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Amber shook her head. “This is insane. I’m done defending myself. No one would do this for professional reasons.”
“How about what you think happened with your boyfriend?” I said.
Julie leaned in. “What happened with her boyfriend?” she said.
“Nothing!” Amber said. “Louis, would you help me out here? I have a whole party of people I should be talking to.”
I looked at Louis apologetically. He turned to Amber and I could see it. He thought if anyone was lying, she was.
Amber shook her head. “I don’t believe this,” she said. “I’m a feminist! I love women. Even the ones I don’t particularly like.”
She looked at all of us, exasperated.
“And how dumb would I have to be to show up at your apartment if I actually had done this?”
“So you admit that wasn’t a random run-in?”
“Yes, you caught me! I admit it. I was happy someone had finally taken you down, and I wanted to gloat. I’m only human. I can’t always be sweet Amber.”
“When are you ever sweet, Amber?” Julie said.
Amber shot her a look. Then she turned back toward me. “I don’t know what to tell you except that it wasn’t me,” she said.
And the weirdest thing happened. Th
ere was a look on her face that I couldn’t deny. She didn’t look guilty. She looked like she had nothing to hide. And suddenly it was too much. It was too much looking at her, because I started to think she wasn’t lying. And if she wasn’t—if she really wasn’t behind this—then who was? Not Ryan. Not Violet. Not Amber. Not some random guy—I was sure of that too. So who?
“I’m going to enjoy what’s left of my party,” Amber said. “But I’ll expect five thousand dollars from you. For a new skirt.”
Julie blanched. “You paid five thousand dollars for a skirt? I guess you really want to hold on to that boyfriend.”
Amber put up her hands in surrender. “Charlie’s not my boyfriend anymore. Can everyone stop it with that?”
“Amber, he’s here tonight,” Louis said.
“I know. No one will seem to let me finish.” Amber paused. “Charlie’s not my boyfriend anymore,” she said. “He’s my fiancé.”
Then she held out her ring finger like proof.
“We bought the ring together months ago. So there was really no need to punish you for anything. I won.”
I held Amber’s stare, Louis falling away, Julie falling away. Everything falling away except for Amber. “What did you just say?”
“We’re getting married. I won.”
Which was when it hit me. Who I was married to, and who had lost. Who had really lost as I had been rising. As I had been forgetting where I’d started. Forgetting what was important.
And all of a sudden, I knew who had hacked me. I knew who had done this.
Standing over our bed when the first tweet came in.
Selling our apartment out from under us.
Forcing me to end up in this exact moment. Having lost as much as he did.
40
I drove the two and a half hours to New York in under two hours. It would have taken even less time than that, except I had to stop twice to eat. Once for ice cream. And once for a cheeseburger. In that order. Those people who say they can’t eat when they’re upset? I ordered an extra scoop of chocolate for those people. And then in my anger I threw it against the wall.
