jenny was totally blindsided to see me.
But she recovered fast. She leaned in,
whispering something to Blake.
Then, she held out her hand like she was
doing me a favor.
“Hi, I’m Blake’s assistant. If you have any
questions, come to me.”
<
Blake approved the proposal. Turns out, it
was the one I wrote.
After the meeting, he asked me to stay.
Blake stared at me across the table.
“You didn’t go to the hospital that day?”
Looks like Blake did a background check on
Jenny.
Jenny squeezed her hands. She jumped in.
“Mr. Blake, you were the lucky charm! The
second you helped, my sister’s stomachache
disappeared.”
“She’s been swamped at work so she didn’t
want to go to the hospital.”
Blake raised an eyebrow, giving Jenny a look.
He tapped his fingers on the table.
He picked up the meeting minutes and flipped
through them.
There were a few lines on the first page. The
rest was blank.
That finishing school taught Jenny about
wine, makeup, and how to manipulate guys.
But it totally skipped over how to be a decent
assistant.
“This secretary gig isn’t for you.”
“Think about what else you can do to pay for
damages.”
<
Then, Blake looked at me.
“Interested in working for Blake Enterprises?”
Blake wasn’t expecting an answer.
He stood, adjusted his sleeve, and handed me
a card.
“Contact me if you’re interested.”
Jenny went into this whole damsel act,
apologizing to Blake.
As she headed out the door, she glared at
- me.
After work, Dad blew up my phone.
“Jenny talked to peer
