Boyfriend and Bestie Schemed for My Fortune; Comments Crushed Them

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I brought the online boyfriend I'd finally met in person to meet my best friend, and the second the two of them latched onto my arms and refused to let go,

I suddenly saw the comments scrolling across my vision.

The male and female leads of this possessive-romance finally meet! The moment the male lead lays eyes on the female lead, he wants to lock her away and keep her all to himself!

From now on the two of them will play out she-runs-he-chases right in the female side character's mansion, and she'll have nowhere to escape! Just thinking about it is such a rush!

Sure, the male lead marries the female side character, but only to get his hands on her family fortune and clean up the female lead's family troubles! Suffering all this for love, I could honestly cry!

Anyway, the female side character gets poisoned to death at thirty, so we'll just have to grit our teeth and wait it out!

Huh?

A poor man who needed me to buy his plane ticket before he could even show up in person.

A scholarship girl who only finished college because I funded her.

Two broke people, staging a possessive-abduction drama inside my big mansion. Did anyone ask my permission?

......

From the comments, I gathered that I was the villainess of a possessive-romance novel.

My boyfriend, Sylvester Delgado, the male lead, had fallen hopelessly for my best friend, Penelope Fox, that pitiful little scholarship flower.

He'd swallow his pride and marry me, then coldly order Penelope not to marry anyone until he'd made his name.

And Penelope, torn with guilt over the betrayal, would help Sylvester poison me anyway.

After my death, the two of them would go through a whole tug-of-war and finally end up together.

Reading the whole thing through, all I saw was me dating and marrying like a normal person.

I gave Sylvester his connections. I gave Penelope a comfortable, well-off life.

And in the end I somehow became the villainess?

In front of me, the two of them caught the change in my face and grabbed my hands at the same time.

"Leah Pruitt, are you not feeling well? Do you want to go to the hospital?"

Looking at the two of them, eyes brimming with worry, I started to doubt whether those comments were even real.

I'd been in an online relationship with Sylvester for two years, and the whole time he'd coddled me over everything, putting up with all my spoiled-heiress moods.

If I didn't text back within seconds, he'd bombard me with a flood of apology videos.

Not to mention Penelope, who treated me like her whole salvation and said "having Leah is my good fortune" every single day.

Last year, when a test wrongly flagged me for kidney failure, she'd all but begged to give me one of her kidneys on the spot.

The female side character's loving all this flattery, isn't she! I hate people like her, a little money and they act like they own everyone!

The male and female leads only want her money. To confirm each other's feelings, they'll push the female lead to take the overseas transfer any second now!

The next second, Sylvester spoke up.

"Are you still on the fence about the transfer? It's not a bad growth opportunity!"

Penelope leaned against my shoulder and said, half wheedling,

"Don't worry about me, I can keep an eye on the house for you!"

The transfer was to Manhattan, where I'd meet a lot of major players. A rare chance.

I'd only hesitated because I was worried the two of them wouldn't get along at the house.

Well then.

I took a deep breath and curved my lips.

"Then I'll leave the house to you two."

After sending the housekeeper the order to install whole-house surveillance,

I took Sylvester and Penelope out shopping at the mall until nightfall.

Here it comes, here it comes! The male lead poisons the female side character three times total, and today's the first!

To find out whether the female lead fell for him at first sight, the male lead can't wait to slip the female side character sleeping pills today, then trots off to grill her about it!

My eyes darkened.

Sylvester carried in a glass of milk and stepped into my room.

"During our online days we basically chatted at two or three in the morning, so I know you sleep badly. Drink some warm milk!"

His voice was gentle as he crouched down by my knees.

So impatient.

He hadn't even wiped the white powder clean off the rim of the glass.

I'm not a patient person.

I don't give third chances.

"Set the milk down. You can go."

Sylvester pulled me into his arms, and my nose caught a sharp whiff of Penelope's perfume on him.

"I know you're upset that we just met and now we'll be apart for half a month. I'll video-call you every day and check in, just like when we were dating online!"

Who wants a man who's already about to go filthy?

I pushed him away gently and reminded him, "Penelope scares easily. Take good care of her."

Sylvester beamed and nodded again and again.

His steps were quick, even as he pretended he couldn't bear to leave, and walked out of my room.

I poured out the milk and pulled up the hallway camera.

Sylvester had backed Penelope into a corner, his voice hoarse.

"I can't help it. The first moment I saw you, I knew you were meant to be my woman!"

Penelope, her voice thick with tears, said, "We can't betray Leah like this!"

Even as her hand was already fisting the front of Sylvester's shirt.

After the kiss, the veins on the back of Sylvester's hand stood out.

"I'll build a hidden room in this mansion, and I'll lock you away in it. You'll belong to me alone!"

Illegally remodeling my mansion?

I smiled.

Since they loved playing this game so much, I'd let them have it.

I'd send them both behind the same set of iron bars, with a pair of silver bracelets thrown in.

The next morning, the two of them drove me to the airport together.

The whole way there, they kept up the act, fighting over me right in front of me.

"Leah, you have to come back soon. I don't want to be stuck alone with the jerk who's trying to steal you away!"

Sylvester gave a dismissive little laugh. "Leah's my girlfriend. I'm her right hand at home. I'll keep her company running like clockwork while she's gone. Eat your heart out."

"When Leah comes back, she's definitely going to like me better!"

They thought they were hiding it well.

But I'm not one of the idiots in the comment feed.

Penelope lived off me, spent my money.

Sylvester's job? I'd arranged that too.

And in the end they wanted to swallow my family fortune and gut me of everything I had?

Ugly and delusional both.

I turned away, a cold little laugh forming inside me.

By the time I got back, it'd be their turn to go behind bars.

It was already dusk when I reached the hotel.

Sitting on the bed, I opened the surveillance feed again.

Trading on being my best friend of more than a decade, Penelope had passed off a fake order in my name and given the butler and all the staff half a month's leave.

Sylvester, using the gold coins I'd showered on him for two years, was hard at work digging out a hidden room in the villa.

The comments were going wild.

Just imagining the male and female leads sneaking off to cuddle in that secret room behind the side character's back gets me so hyped!

And once the side character comes back, the male lead's going to slip her the sterility drug a second time so she can never have kids! Then she'll have no one but him, and the fortune's locked in tight!

I cut a backup copy of the footage and shut off my phone.

For those two weeks, I put my energy into trading industry intel with the heavy hitters and left the pair of them alone.

The moment the fifteen days were up, Sylvester couldn't wait to message me.

"To celebrate you coming home, I've prepared a welcome-home dinner myself!"

Penelope met me at the airport, eagerly taking my luggage and looping her arm through mine.

"Don't go playing favorites with Sylvester just because he's been sucking up to you! You and I are the best of friends!"

I used to think Penelope was thin-skinned, which was why I'd always shielded her from everything.

When her parents wouldn't let her study and pushed her into marriage, I went and pulled her out of that pit myself.

When she got picked on at school, when people spread rumors about her, I threw money and effort into clearing her name.

And yet now, after she'd done every last thing with Sylvester, she could lie without her face flushing or her heart skipping a beat.

Back at the house, Sylvester stood waiting at the door with an armful of flowers.

Sharp brows, bright eyes, straight-backed. Easy on the eyes.

His looks really were superior. Otherwise I wouldn't have been willing to date him online for two years.

The male lead's already put the drug in her wineglass! Once she gets her premarital checkup, she'll find out the sorry state she's in! From now on the family fortune can only go to the male and female leads' children!

I let them usher me in without so much as a flicker.

The second I sat down, I made trouble, throwing a plate to the floor.

"My lucky color today is yellow. Why would you set out a blue plate?"

They knew I threw the occasional rich-girl tantrum.

Even though a flash of resentment crossed Sylvester's eyes, he still rushed off to fetch a new plate.

Then my gaze slid to Penelope, in her blue dress.

As if I'd suddenly worked out why I'd been so cold to her the whole way home.

Penelope went pale. "I, I'll go change into a yellow dress right now!"

The moment they were gone, I switched the wine in front of me for the glass at Sylvester's place.

They came back.

Seeing me in a much better mood, they quietly let out their breath.

I picked up my glass first. "You two worked hard holding down the house these two weeks. This is for you."

The three of us drained our glasses at the same time, the smiles they were fighting to hide almost breaking through.

Mine too.

Just as I was about to pull out the footage and tell them the truth.

My secretary showed up at the door.

"Boss, you're finally back!"

"While you were away, that best friend of yours all but wrecked the company!"

Leah opened the file her secretary handed her, and her face went cold in an instant.

An ordinary contract. Penelope had typed an extra zero into the figure, and the mistake was enormous.

"Robin, I never let Penelope into the company. How did she get her hands on a company contract?"

Robin looked like he'd finally found somewhere to let it all out. "She told everyone she was your best friend, that she was interning here to surprise you!"

"I was going to report it to you, but your boyfriend, Supervisor Delgado, said you'd been busy lately and told me not to bother you!"

"The contract's due this week. The client says we've already signed, so that's why I came straight to you!"

Penelope stared at me with reddened eyes, her voice thick with hurt.

"Leah, I only wanted to help you. I never thought I'd make such a mess of it."

Help me. As if. She'd wanted to get familiar with the company she thought was about to be hers, to try out a little of that power.

I rubbed my furrowed brow and kept my voice level.

"It's fine. It can be handled."

That was what I always said to her.

Penelope's eyes lit up at once, brimming with smugness.

Then, a beat later, they froze.

"It's a contract you got wrong yourself. There are cameras all over the company, and witnesses too. Legal will be holding you accountable."

Penelope went blank.

She was used to me cleaning up after her.

Even Sylvester nearly dropped the act. "Isn't she your best friend? Can you really bring yourself to face her in court?"

"The company isn't mine alone. Why didn't she check carefully when she printed that contract? Was she fine with the elders tearing into me over it?"

I turned to Penelope, my expression grave.

"Now, please leave my home and get ready for court."

This isn't right, is it? The villainess looked after the heroine right up until her own death! She even told the male lead herself to make sure the heroine never wanted for anything!

This villainess is so vicious! The heroine and the male lead had a whole slow-burn thing going at the company, and one move from her splits them up!

In the original story I was kept in the dark the whole way through, and every bit of my suffering came courtesy of these two.

Now that I knew, there was no way I'd walk the same path again.

Sylvester had gone quiet.

Penelope drifted toward the door one slow step at a time, as if waiting for me to call her back.

I didn't.

Because of this whole mess, I set aside the confrontation I'd planned and dealt with the company first.

Sylvester saw me working through the night, and instead of any sympathy he kept making excuses for Penelope.

"She's from the countryside. You know how her family favors sons over daughters. Making her pay back that much money would practically kill her, wouldn't it?"

"I know you're angry, but you two are good friends after all. Can't you put yourself in her shoes?"

I looked up, my eyes cold.

"If you feel that sorry for her, why not just pay the money back for her yourself?"

Sylvester gave an awkward little laugh.

"I don't feel sorry for her. I only feel sorry that you're losing a good friend!"

I ignored him and worked straight through until the early hours.

I only slept three hours.

At nine, I washed up quickly and went to the office.

A large crowd had gathered there.

Penelope stood in the middle of it, her hair a mess, looking utterly wretched.

Her parents were hitting her and cursing at her.

The moment she saw me, she scrambled up and knocked her forehead hard against the floor several times.

"Leah, I was wrong, please let me off!"

"I don't want to go back and marry a ninety-year-old man!"

Click, click. I spotted the reporters in the crowd.

So this was the pity act.

All it took was for me to refuse, and word of my cold, heartless nature would spread.

The original story's heroine, all right. A fine little scheme.

Sylvester spoke up right on cue.

"Leah, I don't like her much either!"

"But you're both women. Surely you can understand her!"

They all thought they had me cornered, victory glinting in their eyes.

I smiled and nodded, and helped Penelope to her feet.

"All right. I forgive you!"

At once, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

I turned and looked at Sylvester with contempt.

"But someone still has to answer for the losses. Sylvester, I made you a supervisor, and you failed to do your job and check the work!"

"We're breaking up, and you'll be the one to take responsibility for this."

Yesterday I consulted my lawyer.

The tampering had been mostly Sylvester's work; only he could have gotten into the room the surveillance camera covered.

Since he wanted to play the hero rescuing the damsel, I would pin both crimes on him.

As for Penelope, I would deal with her slowly.

The plot's completely broken! Isn't the female side character just a prop to push the leads together? How dare she break up with him!

Wicked woman! You're driving a wedge between our leads! You'll never win against this pure-love couple!

These two clinging vines wound around me thought they were fit to make me their prop?

Sylvester was rattled, right on cue.

"That's not what I meant either... I..."

I gave a look to Robin, who had finally shown up.

He caught it at once and murmured into the crowd.

"Anyone who didn't know would think the one on the floor is his girlfriend!"

"The Pruitts lost a fortune, and he talks like it's nothing!"

In an instant, the murmurs about the two of them having something going on came from every side.

Public opinion?

Two can play that game.

I quickly took Penelope's hand, my voice light with satisfaction.

"Penelope, you wouldn't let some worthless man come between us, would you?"

She pulled her eyes off Sylvester and nodded hard.

Once I'd sent Penelope's parents off, I called my lawyer right there.

"Change the defendant. Yes, change it to Sylvester Delgado."

Then I turned and walked away, not bothering with Sylvester and his endless explaining.

Penelope wanted to speak, but she was too afraid I'd turn my anger on her, and her face went green holding it in.

Over the next few days, I worked carefully on the lawsuit materials.

I was just getting in the car to drive to the courthouse and file.

Robin told me my parents had come.

"Not just come. They brought Sylvester!"

That caught me off guard.

My parents didn't approve of me meeting someone online; they'd set their hearts on an arranged match. How did they even know Sylvester?

Before long, the three of them walked in.

My father, who was always stern, was chatting and laughing with Sylvester.

My mother called him "little Sylvester" in that warm tone.

She spotted me and spoke with a note of reproach.

"Why didn't you introduce little Sylvester to us sooner?"

Sylvester rubbed the back of his head. "I upset her a while ago, so we've been fighting about a breakup!"

I still hadn't worked it out.

The scrolling comments told me why.

Our leads have plot armor! A little trick and they've won over the female side character's parents!

The male lead saved her parents from a car crash that nearly happened, so now he's their chosen son-in-law. Once those two marry, isn't the money all our girl's?

I drew a deep breath and laid out the whole story.

But my father acted like someone had taken over his body.

"So what? They're both important to you. Losing a little money is nothing!"

My mother even tore up my documents on the spot.

"Drop the lawsuit. Why hurt everyone's feelings!"

"We'll all have dinner together today, and the misunderstanding will clear right up!"

Looks like the slow-poison-at-the-engagement-dinner plot got moved to today!

As long as it's back on track. I don't want to watch the side character gloat anymore!

All that preparation, ruined in a single stroke.

My hands curled into fists, the fingertips going white.

They practically dragged me into the private dining room by force.

Sylvester had a long, sickening apology speech ready.

The male lead stalls for time while our girl doses the drink outside. What a perfect little couple!

Wait, no! Why's there an extra person?

My parents turned, startled too, at Brandon Mason standing outside the room.

My original arranged match. A young heir from the business world, and a doctor with a medical degree.

My father swung his head toward me. "What's he doing here! You're marrying little Sylvester!"

I curved my lips and mouthed the words at the comments in front of me.

You don't like watching me? Then watch me enjoy this.

The counterstrike starts now.

Brandon gave me a slight smile, clapped his hands, and someone brought in Penelope, guilt written all over her face.

Along with a video.

At the restaurant entrance, Sylvester had forced Penelope's left hand flat against his chest with one hand.

With the other he pressed a packet of medicine into her palm.

"This beats for you alone, for life! Leah Pruitt is nothing! You're all I want!"

"After the way she treated you, don't go soft! Slip this in, then have her drink a glass of the milk I prepared every day, and she'll be slowly poisoned!"

Under the stunned stares of my parents and Sylvester, I picked up my phone and dialed the police...