The Fake Group Darling Picked a Fight with the Real Boss Chapter 01

The Fake Group Darling Picked a Fight with the Real Boss Chapter 01

Three days before I flew back home, my friend Zoya called me from overseas.

“Rupert and I broke up,” she said right off the bat.

I paused.

They had been together for seven years, straight from college into the workforce.

“Did he cheat?”

“No,” Zoya said. “Worse.”

Over the past year, Rupert had made a new “friend” named Sylvie.

She called him at midnight to pick her up, drove his car, wore his jackets, and even replied to Zoya’s messages on his behalf.

Then she would smile and add, “Zoya, don’t overthink it. Rupert and I are just friends.”

Whenever Zoya got upset, Sylvie played the victim.

“Why do women get so sensitive once they’re in a relationship?”

The last straw came last month.

Zoya was feeling unwell, so Rupert took her to get checked.

Then Sylvie called, claiming she was drunk at a bar with no one to take her home.

Rupert left Zoya alone at the hospital and went to get his “friend.”

Zoya didn’t make a scene. She ended things that very night.

I didn’t bother cursing Rupert out after hearing the story.

No point. He was hopeless.

“How did they meet?” I asked instead.

“At a company retreat a year ago,” Zoya said. “After that, she started showing up at every hangout. With you overseas, she gradually became the only girl in the group.”

She paused.

“Harleigh, just a heads-up. She’s been asking about Manuel lately. And she keeps asking when you’re coming back.”

I stayed quiet for a moment. “Why ask about me?”

“Probably afraid she won’t be able to make a move on Manuel once you’re back.”

I smirked.

I’d only been gone three years, and someone already had her eyes on my boyfriend.

…

Before hanging up, Zoya sent me a screenshot.

It was Sylvie’s latest post: [Heard their so-called little princess is finally coming back. Hopefully she’s not a pain to deal with.]

Little princess?

She definitely had the wrong idea about me.

When my flight landed, Manuel was supposed to pick me up alone.

Yet the moment I walked out of the terminal, three other guys were parked at the garage.

Colson claimed he was passing by.

Trevor claimed he was running errands nearby.

Rupert took the cake, claiming he drove all the way to the airport for coffee.

I glanced at the four cars lined up in a row. “So all four of you just happened to be heading the same way?”

No one answered.

Another friend away on business had already flooded our group chat with a dozen welcome messages.

I didn’t bother calling them out. I tossed my suitcase to Manuel and slid into the passenger seat of his car.

Manuel reached over to fasten my seatbelt. “Can we tell them about us at dinner tonight?”

He had flown overseas to see me two years ago, and we had been together ever since.

I just thought making an official announcement in our group chat was too cringe, so I kept putting it off.

“We’ll see how you do tonight.”