“Shannon,” I said, voice hollow, “you haven’t changed, shameless to the end.” I looked at her face, once familiar, now a picture of everything I despised. “You know the truth better than anyone.”
“Does the truth matter?” Shannon asked, voice sharp with contempt. “What matters is whether the public will believe you once I put it online. One upload and the image you built over years collapses. Your company could go under. Seven hundred million a month or total ruin; which should I choose for you?”
Her words dragged up the old nightmare, that incident that had nearly destroyed me, the memory that had almost killed my parents. Now she used it like a blade, pressing the old wound until it bled again. She wanted me small and helpless once more. But, not this time. Being victimized once before taught me a lesson and I learned to put away my kindness. I would not be played twice.
Ice replaced whatever warmth I’d kept. “I’d rather go bankrupt than pay a single cent to a vicious woman like you.”
Shannon’s smile widened, predatory. “You’ve grown braver,” she said, appraising me. “Good. But I have other ways. We’ll switch to Plan B.”