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Chapter 3

Author: Perfect Timing
“Couldn’t you find anything legit?”

“No!” Liela heaved a sigh. “I’ve talked to seven or eight factories already. They either charge some kind of fee, or the actual conditions are completely different from what they advertised. My mother told me not to go anywhere sketchy, and I remembered the factory you mentioned before. Does your uncle still need workers?”

I glanced up at the cafeteria ceiling and pondered for a moment. “I’ll ask him. I think he can probably take a few more.”

“That’s great!” Leila’s voice immediately brightened. “I knew I could count on you, Jasper! What are the odds an amazing job would just fall into our lap anyway? At least with a factory someone we know works at, we know it’s legit.”

I listened to her ramble, unable to stop myself from smiling. Now, that was a normal reaction.

I called Uncle Quentin and told him about Leila. He pondered for a moment and replied, “How many people are we talking about?”

“Maybe 30 or 40.”

Uncle Quentin nodded. “That’s fine. I can set up two more production lines. The spots your classmates originally signed up for are still empty since none of them actually showed up. We can give those spots to this new batch.”

Over the next three days, things moved incredibly fast on Leila’s end. On the first day, she created a group chat for her class and sent every photo and video she had taken during the factory tour.

There were photos and videos of the production floor, cafeteria, dorms, and other areas. She even made sure to include the bathrooms.

[Guys, this is Jasper’s uncle’s factory. I’m personally vouching for it. This place is 100% legit. Three thousand dollars a month, room and board included. Take a look at the conditions for yourselves. If you’re interested, add your name below.]

The sign-up list did not stop growing from the second she posted it. There were 41 students in her class, and 39 of them signed up.

Leila sent me a screenshot. From her message, she sounded pretty pleased with herself: [Well? Pretty efficient, huh?]

I replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

Then, she added: [The other two already have plans arranged by their families. Otherwise, literally everyone would’ve signed up. I’m telling you, the second they saw the dorm photos, everyone lost their minds. They said the rooms look better than college dorms.]

I smiled but did not reply. If only my classmates had been able to see things that way.

The very next day, trouble came knocking.

I was having lunch in the cafeteria when my phone suddenly started vibrating nonstop. Someone tagged me in my class group chat. I opened the chat and saw that Emily had forwarded something.

It was a guy in Leila’s class. He had posted several photos of the factory's dorms with the caption: [Summer job secured! Three thousand dollars a month, room and board included. The dorms even have AC. The conditions are amazing! Can’t wait!]

Emily forwarded it to our class group chat with a single comment: [This is funny. Three thousand dollars and they're calling that amazing? Have these people seriously never worked in a factory before?]

The replies came pouring in.

Kevin: [Haha! Are they really bragging about a 3,000-dollar job?]

Gideon: [They’re satisfied just because the dorm has AC? Talk about having low standards.]

Asher: [Honestly, 3,000 dollars isn’t even worth leaving home for. Why bother?]

Then, he tagged me: [@JasperKeat, you actually recommended this dump to your buddies? Don’t you have a conscience?]

My fingers tightened around the fork as I stared at the screen.

Then, Julian chimed in. His message hurt more than any of the others.

[Jasper recommended this to us too. Good thing we didn’t go, or we would’ve gotten screwed. Thanks, Emily. You saved our entire class.]

I stared at those last words, my stomach all twisted. I typed a few words, then deleted them. I typed again, and deleted them again. In the end, I sent only one sentence: [You’ll find out soon enough.]

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  • Helped Them Get Jobs, Then Got Betrayed   Chapter 11

    The next afternoon, I went back to work. Leila was waiting for me outside the workshop. She was holding two cups of milkshake and handed one to me. “Drink something sweet. It'll make you feel a little better.”I took a sip. It was strawberry flavoured.“How are your classmates doing?” Leila asked.“They’re okay. Just shaken up. A few of them have minor injuries, but they've been examined at the hospital. It's nothing serious.”“What about Emily?”“She’s in custody.” I paused for a moment. “She collected more than 300,000 dollars in deposits from the class and transferred all of it into her own account. The scam group only got a few tens of thousands. The rest was in her hands.”Leila’s eyes widened. “Is she crazy?”“Maybe she never planned on helping everyone get a job in the first place. Maybe making that money was her only goal.”Leila fell silent for a long time. “What do you think she was thinking? She ruined her entire life over that little bit of money.”I looked down at

  • Helped Them Get Jobs, Then Got Betrayed   Chapter 10

    That night, I saw the local news on my phone.The headline read: [Police Successfully Rescue 38 Victims Trapped in Pyramid Scheme Compound. One Suffers Double Leg Fractures After Jumping From Building While Escaping. Multiple Others Injured.]Someone in the comments asked: [How did these kids get tricked into going there?]A reply appeared underneath: [How else? Fake high-paying job offers. Fresh graduates are the easiest targets for this kind of scam.]I turned my phone face down on the table.Yes, it was a high-paying job offer. It completely fooled 38 people, including the girl who had stood in front of that bus wearing brand-new sneakers, smiling as she whistled at me.The day they left, she bragged about the 7,000-dollar salary. She said 3,000 dollars was only enough to buy a pair of decent shoes. She also accused me of taking kickbacks from my uncle and said I was exploiting my own classmates for money.I remembered every single word, and I had no intention of forgetting.

  • Helped Them Get Jobs, Then Got Betrayed   Chapter 9

    Early the next morning, the police station called me.The officer’s last name was Collins. His voice was calm and serious. “Is this Jasper Keat? We’re investigating the disappearance of your classmates and need your cooperation.”“What do you need me to do?”“You contacted Emily and the others before they left. Could you send us screenshots of the class group chat? Especially anything related to job recruitment information.”“Sure.”I exported the screenshots from my phone one by one, starting with the 7,000-dollar job advertisement Emily posted, the HR manager's messages about the settling-in allowance, and every other conversation.My hands kept trembling as I sent them. It was not because I was afraid; I was angry.I had not deleted a single message, not because I was trying to preserve evidence but because I wanted to see exactly when these people would finally wake up. They did wake up, but it was just too late.About half an hour later, Officer Collins called me again.“

  • Helped Them Get Jobs, Then Got Betrayed   Chapter 8

    There were 38 of them. Not a single one had said a word.I pondered for a moment. Perhaps their factory had stricter rules and did not allow phones during work hours.Uncle Quentin’s factory did not allow phones on the production floor either, but everyone could check them during lunch breaks. Perhaps their rules were just even stricter. I did not think much more about it.On the seventh night, my mother suddenly called me. The moment I answered, my mother’s voice sounded panicked and anxious.“Jasp, are you okay?”“What could happen to me? I’m perfectly fine here at the factory.” I could hear the relief in her voice, but then it tightened again. “I need to tell you something. Don’t panic.”“What happened?”“Some of the parents of the kids from your class who went to work can’t get in touch with their kids anymore. Julian’s mom called me three times today. She said she hasn’t heard from him since the night they left. At first, she thought maybe the signal was bad, but she can'

  • Helped Them Get Jobs, Then Got Betrayed   Chapter 7

    The bus hit the highway, and the speed picked up.My phone buzzed again. Emily sent a screenshot of her conversation with the HR manager.He wrote: [Once you arrive, we’ll get your accommodations sorted out. Everyone gets a private bathroom, and you can run the AC as much as you want.]Emily captioned it: [See that? Private bathrooms! Unlimited AC! I wonder how cramped those four-person rooms will be at that other factory.]A whole string of laughing emojis followed.I turned my phone face down on my lap.Outside, the sun climbed higher, heating the window until it was almost burning to the touch. I closed my eyes as I thought to myself. For Emily's sake, I hoped that factory was legit. I hoped they would really be paid 7,000 dollars, and I hoped they would really have private bathrooms.After four hours on the road, we finally reached our destination.Uncle Quentin came to the station himself to pick us up and had even arranged a bus.“All right, everyone, hop on. I’ll take

  • Helped Them Get Jobs, Then Got Betrayed   Chapter 6

    My classmates stampeded onto the bus. A few of them deliberately slowed down as they passed me. Julian walked right past me with his head down, pretending he did not see me. Kevin, on the other hand, glanced at me and even smiled. There was a hint of sympathy, a trace of smugness, and something else I could not quite put my finger on.It was probably his way of saying, 'Look at how pathetic you are.'Gideon was the last one to board. Before stepping onto the bus, he turned back and looked at me. His voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for me to hear. “Jasper, be careful. You might want to make sure that factory isn’t a scam.”Then, he laughed.His smile exploded in my head, sharp as a needle driven into my temple. Part of me actually hoped he would get scammed. It was not because I was cruel, but I just wanted to see if he would still be laughing when that happened.The white bus pulled away first. As it passed our bus, someone inside flashed a peace sign through the win

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