My Boyfriend Used Secret Code With My Bestie; I Let Go

1.

Two weeks before the engagement, I found a codebook.

For a long time before that, I'd noticed something odd in the way my boyfriend and my childhood friend talked. Like when my boyfriend would say:

Going to sort out the storage room tonight, and air out the bedding while I'm at it.

I offered to come along, but the three of them just shook their heads and laughed.

My best friend hooked her arm through mine, smiling. "A guy's storage room is bound to be filthy. A girl shouldn't go poking around in there."

My childhood friend chimed in too. "Everyone handles his own stuff."

But the very next day, I saw the three of them together at a barbecue place.

I told myself I'd read it wrong.

Not long after, my childhood friend posted another message in our group chat:

Feel like browsing the vintage market. Bring a tote bag.

My boyfriend and my best friend both replied at the same time.

Three days later, my boyfriend and my best friend both said, out of nowhere, that they had business trips.

When they came back, they'd each brought me the same kind of little souvenir from a beach town, right in sync.

I told myself it was a coincidence.

Until today, when I found that codebook under my boyfriend's bed.

Only then did I understand what those phrases meant.

Sort out the storage room meant go out and hang out.

A girl shouldn't go meant don't tell Summer Prescott.

Browse the vintage market and bring a tote bag meant we're going on a trip, meet on time...

They loved that feeling of you're in on it, I'm not, sealing me off from their little world.

If that was how it was, then there was no reason for me to keep holding this relationship together.

......

I opened my phone. Today, my best friend had posted in the group again.

Going to pick out some fabric today, might dig up a few little things while I'm at it.

My childhood friend and my boyfriend, again, were the first to reply.

Go for it

I opened the notebook and looked up what that line meant.

Translated, it was: I want to go out and have fun, come keep me company, don't bring anyone else.

Fine. Then it would just be them.

The three of them had quietly formed a solid triangle.

I pushed the notebook back under the bed and called my boss overseas instead.

"Are you still short a second-in-command?"

"I've thought it through. Marriage doesn't seem as important as I made it out to be."

On the other end, a young man's voice, not exactly the steady type, was struggling to hold back his excitement.

"Yes, yes, yes, the position's still yours, it's been waiting for you. As long as you're willing to come, I'll bump your benefits up even higher."

"My assistant is getting everything ready right now."

I hung up, sent over my ID information, then went back to my room to pack.

There was a knock at the door. I opened it, and my boyfriend, Cary Gomez, was standing there.

"Summer, something's come up at the company. I can't spend your birthday with you today."

"I'll be back later, and I'll definitely buy you a present."

I didn't try to keep him, and I didn't refuse either.

"Go handle your own stuff. Work matters more, and anyway, there's a birthday every year."

He pulled me into a hug and planted a hard kiss on my cheek.

"My baby is always so understanding."

"Love you to death."

"I'm off."

He was quick and lively, good-looking, full of energy.

And all those things were exactly what I lacked most.

The moment he was gone, my best friend, Lesley Dickerson, and my childhood friend, Josh Whitfield, both texted me too.

Sorry, Summer, my boss is making me redo the project proposal, so I can't be with you for your birthday tonight.

Summer, my grandma's sick, I have to go to the hospital and stay with her.

Every excuse was one I couldn't argue with.

Before, it would have stung a little. Now, I just didn't care.

Go do your thing.

The three of them gathered at my favorite coffee shop.

Each got a black coffee, and together they set off, walking into the movie theater.

They picked the newest release.

That movie, I'd brought it up with them, said I wanted us to go see it together.

But one after another they'd all been busy, putting it off again and again.

Now I could see it clearly. They weren't busy. It was just that a movie for four was too crowded.

2.

The boss's assistant reached out to me.

He sent people straight to my door to help me move.

The only shame was that I didn't have much I wanted to take with me.

In the end, I chose to bring only my documents and that notebook filled with their code.

My flight was booked for the evening. I was waiting in the business-class lounge.

Messages started flooding the group chat, as if they were afraid I'd catch on. Every ordinary line had their code tucked inside it.

Cary: Should we go on a hiking trip? The three of us work out all the time, we're in good shape, it'd be fun.

Don't bring Summer. She's too delicate for it.

Josh: What would we even do with her along? She doesn't know how to do anything but work. Let's just go by ourselves, and we'll come up with some excuse when the time comes, like always.

Lesley: Isn't it kind of bad, always leaving Summer out of our little circle?

If she ever found out, it wouldn't turn out well for any of us.

Cary, reassuring her: It's fine, we'll just say it's a business trip.

She won't suspect a thing.

I closed the notebook and rubbed the ache between my brows.

Lesley had always been a scholarship kid.

Insecure, timid, careful with everything she did.

I thought she was pitiful, and I believed she wasn't bad at heart, so I had my parents sponsor her through high school.

I even introduced her to my childhood friend's company, drew her further into my circle.

And now, of all people, she was the one pushing me out.

Cary called me.

Summer, your birthday present might be a few days late. Something came up and I have to travel for work.

You don't mind, right?

You said it yourself, work matters more.

I couldn't be bothered to call him out. Do whatever you want. I can take care of myself.

The moment I hung up, I called a few other good friends inside the circle.

Cary had a company, but it had only just gotten off the ground, propped up on the resources I'd pulled in for him.

If it wasn't run well from here, it could go under in an instant.

And now, what I was going to do was quietly pull back, piece by piece, every resource I'd once handed over.

Yes, I'm not getting engaged to him.

Don't tell him yet. Some things aren't any fun if they fall apart all at once.

I like to let a person climb all the way up first, then watch them fall.

My friend knew my nasty streak and said nothing.

He agreed to go back and withdraw the funding in order.

Listening on the line, the new boss's assistant kept wiping cold sweat.

Silently lighting a candle for Cary in his heart.

Of all the people to cross, he had to cross her.

The plane began to climb. Just as I was about to switch on airplane mode, Josh sent a message.

Summer, we're heading out for a short trip. Could I trouble you to handle some company matters for me, like before?

I glanced at it and didn't reply.

Josh hadn't even been in the running as the Whitfield heir.

Dumber than a pig since he was a kid, bullied over and over by that illegitimate son the Whitfields had brought back into the family.

Push a doormat far enough and even it has a temper.

He finally couldn't take it anymore and came running to me.

Summer, could you teach me? Once I inherit the Whitfield family, I'll give you three percent of the shares.

I stood behind the scenes, analyzing the Whitfields' motives and the direction the company was moving.

Sometimes I stepped in myself and pulled their company out of one crisis after another.

I secured his place as the Whitfield heir for good.

He shoved a lot of the company's work onto me, and he did just fine for himself, using the time he saved to run around with my boyfriend and their crowd.

Josh, handle your own business yourself.

The road ahead, you walk it on your own.

I messaged the lawyer I regularly worked with.

Sell off the three percent of shares he'd given me.

3.

The plane touched down.

Joseph Delgado was there to meet me.

He was another one of those family kids the Delgados had tossed out to earn his stripes.

Not so different from me, reallyexcept I'd finished my apprenticeship and just didn't want to go home.

He'd washed out halfway through, and didn't dare go home.

If he hadn't run into me before all this, he'd probably have been fleeced down to his last dime.

"Miss Prescott, welcome to America. You'll have my full backing. All you have to do is show them what you can do."

I'd barely settled into the town car when another message came in from Cary.

Summer, Josh got into a car accident on his way to drop me at the office. That's the only reason he's asking you to step in and handle some company business for him.

You've always had a knack for that kind of thing anyway.

I glanced at Lesley's line in the group chat.

If Josh asking won't do it, let Cary give it a try. He is about to be her fianc, after all.

I smiled. I had most of the code in that notebook memorized by now.

I pulled a few phrases and sent them back.

If that's the case, I'll find a way to manage it.

Translated, though, it meant something else entirely.

Not my problem.

Lesley smiled as she wrapped a scarf around her neck, looking off toward the snow peaks in the distance.

"Come on, the hike's about to start."

"It's high up here and cold, and phones drain fast. Let's silence them and power them off, then stay close to the group."

I finished my onboarding paperwork and went into the office that same day to get a basic feel for the operation.

The more I looked, the more my head throbbed.

Joseph really didn't seem like a true Delgado.

He wasn't dim, exactly, but he had zero grasp of the most basic business instincts.

Nine out of ten of his hires were all ambition and no ability.

The handful with any talent were pinned flat by the useless ones, who held their spots through connections.

"If you actually want to turn this company around, step one: get rid of the nepotism hires. Now."

Joseph nodded, again and again.

"Just tell me who to cut, and I'll cut them."

We cleaned house, and the complaints rolled in.

I placed a call back home.

Straight to the classmates I'd once brought into Cary's company.

"New job. Company-paid relocation. You in?"

Seven or eight of them, almost no hesitation.

"Stick with Summer, we eat well."

"Honestly, we've been done at Mr. Gomez's company for a long time."

Turned out that while I was gone, Cary had pulled Lesley in.

She didn't actually do any workjust threw her weight around off her connections and poached a good chunk of their numbers.

Truly a death wish.

Wanting the sheep to run, but not letting them graze.

"I'll book your flights and push your resignations through. Wrap up the handover and you leave tomorrow."

"You're a lifesaver, Summer."

"I'm crying. I'm following Summer for the rest of my life."

I logged into the back end of Cary's company talent system.

Finance got the message, zeroed out those people's pay, ran it through the fast track, and processed their exits clean.

Only after all of it was done did she still feel a little on edge.

Finance called Cary without letup.

The first several rang out with no answer. Someone finally picked up on the last onebut it was Lesley's voice.

"What do you want with Cary?"

Finance didn't dare hesitate, and quickly said,

"Miss Prescott, she"

Cut off before she could finish.

"That's enough, stop. Wait until we're back, then tell Cary yourself."

"Don't ruin the mood for us."

The call ended. Cary had just come back with an armful of firewood, and looked at her, puzzled.

"Who called?"

Lesley smiled and switched off her phone.

"Spam call. I hung up."

He thought nothing of it.

4.

One after another, they couldn't be reached.

The project leads resigned as a group.

The company had no one at the helm.

The investors pulled out, one following the next, and the thriving firm was reduced to an empty shell in the blink of an eye.

The Whitfield family got word from the company that several projects had gone wrong and no one could find Josh.

They had no choice but to bring in the illegitimate son, Preston Whitfield.

Only barely did he manage to turn the decline around.

The Whitfield family lost all patience. His phone dead, the man himself nowhere to be found, they struck him off the list of heirs in a fit of anger.

The hiking trip over, all three of them had faces gone slightly purple from the cold.

They were ready to head home.

That was when Cary found his bank card frozen.

"What's going on?"

He stared at the string of red missed calls on his phone, dialed back, and found no one picking up.

Josh grabbed his own phone.

One look and it was the same for him. No one answering, and his bank card frozen too.

He hurried to call home.

"Mom, Dad, my bank card"

A cold snort came down the line. "You'll know when you get back."

The unease churned inside him. Neither of them could touch their money, so they both looked to Lesley.

"Lesley, how about you book the tickets first? Once we're back, I'll pay you back."

Lesley thought it was a little strange, but she still took out her money.

"What are you talking about. You two paid for everything on the way here, so of course getting back is on me."

"Aren't we friends?"

"It's just that I don't have much left, and this month's paycheck hasn't come in yet, so I can only get you economy."

The plane landed, and the three of them split up.

The ones going to their companies went, the one going home went home.

The two young CEOs got to where they were headed and found each other's situations more wretched by the second.

One company had been swept completely clean, as if it had never existed at all; the other man wasn't even let into the office and could only go home.

Both of them were dumbstruck.

How could this be happening.

Cary asked the other workers in the same office building, and only then did he learn what had happened.

He rushed home to find me, only to find the place looking as though no one had lived there in a long time.

On the coffee table sat the fruit he'd bought before, gone rotten from sitting untouched, yellow juice running off the table onto the floor.

He pulled out his phone, his hand shaking as he found the number.

The moment it connected, he demanded, "Summer, what exactly are you doing? Why did you poach our company's staff?"

"And those investors, why did they all pull out, one after another? Do you have any idea how much I poured into that company?"

I closed the file I'd just signed and couldn't help asking back:

"You're a broke student with nothing to your name. Why would anyone invest in you?"

"Did you forget who those people actually wanted to invest in?"

Understanding dawned on Cary, his voice dropping a notch.

"But, but I put in my time too."

"If the investment came in because of you, then why would they pull out?"

I laughed, low.

"In this day and age, time is the cheapest thing there is."

"And a con man doesn't get to keep an investment."

"Cary, talking to Josh and the others in that secret code of yours, wasn't it thrilling, all so hidden and private?"

He swallowed, his voice thin and unsteady.

"What secret code? I don't know anything about that."

"Summer, did someone feed you some nonsense?"

"That code notebook under your bed. You wrote it out very carefully."

"There's one more thing I never told you. Let's break up."

I hung up and blocked him with one tap.

On Josh's end, it finally dawned on him too that something was wrong, and the call came through to me.

"Summer, didn't you promise you'd cover the company for me for a few days?"

I curved my lips.

"But what I said was in code."