7
The originally glowing reviews for my shop gradually gave way to some different comments.
“Ladies, avoid this place. Poor skills, overpriced, and bad attitude.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I got scammed by this shop. Their nail polish is problematic – I’m still having an allergic reaction!”
“Forget the bad service, haven’t you all heard? The owner of this shop is an ex–con. Aren’t you scared to go there in droves for manicures?”
“And that’s not all. I’ve got some dirt – this woman used to work as a hotel maid and openly tried to steal someone’s boyfriend. In the end she had to kneel down and clean the original girlfriend’s shoes!”
Slowly, business at the shop got worse and worse. A few days later, someone even splashed paint on the door.
“Murderer go to hell!”
I stared at the large red characters for a long time, unable to snap out of it.
I thought I had escaped my past life.
I didn’t expect everything to be so much more complicated than I imagined.
“This must be that bitch Sophie’s doing! I’m going to go settle scores with her!”
Claire put her hands on her hips, looking ready for a fight.
I quickly held her back. Impulsiveness wouldn’t solve anything, and we had no proof.
Just as I was at a loss for what to do, customers inexplicably started flooding into the shop.
Each person who finished would leave a 50+ word positive review, forcefully pushing down all the negative comments.
I felt something was off and directly stopped a customer to ask.
The young girl happily explained: “Someone hired me! Not only did they cover the cost of the manicure, but I get an extra $100 for each good review I post. Big sis, do you have a secret admirer or something? This method is so clever.”
I guessed who it was.
It must be Sean Parker.
I heard from Claire that Sean Parker was in the midst of a business war.
“Thea, Sean Parker is really ruthless. Even though his company is less than half the size of Sophie’s family business, he took a huge risk and used leveraged buyouts to directly swallow up the entire Quinn corporation.”
I was confused by all the business jargon, but I understood the gist of it.
<
Sean Parker had bet everything he had on a do–or–die battle with the Quinn family.
After that, not a single bad review appeared for my shop again.
The door was spotlessly clean, and no one came to cause trouble in secret anymore.
Three days later, on a bright, clear day, Sean Parker suddenly showed up at the shop.
A few young girls waiting in line for manicures turned to look at him, covering their mouths and whispering shyly.
He stood there awkwardly, his tall figure looking out of place among the group of girls.
Perhaps the wind outside was too strong – it had messed up his hair.
He pressed his lips together tightly, his eyes full of cautious probing.
It was a far cry from Claire’s description of his decisive, ruthless image.
After a few seconds, he spoke in a hoarse voice: “Thea, can we talk?”
