Chapter 151 Brawl
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‘I’ve had them take the video down,‘ Ashton said, his voice calm but tense. ‘But there are still a lot of reposts out there, and it might be trickier to clean up. What exactly happened? Did Harper Foster come to the studio?‘
‘Yeah,‘ I said. ‘She wanted a custom piece. I told her to leave. Next thing I know, she’s all over the
news.‘
‘She did that on purpose.”
‘No kidding. She’s probably getting back at me for yesterday.‘
‘I told Cassian not to let her anywhere near you. And now she’s pulling this behind his back.‘
‘She said Cassian sent her to me,‘ I bit out. ‘So, who knows.‘
Ashton’s tone grew even deeper. ‘I’ll go talk to Cassian.‘
He hung up.
I refreshed my feed, but the video was gone, nothing left but a few scattered reposts, quietly disappearing one by one.
‘The media’s got some sense,‘ Daniel remarked, scrolling through his phone. ‘They know it’s a load of crap, so they’re cleaning it up.‘
Priya nodded. ‘Yeah, lucky it didn’t blow up more. The power of the “report” button, eh?”
I snorted, flicking my phone off. ‘It’s the power of money.‘
‘What do you mean?‘ Daniel asked.
They both looked like they thought they were the ones responsible for getting the video taken down.
I didn’t have the heart to burst their bubble, so I just shrugged. ‘You two were awesome.‘
I muttered a quiet thanks to Ashton in my head.
Without him stepping in when he did, the whole thing would’ve spiralled, and the studio would’ve taken a hit to its reputation.
It wasn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but I knew I’d be pining for custom orders for a
while.
That thought was barely out of my head when my phone buzzed again.
Cassian was practically falling over himself apologising. ‘I swear, I had no idea about any of this. It’s got nothing to do with me.‘
I wasn’t in the mood for niceties. ‘Harper said you sent her to me. So, who’s lying–her or you?‘
There was a brief silence before he spoke again, a little hesitant. ‘Look, I’ll deal with Harper, don’t worry about that. But about Ashton, could you put in a good word for me? He’s pretty pissed off.‘
Chapter 151 Brawl
‘He has a right to be. As do I.‘
‘So… is that a yes or no?‘
‘I’ll think about it.‘
I ended the call.
***
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Two days later, I’d been half–listening to Daniel ramble on when he suddenly shoved his phone in front of my face.
‘You’ve got to see this. Harper Foster’s starting shit again.‘
I turned away from my workstation and squinted at the screen.
Her latest post said ‘tastes disgusting‘, tagged right at the location of Yvaine’s shop.
‘What the hell?‘
Yvaine had been pulling fourteen–hour days for weeks just to get Sugar & Whim on the radar.
Business was finally picking up.
Influencers were lining up for those stupid pink carousel cakes.
And now this.
‘She’s doing it on purpose,‘ I muttered.
Daniel leaned towards the window. ‘Wait, is that her? Corner table by the window. She hasn’t left yet.‘
I was already moving.
I shoved open the studio door, crossed the street, and yanked out my phone.
One glance at the screen made my blood pressure spike.
Hundreds of comments had already piled up under Harper’s post.
[I saw this place all over TikTok. Thought it was hyped.]
[Bet they paid for promo.]
[Every cake shop that goes viral turns out trash.]
[Harper must’ve been duped by the algorithm too.]
Then she replied: [Was curious. Came. Regret it. It’s crap. And stupid expensive. Avoid this place.] # Sugar &Whim #OverratedMuch
I came too late.
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Yvaine and Harper were already full–on going at it.
Yvaine had Harper by the hair.
Harper had both hands in Yvaine’s curls.
They were shouting over each other, wobbling back and forth like two drunk aunties at a wedding.
Yvaine was breathing hard, flushed red down her neck.
I shoved through the gawking crowd and grabbed Harper’s wrist, yanking it down hard enough that she let go of Yvaine’s scalp.
‘You tried to screw me over. Now you show up here? Didn’t Cassian tell you to back the hell off?”
She swung her arm at me.
I blocked it and slapped her.
Loud, sharp, full palm across the cheek.
Her head snapped sideways and she stumbled back, but didn’t fall, mostly because Yvaine still had a handful of her stupid expensive blowout.
Harper’s eyes filled fast.
She made this pathetic choking sound, then burst into wet, snotty tears.
‘You’re ganging up on me! Both of you!*
‘You deserve it!”
She swung blindly.
Her elbow dug into my ribs.
I shoved her off and slapped her shoulder. Harder this time.
She screamed. ‘Help! They’re trying to kill me!‘
‘Sit the fuck down.‘ I shoved her into a chair.
She landed hard, legs bent awkwardly, hair a mess, eyes swollen.
People were filming Phones everywhere.
Harper Foster was famous enough that this would hit social media in under two minutes.
My heart was still hammering, but the red haze was starting to lift.
I raised my voice.
This woman came here to start trouble. She’s beensmearing the bakery online, targeting the owner deliberately. This was planned. Revenge, not a review. You’re all witnesses.?
Chapter 151 Brawl
I took out my phone and held it up for emphasis.
‘Today’s bill is on me. Everyone here eats free. I just ask that none of you pos
Then I glanced at the nearest staff member–start clearing the shop.
But they were frozen in place, panic all over their faces.
It took Daniel, thankfully, to finally get them moving.
Once the place cleared out, it was just Harper and us
Harper was shaking, her eyes darting around like she was looking for
‘Wh–what are you going to do?‘
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