Her $3 Audacity: How I Ruined My Entitled Ex-Colleague

Late at night, I received a Snapchat message from a former colleague I hadn't seen in years. [I saw you driving a new car at the mall today. Is your Porsche 911 just sitting in your garage now?] [That sports car was so hot. Why did you stop driving it?] The messages kept spamming my phone, giving me no time to reply. [Since it’s just sitting there anyway, why don’t you let me drive it?] Only after she sent that last message did I finally reply with a polite, professional refusal. But to my surprise, she didn't give up. She kept spamming my phone with harassing messages all night. [Come on, we used to work together. Don't be so cold.] [Fine, I’ll be generous.] [How about $3 a day for rent? That’s fair, right?] When I woke up early the next morning, I found 43 unread messages on Snapchat. All of them were from my ex-colleague, Sabrina Vance. Starting from midnight, she had been relentlessly badgering me for my Porsche. Her demands went from "just give it to me" to "rent it to me" in less than two minutes. I had muted Sabrina’s notifications last night just to get some sleep. Now, as I scrolled through, the last message sent half an hour ago caught my eye. [Everyone knows I’m a huge car lover. Renting your car to me is way better than letting it gather dust. If you don't trust me, I can pay you three months' rent upfront right now.] Three months of rent? At $3 a day, that was barely $270. And she wanted to drive my Porsche 911 for three whole months? Who in their right mind would agree to that? So, I replied, [I'm sorry, but my car isn't sitting idle. I just happened to drive my electric car that day.] I thought she would be asleep after texting all night, but she replied instantly. [You're being really petty, Chloe. We’re not strangers. There’s no need to lie to me.] Perhaps realizing she sounded too aggressive, Sabrina quickly sent a few cute cat emojis before offering new terms. [Tell you what, after you rent the car to me, I’ll help you pay a little bit for the gas. How about that?] What did she mean by "help me pay"? Did she honestly expect me to provide the car and pay for her gas? [But we need to agree on one thing: we split the gas 70/30. You pay seventy, and I pay thirty. After all, it's a gas guzzler. It’s your fault for choosing this model in the first place.] [Also, if I get any parking tickets or speeding tickets, you pay the fine. And the points can't be taken off my driver's license.] Watching the messages pop up one after another, I was so angry my head spun. It was true that Sabrina was my former colleague. But even if I counted the holidays, we had worked together for less than a month. Back then, she had the nerve to beg me for rides home every single day. And now, she actually had the audacity to pull this stunt. Some people really have no shame. [Whether I rent my car or not is my decision. I have my own uses for it, and I don't want to rent it out. Please stop messaging me, or I will block you.] After sending that, I got up to do my morning routine. I put on some light makeup and headed out to work. When I reached the underground garage, I hesitated for two seconds between my newly bought Tesla and the Porsche. Maybe it was just to spite Sabrina, but I chose to drive the Porsche. As I drove, the music playing through my car's Bluetooth was constantly interrupted by Snapchat notification sounds. I knew it was probably Sabrina being persistent, so I didn't look at my phone. I only unlocked it once I was safely sitting in my office chair. [What is wrong with you, Chloe Miller?!] [How could you drive my car away without even saying a word?!] Below these two messages was a photo. It was my apartment’s underground garage. The camera was pointed directly at my two parking spots—one was empty, and the other parked my little Tesla.[I even brought you a bottle of milk this morning to show my goodwill. I can't believe you would do this to me. You really let me down.] My mind was filled with question marks. Did I ever agree to rent her the car? Livid, I typed out a harsh reply. [First of all, you are crossing the line. I never said I would rent you my car. Stop being so delusional.] [Second, our building security is very strict. How did you sneak into my private underground garage?] [Third, if you keep harassing me, I will call the police.] After those three messages, Sabrina went silent. I realized I had been too polite to her in the past, which made her think I was an easy target. Now that I laid everything out, she stopped texting. I thought Sabrina had finally learned her lesson. But an hour later— "Chloe Miller, get your ass out here!" Sabrina's screeching voice echoed outside my office. I pushed the door open and saw several of my employees blocking her a short distance away. They were arguing with her. "You’ve all been brainwashed by Chloe! She’s a fake snake! Let me in to teach her a lesson!" Amidst the noise, I walked out. Looking at the familiar yet annoying face of Sabrina, I simply said, "If you don't leave right now, I'm calling security." "Call them!" Sabrina snarled, her teeth clenched. "You're the one in the wrong here! Even if the cops come, they’ll take my side!" I gave my employees a look. They released Sabrina, and she immediately pointed her finger at my face. "You clearly promised to rent the car to me! Why did you drive my car here?!" "Chloe, we are settling this today." With that, Sabrina pulled a small calculator out of her purse. "The distance from your apartment to your office is 8.7 miles. Based on a gas mileage of 15 miles per gallon, you used 0.58 gallons." "Today's premium gas price is $4.50 a gallon, so that makes..." Sabrina tapped the calculator rapidly, then added, "$2.61! Let's round it up to three bucks." "I had to take an Uber here, which cost me twenty-five dollars. Plus, I bought breakfast this morning. You owe me a total of a hundred dollars." Sabrina thrust the calculator screen in front of my face. "Chloe, hand over the car keys and Venmo me a hundred dollars right now." I remained silent. She pouted and mumbled under her breath, "So shameless. Pretending to be rich while driving someone else’s car. I hope you get hit by lightning." The rest of the office burst into laughter. "Are you out of your mind, lady? Everyone knows Chloe owns that car. You are literally making things up out of thin air." "Some people really think the world revolves around them. She clearly hasn't been put in her place by real life yet." I raised my hand to quiet everyone down. Hearing the elevator ding down the hall, I knew the police I had called had arrived. I had given Sabrina a chance. Since she chose to throw it away, she could go to the police station and learn some basic laws. Once Sabrina was escorted away, the office quieted down. Everyone went back to work in an orderly manner. I called my lawyer to handle the police report. Just as I hung up, my assistant walked in. "Chloe, the representative from Apex Materials is here.""Are you Chloe Miller?" The man in front of me looked me up and down. Before I could even greet him, he snapped, "My wife did nothing wrong. How could you call the cops on her? Don't you have any decency?" I was stunned. Then it hit me—this man wasn't here for business. He was— "Our company has been partnering with Sterling Group for years. We have a massive project coming up. Chloe, I'm sure you don’t want any 'accidents' to happen to this project, right? It would be a huge financial loss for both of our companies." "Maybe you should reconsider how you want to handle this?" He smiled coldly and handed me a business card. [Logan Vance, Vice President of Apex Materials] This was a blatant threat. Compared to Sabrina's childish demands, her husband, Logan, was much smarter. He knew how to use business leverage to pressure me. Unfortunately, I was currently in a crucial period for my promotion, and I desperately needed this project to go smoothly. So, I took the card, smiled, and nodded. "Of course. I’ll clarify things with the police. It was all a misunderstanding." When I escorted Logan out, he had a smug grin on his face. He rushed straight to the police station to bail Sabrina out. According to the first-hand report from my lawyer, Sabrina was complaining loudly to Logan as they left, yelling, "We cannot let Chloe off easy!" For the next few days, things were peaceful. By the weekend, I had finally survived a brutal week of overtime. I stumbled back home in my sweatpants, exhausted. But the moment I stepped into my apartment, I smelled a foul, sour stench. In the next second, I was violently dragged into a sweaty, suffocating embrace. A creepy voice murmured above my head, making me shiver. "Hehe, pretty wifey, give me a hug." "Who are you?!" I struggled wildly, getting his gross sweat all over me. "How did you get into my apartment? Get out!" "His family owns half the land in our hometown. It’s your lucky day that he even looks at you." It was a voice I knew all too well. I looked up and locked eyes with Sabrina. "You promised to give me your car but went back on your word. Since you played dirty and threw me in jail, I’m going to make sure you suffer." Sabrina walked slowly toward me. "Cletus, this woman is yours tonight. Once you lock her down, you won't be the only bachelor left in the family." She reached into my bag and snatched my phone. "Don't bother screaming, Chloe. I already cut the wires to your security cameras. Nobody knows what’s happening in here. And—" "Nobody will think it's weird when you don't show up for work tomorrow." Using my phone, she drafted a sick-leave email and sent it to my boss. Sabrina stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face. "That’s for calling the cops on me!" Another slap. "And that’s for not giving me the car!" "Since you love acting so high and mighty, let’s see if you can still laugh when you’re pregnant with a fool's baby." A few seconds later, I heard the heavy click of my front door. Sabrina locked it from the outside, completely cutting me off from the world. Looking at the drooling, grinning giant in front of me, my hands shook with rage. I tried to run for the door, but Cletus grabbed a ceramic vase from the console table and smashed it over my head. A sharp pain shot through my skull. I reached back and felt something warm and sticky. "Wifey, you can't leave!"