Childhood Sweetheart Pranked Me, I Countered; Boyfriend Regrets Madly

The fifteenth time Ferdinand Stephens's little sweetheart stuffed a bug down my collar,

I stopped being patient. I put her straight into the hospital.

Head wrapped in white bandages.

And she still wouldn't let it go.

Where's my bug? Did she crush it?

I showed her the sole of my shoe.

There. Your disgusting bug's corpse.

"I stepped on it and squashed it flat."

She burst into loud tears and threw herself into her boyfriend's arms.

"Phyllis is so mean, picking on my little bug. Killing a living thing means she'll go to hell!"

Her boyfriend, Ferdinand Stephens, scolded me, displeased.

"Linda just likes raising strange bugs. Her hobby's a little unusual, so what?"

"Besides, she raised that bug for a whole month."

"You crushed it, so you compensate her."

He wanted me to pay her back in luxury goods.

That closet full of designer handbags of mine. Every time his little sweetheart cried over me, he took one away.

Now the last one was about to go.

I didn't cry, didn't make a scene. I just looked at Ferdinand Stephens, calm.

"Now it's your turn to compensate me."

"Compensate you for what?"

Ferdinand Stephens was peeling an apple for his little sweetheart on the hospital bed, and he raised his eyes with a sneer.

"You clearly killed a living thing first, then beat someone into the hospital."

"Phyllis Henson, you're lucky I didn't hand you over to the police."

"Where do you get the nerve to demand compensation?"

He still didn't know that every time I lost a luxury bag over his little sweetheart,

as punishment,

I took five percent of his shares too.

But right now he gave me no chance to say it.

He just threw the half-peeled apple in his hand at me.

"If someone has to pay,"

"then here, take this."

The apple hit me in the chest.

The skin was peeled in ragged patches, like a dog had gnawed it.

Ferdinand Stephens's apple-peeling was as bad as ever.

Linda Delgado froze for a second.

"Ferdinand, that's my apple..."

"You want it?"

I gave the apple in my hand a little shake, then dropped it in the trash.

"Peel your own."

Her mouth crumpled, ready to cry again.

Ferdinand Stephens frowned at me.

"That's enough."

"She's still hospitalized. Can you stop provoking her on purpose?"

I stepped back twice and folded my arms.

The white businesswoman's suit I'd been wearing was still on.

"I paid for the room."

"I fronted the medical bills."

"Even the hospital gown she's wearing went on my card."

"You tell me whether it's enough."

Ferdinand Stephens went blank, then anger crept into his eyes as it registered.

"You've got some nerve saying that."

"If you hadn't raised your hands, why would she be in the hospital at all?"

I actually laughed from the anger.

"Shouldn't you be asking her that?"

"She came at me with a bug to play a prank. Ask her what kind of occasion it was."

Ferdinand Stephens stalled, and looked over at his little sweetheart, confused.

Linda Delgado sniffled and put a frail hand to her head.

"Ferdinand, my head hurts."

Ferdinand Stephens panicked at once.

"Should I call the doctor?"

"No, I want you to stay with me."

His voice softened right along with her.

"Okay, I'll stay with you."

Linda Delgado glared at me, whining sweetly.

"I don't want that awful woman here. She's the one who killed my precious little bug. I hate her!"

Ferdinand Stephens frowned.

"Phyllis Henson, you leave first."

"Whatever it is, we'll talk about it back home."

I turned and left.

The ward door shut behind me.

At the end of the hall, the young nurse at the station leaned out to look at me.

"Miss, the VIP room you booked..."

"I'm not renewing it."

The nurse glanced at me, then hesitated before speaking.

"No, that's not it..."

"What I meant was, the VIP room has already been renewed by the gentleman just now."

I froze.

Ferdinand Stephens, it seems you've forgotten which place is really home.

And who your girlfriend really is.

That night, Ferdinand didn't come home at all.

The next day, his childhood sweetheart threw a fit to be discharged.

Ferdinand called me.

"Come get her."

"She says the hospital food is terrible."

I was in the middle of a meeting.

My phone sat on the table, on speaker.

The whole conference room heard it.

I picked up the phone. "I'm busy."

Ferdinand laughed. "Didn't that acquisition plan of yours already fall through? Busy with what?"

"Busy making money."

I kept my voice flat. "So I can make enough to compensate your little sweetheart with more luxury goods."

Two seconds of silence on his end.

"What's with the attitude?"

"That bug last time, you really shouldn't have stepped on it."

"Linda raised it for a whole month, fed it cabbage leaves every day, treasured the thing."

"It was just childish fun. She was only teasing you."

"And you crushed it with one stomp."

"She cried all night, her eyes are swollen, I spent forever calming her down."

I looked around the conference room.

They pretended to keep their heads down over the documents.

Every ear was tuned in.

"So?"

"You think I shouldn't have hit her? That I should've just let her use some filthy bug to prank me in the middle of my meeting?"

I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Ferdinand, you know exactly how important that meeting was."

Ferdinand said nothing.

He knew. He knew all of it. To pull off that acquisition,

I'd worked overtime until dawn for two straight months.

I'd finally gotten to speak in the meetings, to fight for the investment.

And then Linda, on a whim, used a bug to prank me.

Two months of effort, gone.

"It's all in the past. Why keep dragging it up?"

Ferdinand was getting impatient.

I could hear the noise of a line of people behind him.

I didn't have to ask.

Ferdinand was standing in a queue right now, buying Linda her favorite chilled fruit sorbet.

"You've got half an hour. Go to the hospital and pick Linda up."

"If she ends up crying because of you again,"

"it won't be as simple as paying her back with one bag."

I hung up.

The conference room went quiet enough to hear the hum of the air conditioning.

"Let's continue."

After the meeting ended, I went back to my office.

I opened the drawer.

Inside sat a neat stack of documents.

Every one of them a share-transfer agreement.

Signed. Sealed.

Ferdinand had no idea.

Every time a luxury bag disappeared from my cabinet,

one more agreement appeared in here.

That evening, worn out, I came home.

Only to find Linda standing in front of my cabinet, picking through my bags.

"Ferdinand, this one's pretty."

"I want this one, then."

Ferdinand took it out without a shred of hesitation.

As he handed it to Linda, he gave her nose a doting flick.

"Whatever you want, I'll get it for you."

"No more crying after this. If you cry your eyes swollen and end up looking like a splotchy little cat, that won't be cute."

Linda giggled.

She slung the bag over her shoulder and struck poses in the mirror.

I stood where I was, watching it all, cold.

A whole cabinet of luxury bags.

The year Ferdinand had the most money, he made good on the promise he'd once given me.

He cleared out a huge room on the entire second floor.

Built a full wall of cabinets for luxury goods.

He said every month he'd give me a bag.

Until all one hundred slots were filled.

But when it reached the ninety-eighth,

Linda showed up on his doorstep for help.

Ferdinand's one-bag-a-month plan stopped.

It turned into relief rations to keep her.

She wanted pretty clothes, pretty meals.

Ferdinand paid for all of it.

Every time I asked why,

Ferdinand would put on a pained face.

"Linda's mother is my godmother too. She looked after me plenty when I was little."

"It's just a little money. Don't nickel-and-dime it."

She loved raising bugs, and she loved to cry.

Especially those bugs she used to prank me, to make my skin crawl.

Every time she ended up in tears,

Ferdinand made me hand over a luxury bag to make up for it.

Linda even came to my house herself, picking through them one by one, and posted about it on social media.

"Sis, you're back?"

Linda saw me and shrank back behind Ferdinand, scared.

I stared at the top of Linda's head. The wound had nearly healed.

"Didn't I say I won't allow you in my house?"

Linda bit her lip, the picture of wronged innocence.

"Phyllis Henson, how dare you even say that!"

Ferdinand cut me off.

"I told you to pick Linda up from the hospital, and you bailed. And now you've got the nerve to blame her?"

I shoved past him and walked over.

"I'm under no obligation."

I looked at the cabinet where the luxury bags had been. Empty now.

"Ferdinand, this is the last time."

The corner of Ferdinand's mouth curled into a sneer.

"I hope it's the last time too."

"Phyllis Henson, I hope you'll learn to behave and stop provoking Linda."

The next day, Linda came to my company.

She had that limited-edition Chanel slung over her shoulder, the one she'd taken from me just yesterday.

The front desk stopped her, and she got haughty.

"I'm your Ms. Henson's sister."

"I'm here to hang out with her."

The front desk called up.

I didn't say to let her in.

Before long, she came clacking in on her heels, barging straight through.

She pushed open the door to my office.

"Sis, your office is huge."

"Even bigger than Ferdinand's."

"He said business has been going really well for you lately."

"You must be making a fortune, huh?"

I set down my pen and looked up. "Linda, what is it you actually want to say?"

Her face stiffened for a second.

Then she smiled again.

"Sis, are you still holding a grudge?"

"That whole bug thing, I've completely forgotten about it."

"You shouldn't take it to heart either."

"Get out," I said coldly.

She had a thick skin.

The harder I pushed her out, the wider she smiled.

"Sis, the fact that you dislike me this much now, does that mean you're feeling threatened?"

"Afraid I'll steal your boyfriend?"

"I never expected a powerhouse woman like you would be scared of losing her man."

She spun in a slow circle where she stood, that handbag dangling from her arm.

"But don't worry, I only care about money. I've got no interest in men."

I said nothing, and she suddenly changed tack.

"Phyllis, mind if I take a look around your office?"

"Ferdinand said you've collected a lot of antiques."

"I'd love to see them."

She wandered around, cheerful as anything.

She stopped in front of the bookshelf and reached out to touch a blue-and-white porcelain vase.

"Don't touch that!"

I called out to stop her.

But it was already too late. There was a crash of shattering porcelain.

Her hand froze in midair.

Her eyes went red, all wounded innocence.

"I was only looking"

"I didn't mean to break it. I'm sorry. How much was it worth?"

"Enough to buy your life."

She gave a weak little laugh. "Sis, you really know how to joke."

I wasn't joking.

"Pay for it now."

"Otherwise, I'm calling the police."

I picked up my phone.

I pressed three keys.

"911."

Linda's face changed.

"Sis, are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

She bit her lip.

Staring at the pile of shards on the floor.

"How much I'll pay it."

"One price. Fifty million."

"What?!"

"A broken vase, worth fifty million?"

"Ming-dynasty imperial blue-and-white. You tell me."

Her face went white, then red.

Red, then white again.

"I'll pay!"

"I'm calling Ferdinand right now!"

She yanked out her phone.

Her hands were shaking hard.

She had to dial twice before it went through.

"Hello Ferdinand"

"I I've made a mess of things"

"I'm in Phyllis's office. I accidentally broke one of her antique vases"

"She wants me to pay five million"

"I don't have that kind of money"

"Could you please"

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end.

Then I heard Ferdinand's voice.

"Put her on."

The phone came to me.

Ferdinand sighed.

"Phyllis, don't stoop to her level."

"She's still young, clumsy. Fifty million is too much. Can't you make it cheaper?"

"Here we go again."

I gave a cold laugh.

"Ferdinand, can't you come up with a different excuse?"

"She's twenty-two. That's not young."

"My interns are younger than her, and none of them cause this much trouble."

"You tell me, what exactly do you see in her?"

"Pretty face? Sweet voice?"

"Or do you just like them stupid and cute?"

Ferdinand's voice dropped.

"Phyllis, watch your mouth."

"She's my little sister."

"And you're my girlfriend."

"Can't you cut her some slack, for my sake?"

"Haven't I cut enough slack already?"

I threw the question back, cold as ice.

"She pranked me with a bug and tanked an acquisition I'd spent two months building."

"That whole wall of designer bags of mine, she took every one."

"And now she comes here to provoke me and smashes an antique vase in my office."

"Ferdinand, don't you think the two of you have gone too far?"

Ferdinand was silent for a long time. In the end, he caved.

"Fifty million. I'll wire it to you."

"You let Linda go, and no more of this talk about calling the police."

The corner of my mouth curved. "Deal."

That day, I had my secretary see Linda out, all politeness.

The fifty million hit my account.

Ferdinand, now you don't even have your last bargaining chip or your last bit of cash left.

Two days later, to cheer Linda up, Ferdinand took her to an auction in the next city over.

The day they left.

I received an email.

From the board of directors.

Saying Ferdinand had made poor decisions lately.

Several major projects had suffered heavy losses.

Someone needed to step up and take responsibility.

I deleted the email.

And made a call.

"Those companies we acquired, how's the integration coming along?"

"Already done."

"Good."

"Next step, prepare for the shareholders' meeting."

"Set it for next month."

I hung up.

I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking down at the endless stream of traffic on the street below.

This city was vast.

Vast enough to hold countless dreams.

And small enough that it couldn't hold one man's greed.

A pity, really. Ferdinand had walked this road so long he'd forgotten why he started.

He didn't know that every time he took a bag from me.

He was cutting away his own flesh.

He didn't know that behind every one of those bags.

There was a share-transfer agreement, already signed with my name.

But soon.

He would know.