She was skin and bones, sallow-faced, bullied by the other kids at the orphanage where she'd grown up.
A group of children were pelting her with rocks.
I couldn't just stand there. I charged in and pulled her out, then had my family's bodyguard put those kids in their place.
From that day on, everyone knew Ebony James had a best friend named Maud Fox.
No one dared bully her again.
We grew up together after that, inseparable as shadows. We did everything side by side.
Then last year, she lost her job and couldn't find a new one.
I was the one who offered.
"Why don't you just move in with me?"
"I'll tell everyone you're my live-in housekeeper. You won't have to lift a finger, and I'll pay you fifty thousand a month."
Ebony moved in, thrilled.
But slowly, the pieces started falling into place.
She had planned this all along, just waiting for me to make the offer myself.
"Well, I really should thank you, bestie."
Ebony let out a cold laugh and patted my cheek.
"If you hadn't given me that fifty-thousand-dollar salary, I'd still be out on the streets. Probably sweeping sidewalks somewhere."