Chapter 2

For the next few days, Chloe kept a low profile.

Except every time she walked past my desk, she made sure to let out a dramatic, theatrical sigh.

"Ugh, instant noodles for dinner again this month."

"Some people are just so heartless, stiffing people over chump change."

I tuned her out completely and focused on my project.

On Friday afternoon, our department head dropped a message in our WhatsApp group.

[The campaign got greenlit! Dinner's on the department tonight to celebrate.]

The chat erupted with cheers.

Mark added: [Usual rules: we split the bill, but I'll cover the lion's share.]

That was our department’s standing tradition. Mark paid the bulk of it, and the rest of us chipped in to split the remaining tab.

It allowed everyone to eat well without breaking anyone's wallet.

Chloe was the first to reply in the group.

[Awesome! Thank you so much, Mark!]

[I actually know this brand-new, super high-end omakase Japanese spot! The aesthetic is gorgeous, and the seafood is flown in daily.]

She dropped a pin in the chat.

I tapped the link. It was an elite, Michelin-starred tasting-menu restaurant averaging over $800 a head.

Dave sucked in a sharp breath from across the aisle.

"Uh, Chloe... this place is insanely pricey. There are a dozen of us. Do you know how massive that bill will be?"

Chloe quickly sent a teary emoji.

"Dave, everyone has been pulling crazy overtime lately! We finally get a night off, so of course we should treat ourselves."

"Besides, Mark is covering the biggest portion. Split between the rest of us, it’s nothing."

"Even an intern like me isn't whining about the cost. Why are you senior folks being so cheap?"

Her passive-aggressive dig instantly shut everyone up.

Mark replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

[Sounds good. That's the spot. Head there right after clocking out.]

After work, the team took Ubers over to the restaurant.

The second we were seated in the private dining room, Chloe snatched the menus.

"I’ll order! I already did all the research on TikTok!"

Without asking anyone what they wanted, she rattled off orders to the server.

"Bring two platters of the bluefin otoro sashimi to start."

"Sea urchin, one portion for each person."

"And the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu, thick-cut."

"Oh, what's your most expensive sake? Bring two bottles of that, too."

Dave tried to stop her.

"Chloe, that's way too much. We won't even finish all this."

Chloe rolled her eyes at him.

"What do you know? Omakase portions are tiny!"

"Besides, the whole point of a celebration is to indulge, isn't it?"

Dave turned beet red with embarrassment and said nothing more.

I watched her cold-heartedly from across the table.

This girl loved crying poverty, but when it came to spending other people's money, she had zero restraint.

Throughout the dinner, she gorged herself exclusively on the priciest dishes.

The rest of the team exchanged uneasy glances, barely touching their drinks.

When dinner finished, the server walked in holding the leather billfold.

"Your total tonight is $13,600."

Mark pulled out his credit card and authorized $5,000.

"You guys can split the rest."

He had a late flight to catch, so he excused himself and left early.

Dave grabbed the itemized receipt and ran the numbers on his phone calculator.

"Not counting Mark, there are twelve of us."

"The remaining balance is $8,600. That comes out to $716 per person."

"Everyone send your share to Lauren on PayPal. She’ll handle settling the tab."

I set my phone on the table with my PayPal QR code displayed.

One by one, everyone sent their payments through.

When it was Chloe's turn, she stayed glued to her seat, not moving an inch.

"Lauren, I think I'll skip paying."

I locked eyes with her.

"Why is that?"

She answered with sheer audacity.

"Didn't you owe me $380 for printing the other day?"

"Plus that courier run you made me do, let's call that $120 for an emergency delivery."

"Add in the labor for organizing your slide deck, and it all adds up to over $700."

"So, we’re officially even."

The room fell dead silent.

Everyone stopped chatting and stared straight at us.

I picked up my phone and looked down at her.

"Chloe, splitting the tab was Mark's rule."

"I never agreed to any of the arbitrary fees you made up."

"You either pay your $716 right now..."

"Or I pull this transaction out and hand it to HR tomorrow morning, and have them deduct it directly from your next paycheck."

Chloe shot up from her chair, her face contorting with rage.

"Lauren! Don't you dare push me around!"

"I'm an unpaid intern! I barely make pocket change, and you're trying to ruin me?"

My tone remained dead calm.

"When you were ordering all that wagyu, you were the one bragging about how you didn't care about the price."

"Now that the bill arrived, you're playing the broke victim?"

She clenched her teeth, tears pooling in her eyes as she scanned the room for an ally.

This time, nobody spoke up for her.

Everyone had just shelled out over seven hundred dollars; nobody was about to bail her out.

After two agonizing minutes of standoff, Chloe yanked out her phone and scanned my code.

Ding.

$716 arrived in my account.

She grabbed her designer purse and stormed out of the dining room without looking back.