My tip, combined with the police's investigation, cracked the case. Using Amber as a lead, they raided the trafficking ring in a massive operation.The news exposed the truth: Amber had escaped by luring more victims to the scam and doing whatever the criminals demanded, no matter how vile.Ruby, too stubborn to comply, was killed within a month. Her organs were harvested in a brutal act. Jessica survived, but her mind was shattered. Two others Amber tricked were maimed, one missing a leg, and the other a leg and an arm.Their families tracked Amber down, cursing her betrayal. The police warned students about scam jobs, revealing that Amber was released because she was hooked on drugs and under the scammers' control.She'd even given them my info, planning to lure me there to extort Logan.My mind reeled from the news. Thankfully, she had been caught in time, facing a decade-plus in prison.Years later, at a class reunion, someone mentioned that Amber was released, only to be sta
Amber sidled up to me, all fake smiles, but I shut her down cold.I couldn't wrap my head around how she'd escaped that hellhole when Jessica and Ruby hadn't.I'd hoped keeping her away from Forbes Foods would spare us the disaster, but then a smear hit. A tabloid claimed our factory used toxic chemicals to clean our machines, poisoning customers.In my past life, this rumor got buried by Amber's worse accusations, but it still hurt us.Logan went live from the factory, showing we used safe cleaners and even chugging some to prove it. He gagged, fighting nausea, but the online trolls kept ripping him apart.Fury surged through me. I stormed to Amber's dorm and grabbed her. "You're spreading lies about our company? I've reported it to the police."She flinched, vehemently denying it. But her phone, open on the counter, showed a chat with the tabloid, plotting how to fan the flames.I snatched it before she could react. She lunged, but she was too short to reach my hand.The poli
The police accepted my report, but with it being an international case, they warned it'd be a slog to resolve.I'd done my part. Their fates were up to chance now.When the fall semester kicked off, I overheard my professors gossiping about the trio.Amber's job had been big news, and she'd flaunted it online, posting travel photos that sparked envy. It seemed too good to be true.While most new graduates were barely scraping by with salaries that barely covered rent, working long hours just to get by, Amber was living the dream. Her job had a loose schedule and a starting salary of $50,000 a month.But now, only Amber had come back. Jessica and Ruby had vanished.Their parents had stormed the campus, demanding answers, but the school only knew they had gone abroad.Amber claimed they'd split up, and she had no clue where they were.On my way to drop off a report, I saw their parents pleading with the dean. Their threadbare clothes spoke of their poverty. They likely hadn't hea
I focused on developing Forbes Foods.In my past life, I'd dreamed of a research career, not taking over the family business. But this company was my parents' heart and soul. Letting it fail would break my dad.Besides, I discovered I had a knack for social media marketing.My latest video, a nostalgic ode to childhood snacks, hit the trending lists. Orders poured in, and our warehouse was a madhouse.Then a string of texts from an unknown number hit my phone, attached with gut-wrenching photos and Amber's desperate plea for one million dollars to save Ruby, who'd been brutalized for failing to meet scam quotas and refusing other work.The images turned my stomach. I texted back, telling them to call the police.My phone rang instantly. Amber's voice was frantic. "The police? You think that'll do jack? I'm trapped overseas. How can you be so cold? We've been roommates for four years. You're just gonna let us die?"If I hadn't been reborn, I might have felt sorry for them. Now I
Before I could respond, Jessica and Ruby cut in. "$200,000 won't cut it! We need $600,000. There are three of us."I kept my cool. "What happened?"Thinking I'd help, they spilled the ugly truth.The dream job turned out to be a scam. The company dangled fat paychecks and easy hours to lure people to a hellhole where escape was impossible.If their family couldn't pay the ransom, they would be forced into running phone scams. Failing at that meant worse fate.All from small towns, they knew their parents couldn't scrape together that kind of cash. I was their only shot.Amber had blabbed about my family's wealth, and now they were pulling the friendship card.But my heart was stone.In my past life, when Amber spread rumors and slandered my dad, they were her accomplices. They echoed her online, saying that she was originally an optimistic and cheerful person, but after joining the company, she became depressed.They claimed they didn't know what had happened until she came fo
With graduation around the corner and my graduate school acceptance locked in, I swung by the dorm to pack my stuff.Overhearing Amber, Jessica, and Ruby, I learned they were all in on the foreign job. The $50,000 salary and three-day workweek had them hooked, even if their guts told them that it was too good to be true. Greed trumped caution.As they plotted, they couldn't resist tossing shade my way. I stepped into their circle, cutting their giggles short. Their faces soured like they'd bitten into lemons.Jessica crossed her arms. "What do you want, Sabine? You're not welcome here."I ignored her and zeroed in on Amber. "If you don't pay me that $10,000, I'm dragging you to court. I'll make sure you're blacklisted and can't board a plane."Ruby shot up, jabbing a finger at me. "You're crossing a line over $10,000? You're heartless!""Then you pay it for her," I shot back.She plopped back down, speechless. I wasn't letting Amber slip away with my money. That $10,000 wasn't m