Page 40 of What Comes Around

Chapter 13: The Threat

Apple had been unusually quiet online after receiving the invitation to speak with investigators about her financial crimes. It wasn’t public knowledge yet, but the shift was noticeable. Fewer posts. Fewer stories. No impulsive lives.

On the surface it almost looked like reflection. Fear, perhaps. Maybe even growth.

But from what I had seen on her cloned phone, Apple wasn’t changing.

She was unraveling.

Not only did she fail to secure work with Sinclair Enterprises, Knox had banned her from the building entirely. Security had her name and face flagged. She also hadn’t managed to “accidentally” run into him anywhere since. No clubs. No charity events. No restaurants. No elevators. No nothing.

She ranted about it to Marissa in long voice messages and increasingly unhinged texts.

And she ranted about me.

About how I had stolen everything again. How I was a slut. How I was clearly trying to get into Knox’s pants. How I was ruining her life the same way I always had.

In one voice message she spat that over her dead body would I take Knox from her.

Then Leo happened.

A video of the press conference moment was clipped and reposted countless times, layered with dramatic music and captions. Within hours it had millions of views, the comments moving faster than anyone could track.

I became internet-famous.

That alone was enough to push her jealous ass over the edge.

She commented under the video.

“She’s always been good at this.”

Because of the blue checkmark, the comment was boosted almost instantly.

Replies poured in.

“good at WHAT??”

“do you know her??”

“spill ??”

“who even are you”

Apple didn’t reply to any of them. Instead, she liked one comment.

“Wait… they have the same surname. Do you know Ashley Richards?”

From there, she changed platforms.

On Twitter, she began posting carefully constructed fragments.

“I really didn’t want to say this, but since people keep asking… yes, Ashley is my sister.”

“We haven’t spoken in years. That wasn’t my choice.”

“I’m worried about her. She’s always been drawn to powerful men. It scares me because I’ve seen how that ends.”

“Sometimes loving someone means telling the truth, even when it makes you the villain.”