All Chapters of My Friend’s Act: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My cab arrived. I climbed into the back seat.Then, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to someone I had not contacted in a long time.[Gloria, does your offer still stand?]My phone buzzed almost immediately. [Always.]I breathed a sigh of relief. My finger slipped, and I ended up clicking on the chat history with Abby.As I scrolled up, I found a photo she had sent me the previous afternoon. Gene was sitting in her office eating takeout. [Your buddy invited himself over for lunch again. He’s so annoying.]Further up was a message from the previous Friday. She said she was taking Gene’s car to the mechanic. [He can’t handle it on his own, so I figured I’d help him out.]Meanwhile, I had been in a minor car accident and could not reach her no matter how many times I called.Then, there was her birthday last month. I had booked a restaurant a month in advance and waited over two hours for her to arrive.[Something came up, and Gene needed my help. I’ll be there later

I stayed at a friend’s place for four days.On the fourth evening, my dad called.“Tony, what’s going on with you? Abby called today and said you two had a fight. Go home and talk things through.”I lay on the couch and pressed my fingers to my temple. “Dad, we broke up.”There was a moment of silence on the other end.“What do you mean, you broke up?”Dad’s voice rose sharply. “Abby explained everything. That poor kid, Gene, lost his parents. What’s so terrible about her helping him out? “Besides, aren’t you two best friends? You used to say we should do more for him. Why are you suddenly being petty?”My grip tightened around the phone. My nails dug into my palm.“She used the money I spent four years saving to buy a house with Gene.”My dad paused, then sighed. “Then, have her put the house in your name instead. She’s still doing everything she can to win you back, isn’t she? “You’re twenty-six. Do you really think you’ll find someone with more to offer than Abby? She c

Gloria and I got married at the courthouse.I looked at the matching bands on our fingers and felt a sudden sense of absurdity.Five years with Abby had left me betrayed and broke. One phone call had brought me a promise of forever.I took a photo of our hands with the wedding bands clearly visible and posted it with the caption, [Here’s to forever.]I made the post public.It did not take long for one of our mutual friends to send Abby a screenshot. As she stared at it, she gripped her phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white.“It’s fake… It has to be fake…”Gene poked his head out of the bedroom. When he saw how pale she looked, he hurried over.He leaned toward the screen. His eyes narrowed briefly before he broke into a smile. “Abby, he obviously edited the photo. He’s just trying to get a reaction out of you!”He shrugged dismissively. “Besides, someone like Gloria Howard would never marry Tony.”Gloria Howard?Abby shot to her feet.She knew exactly who Gloria

Abby believed that once she sold the house and returned Tony’s money, everything would go back to the way it had been.The very day she listed the house with a real estate agent, Gene stormed into her office. He sat down in the reception area and shouted through his tears, “Abby, if you sell my house, I’ll jump off the roof!”Her coworkers whispered among themselves while clients stared.Furious, Abby dragged him into her office. “What do you want from me?”“I want you to tell everyone that I’m your husband!”Gene clutched her sleeve tightly. “You promised you would take care of me for the rest of my life. Now, you’re trying to ruin my life for that man?”“You schemed against him first,” Abby said, pulling her arm free.“I only wanted you to see who loves you more!”Gene let out a hysterical laugh. “Gloria pursued Tony for three years, and he never wanted her. “Then, the moment you pushed him away, he married her. What does that tell you? He was waiting for an excuse! He neve

One week later, Abby received a formal termination notice from corporate headquarters.She was fired for serious violations of company policy and for abusing her position to benefit a family member.Investigators had found dozens of posts on Gene’s social media accounts bragging about how great his girlfriend’s company benefits were and offering to get people jobs there. The posts gave them all the evidence they needed.Abby sat alone in her empty house, calling one company after another in search of work. Every response was the same.“Ms. Young, we don’t currently have any positions that would be a good fit.”Not a company in the city was willing to hire her.She knew who was behind it, but she was in no position to confront them.That evening, Abby sat alone in her living room with a cake she had waited more than two hours to buy.She scrolled through my social media profile and stopped at my latest post. It was a photo of an offer letter.I had accepted a high-paying posi