Winning My Ex-Crush

Fenella’s POV

“Whooop! Whooop!”

Matthew shouted with joy, raising a fist into the air as if he were pulling a train horn. We laughed at Matthew’s unexpected reaction. Of course, we understood Matthew’s behavior because we were also thrilled with the results we had achieved.

The data from Amy’s, Peter’s, and Alan’s phones had been successfully duplicated. Now we were gathered at my house to celebrate and wait for the FBI programmer to extract the data from their storage phones. We sat in a circle on the sofa in front of the fireplace, each with a glass of wine in hand.

“That was incredible!” Jessy exclaimed before taking a sip of his wine.

“Yeah, I know!” I also took a sip of my wine.

“Oh, I could only imagine what you were going through from the sounds. It was like I was listening to an audiobook!” Matthew laughed before sipping his wine.

“I said that was a mission accomplished.” Laird chuckled before taking a sip of his wine.

I sighed with relief after the crazy events of the afternoon. It was the first time I had seen Amy openly shouting in anger like a madwoman. The sweet and spoiled image of Amy was shattered in an instant.

“I never expected Amy to show her monstrous side like that in front of her guests,” I chuckled.

“I guess it was all because she panicked seeing you, Fenella. She was afraid you’d end up with Peter, and when she saw you being pursued by two men at once, she completely lost it!” Jessy laughed loudly this time, joined by our laughter.

“Fortunately, the duplication was finished right on time. Did you return their phones to the right places?” Laird asked, crossing his legs and lounging on the sofa.

“I dropped them like they were hot cakes.” Jessy chuckled briefly before continuing. “I placed Amy’s phone back on her table. I dropped Alan’s and Peter’s phones under the buffet table.”

“That’s brilliant! You did act outside the plan, but it helped us all.” Matthew grimaced while shrugging one shoulder.

“I’m just trying to be useful. I saw the opportunity, then I grabbed it.” Jessy shrugged and acted as if he were being modest, though his manner of speaking conveyed arrogance. We laughed quietly again.

“I know you’re happy, but it’s not over yet.”

Prosecutor Golden’s voice came from the laptop speaker. We had been in an online meeting, communicating intensively since earlier. Jessy had gotten bored and finally opened Alan’s wine to lighten the tense atmosphere since we got home.

“No results from the phone data yet?” Laird asked, growing serious again in response to the prosecutor.

“Just finished.”

“In that case, it’s done.” Matthew laughed.

“That’s not how it works. We still need to organize the evidence and submit it to the judge to issue a warrant for them.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

Matthew then closed the communication channel on the laptop. We all stared at Matthew, who had dared to do that without any courtesy towards the prosecutor.

“What? I don’t want to hear his nonsense anymore.” Matthew blinked and defended himself against our scornful gazes.

“At the very least, you should have let us hear what Prosecutor Golden found from the data.” Laird protested, but Matthew waved his arm dismissively.

“Bullshit. He’s not that smart and quick to conclude crimes from such evidence.” Matthew snorted and took another sip of his wine.

“How much longer will it take?” I asked hesitantly.

“I bet he’ll need at least three more days, or at most a week.”

Matthew then leaned back on the sofa comfortably, mimicking Laird. Meanwhile, Jessy and I continued to lean towards the laptop, which was no longer connected to the prosecutor.

We absorbed all of Matthew’s statements in silence. Our wine became an additional companion to warm us up besides the cozy crackling fireplace. I had a moment of contemplation before Jessy voiced his troubled thoughts again.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if Alan actually goes to jail and Gene goes bankrupt.” Jessy sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging further.

“It’s okay, Jessy. We have to sacrifice a little to gain more. No pain, no gain, remember?” Laird spoke calmly, trying to comfort him.

“I know Alan’s money is illegal, but their salary payments kept me alive and paid for my mother’s treatment.” Jessy pouted. “Shit. When I wanted to contribute to the community by helping to punish criminals, it turns out I also have to lose an important livelihood.”

We fell silent again, absorbing his words. Suddenly, I realized that our revenge mission would soon succeed. Amy and Alan would be punished, and they wouldn’t be able to disturb my life anymore. Even though we would face mass layoffs at Gene, at least Amy deserved her punishment.

Yeah, it was all worth fighting for. Amy deserved to be imprisoned for all her actions. Especially since she clearly did not admit her wrongdoing or apologize to me. After everything she did to me in high school and everything she did to poor Alan.

“Seriously, I don’t understand you guys. Come on, I thought you were better than this.” Matthew groaned, his face scrunched up.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“What else do you want to complain about?” Laird asked before sipping his wine again.

“Come on, you’re driving me nuts! You could look for another modeling agency or start your own agency that’s better than Gene.”

“Once again, Matthew. It’s not that simple.”

Jessy exhaled deeply. He then leaned back on the sofa, his hand massaging his temple while the other hand still held his glass of wine.

“Alright, tell me what makes it not simple.” Matthew patted his thigh.

“Well, the first thing is capital,” Jessy concluded.

“Duh,” I nodded.

“I can help you,” Laird said.

“See that! One problem solved!” Matthew’s eyes widened as he snapped his fingers. He pointed at Laird and challenged Jessy with his gaze.

“Laird, you’re focused on building Rackers Bite. You can’t start a new company again,” I said, squeezing his thigh with one hand.

“Wait a minute, we’ve had this discussion before. Something about money that needs to be returned to Gene if you resign and breach the contract unilaterally.” Laird furrowed his brow.

“Gosh, I forgot about that. I’ve set aside money for the return and saved the remaining in another account.” I ruffled my hair.

“You intended to resign from Gene and terminate the contract?” Matthew asked, his brow furrowed.

“Yes, I even submitted a resignation letter. However, Alan threatened me to return all the money he had given me as a bonus. He agreed to give me relief from returning the money if I completed all remaining projects by February.”

“If they are arrested before the projects are finished, that means Fenella will have to return all the money, right?” Jessy furrowed his brow.

“How much?”

“About $50, 000 and a hatchback car,” I revealed to Matthew.

“Wait a minute!” Laird and Matthew exclaimed together.

“You might not need to return the money to Gene, Fenella,” Laird said, his eyes lighting up.

“If all Gene’s accounts are blocked and the company’s operations are forced to be held by the court, then collecting the debt for the termination will be difficult. Almost impossible,” Matthew said quickly with high enthusiasm.

“We can also negotiate with the court’s asset division for some leeway.” Laird smirked with fervor that was contagious.

“They won’t do anything until all the cases are resolved, and that could take more than a year for a big case like this with appeals available.” Matthew laughed happily.

“Um, I’m lost here,” I said softly.

“The point is you won’t need to return that bonus money, Fenella. You can use it or save it to start a new company.” Laird smiled widely and gave me a tight hug.