She Stole My Future, Then Called Herself Justice Chapter 02

She Stole My Future, Then Called Herself Justice Chapter 02

The live chat went silent for three seconds.

Then it exploded.

The producer must have panicked, because the camera suddenly cut to commercial.

But I could already imagine the comments going wild.

Olivia’s face went white.

Even her fake tears stopped falling.

The host stared at me, stunned, and stuttered.

“Claire, you’re…”

“Stating facts.”

I shoved the plaque into his arms.

“Make sure Attorney Reed gets this.”

I did not look at anyone else.

I turned and walked off the stage.

Chaos erupted backstage.

Staff ran around, phones ringing nonstop.

A middle-aged man who looked like a producer blocked my path, his face tight with anger.

“This is outrageous! Do you have any idea how much damage you just caused our show?”

I looked at him calmly.

“When you invited me, wasn’t this exactly what you wanted? Buzz?”

He choked on his words, fingers shaking with rage.

“You’ll be hearing from our lawyers.”

I ignored him and walked straight out of Metro Legal Network.

The sky outside was already dark.

Northbridge’s neon lights flickered like cold, staring eyes.

My phone would not stop vibrating.

It was Mom calling.

I answered.

“Claire! Have you lost your mind? Why would you do this to Olivia?”

Her shrill scream came through the phone.

“She’s a famous attorney now. You just ruined her entire future!”

I gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white.

“Mom, she stole that future from me.”

“Stole? We’re family. Why keep score like that? If she does well, she can help you later.”

I laughed bitterly.

“How would she help me? Like today? Make me tell the whole country I remembered wrong and only accused her because I was jealous?”

“You’re just a delivery driver. What kind of future do you have? Olivia can get you a decent job and give you some money. Isn’t that better than what you have now?”

“So my ten years are worth one job and some cash?”

“What else do you want?”

She had completely run out of patience.

“It’s been ten years. Olivia is a public figure now. Don’t be ungrateful.”

I took a deep breath.

The noise from the street slowly faded into the background.

“Mom, do you know what the last ten years were like?”

“For ten years, I rode more than sixty miles a day delivering orders, through rain and wind, never stopping.”

“I’ve seen wholesale food markets at four in the morning and office towers still glowing long after midnight.”

“I’ve crashed my bike, been chased by dogs, and been cursed out by customers.”

“But I kept going.”

“Because I told myself it was temporary. One day, I would take back everything that belonged to me.”

“But what you just said hurt worse than all those hard days put together.”

The other end went silent.

I did not give her a chance to speak.

I hung up.

Back in the old Eastbridge neighborhood where I rented my apartment, messages and missed calls flooded in the second I turned on my phone.

Some were from my delivery hub manager, Ray Coleman.

Some were from coworkers.

The rest were hateful texts from strangers.

“#FamousAttorneyHumiliatedByHerSister”

“#DeliveryDriverSisterJealousOfAttorney”

Both tags were trending hard.

I clicked one link.

It showed screenshots of me on the show next to photos of me in my delivery jacket.

The comments were vicious.

“This woman gives off bad vibes. That look in her eyes, like she planned this all along.”

“Jealousy from lower-class people is terrifying.”

“Team Attorney Reed. Sue her until she has nothing left.”

My phone number, rental address, even my father’s cemetery records had been doxxed.

Someone had splashed red paint on my door with the words:

“Vicious liar, get out.”

Ray called, his voice stiff.

“Claire, this blew up way too big. The complaint lines are overloaded. A lot of customers say they’ll uninstall the app if you’re still delivering.”

“I know, Ray.”

My throat felt raw.

“I quit.”

“Don’t blame me. I don’t have a choice either.”

After the call ended, I hugged my knees and sat in the dark for a long time.

Ten years ago, they stole my future.

Ten years later, they would not even let me keep the little life I had built.

The world around me felt like nothing but darkness and cruelty, pressing in from all sides.