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Chapter Twenty-One
Avery
On a Thursday morning, I got the surprise of my life when I opened my Etsy inbox. I had a message from Sophia. Why had she even tracked me down? I was using my legal name as a seller, so I guess it wasn’t rocket science to find me. Just shocking that she’dwantto.
Avery, hey, what a quaint shop you've got here. I'm glad I found you. I'm throwing an opening party for my new store in New York. I've decided to put myself out there. You're welcome to come.
She listed her website in the signature.
For a few seconds, I couldn't breathe. I blinked rapidly.
Am I seeing wrong? Is this for real? She stole all the money from the company to fund her own business?
With a shaky hand, I opened the website. I couldn't believe she'd done it. She was selling designer shoes—andjewelry. I bit my lip, clicking on the Event page. The official opening party was in two weeks.
I was too stunned to think. Here I was trying to rebuild my life from scratch, and there she was, financing everything with the money she took frommybusiness.
My God, is life ever fair?
No, no, no. I can't go down that route. It won't help anything.
I took a deep breath, but I was shaking. When stuff like this happened, I liked to remind myself of everything I had and all the good things that had happened to me. Mom was healthy. I’d reconnected with Sam. I'd found my passion for handmade jewelry. I had plenty of things to be happy about and grateful for.
But I couldn't let this go. Sophia was literally rubbing this in my face, so I made a split-second decision. I was going to attend her stupid party. She obviously wanted to pour salt in the wound, but I bet she didn’t expect me to actually go. Not in a million years. I wasn't the one in the wrong here, and I had no reason to hide. I had all the reason to call her out, and I sure as shit was going to do that. I’d made a stupid mistake, and I owned up to it, but that didn't mean I would let her simply get away with everything.
Besides, I had another reason for wanting to attend. I needed to warn her potential business partners about her. I couldn’t live with myself if I simply sat back and let her scam someone else.
I stood up, shaking out my legs and my hands. I was jittery, and I had too much adrenaline to sit down and continue working.
Fuck this.
Fuck Sophia.
This isn't fair. It isn't right.
I couldn't calm down, but I still had to finish this jewelry set and get it to the post office.
Taking a few deep breaths, I pulled myself together. I could make a voodoo doll or imagine all the ways I could make her payafterI finished and shipped the order. I wanted my new clients to feel like they were special and could count on me to deliver on time.
Grudgingly, I sat down and then plugged in my earbuds, playing relaxing nature sounds. I chose one with a waterfall. Thirty seconds later, I realized Zen music wasn't going to help me, so I opened Spotify to the newest hits.
