My Bestie Used My Photo to Catfish a Man—She Never Knew He Was My Boss Chapter 01
My best friend Lauren Vance told me she’d been talking to some broke loser online. The guy wouldn’t leave her alone, kept begging for a picture.
[Babe, can I borrow one of your pics real quick? If he finds out I’m actually a total catch, he’ll never stop
bugging me.]
I know I’m plain, but I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
Two minutes later, she sent me a long string of screenshots. I opened them and my blood ran cold.
The profile picture-that was my boss. I was the live-in housekeeper at his massive estate on Long Island.
At that exact moment, a notification from a familiar name popped up on my screen.
[?]
[Message unsent.]
I was sweating bullets. I bolted out of that mansion like my shoes were on fire. Forget my paycheck. I’m
gone.
***
I clutched my phone, gasping for air, still rattled. I checked my surroundings-no one around. My phone
buzzed nonstop; Lauren had sent a flood of messages.
[Babe, why aren’t you answering?]
I still hadn’t recovered. The “broke loser” she’d been chatting with was actually a billionaire heir?
My hands shook as I typed.
[Maybe you should just say you sent the wrong photo…]
[Lying feels wrong…]
The second I hit send, a voice call flashed on my screen. Her furious voice blasted through the speaker.
“Iris, you’re seriously defending some random guy? I just used a couple of your pictures. It’s not like you lost
anything.”
I rushed to explain. “N-no, that’s not what I meant.”
Lauren’s tone shifted instantly, softening. “Iris, I’m not actually mad.” She let out a nervous little laugh.
“Tell you what-I’ll hand him over to you. He’s broke, sure, but he’s not bad-looking. I’m such a good friend. Always thinking of you first.”
The implication was clear. I’d never had anything good in my life. Growing up, forget dating a hot guy-I could barely even talk to good-looking guys without stuttering.
Meanwhile, Lauren had been the campus It Girl from elementary school through college. Admirers were endless. Boys would blush, going through multiple people just to get a breakfast delivery to her.
Everyone at school envied me for being Lauren Vance’s best friend. My desk drawer was always full of snacks. But whatever she didn’t want never trickled down to me.
I sat in silence for a few seconds. She kept talking, completely oblivious to what was going through my head. “If you two actually get together, I’m posting it everywhere. ‘Our Iris finally found someone halfway decent.””
That was her. Always ignoring what I actually wanted.
Hesitating, I messaged a classmate I used to be close with.
[Do you think… Lauren treats me well?]
[Lauren’s sweet and gorgeous!]
[She’s just blunt. No bad intentions.]
[Don’t be so sensitive.]
My anxious heart settled a little. Maybe I was overthinking it.
Just as I’d calmed myself down, the next message bubble haunted me like a ghost. I couldn’t look. My mind raced with a million guesses. Was my boss going to interrogate me?
Why did he unsend that question mark? Was he so pissed he wanted me gone already?
I covered my screen, peeking through my fingers.
[Iris, where are you?]
[You left without notice. That’s coming out of your paycheck.]
