My best friend sent me nine screenshots in the dead of night, claiming my boyfriend had been spamming her with suggestive messages for a week. "Babe, block this freak right now.

I’m literally sick to my stomach." My hands shook with rage.

I was about to open my boyfriend's contact card to tear into him, but the moment my finger hovered over the block button, a line of translucent text drifted across my vision. "Lmao, this friend's Photoshop skills are pathetic.

The timeline doesn't even line up." "She’s a serial homewrecker.

She did the exact same thing to Daphne's last boyfriend." "Poor Daphne still treats her like a sister, while Melanie has been drooling over Jasper's family properties forever." I froze, staring at the screenshots.

I pinched to zoom, focusing on the details. The timestamp on the messages read Wednesday at 2:00 AM. But on Wednesday night, Jasper had been asleep right next to me in my bed.

Melanie, we’ve been best friends for six years. How long have you been putting on this show?

If you want to play the victim so badly, I’ll give you the stage. 1 My phone buzzed again. Melanie: "Daphne, whatever you do, don't confront him!

Men like him get violent when they’re cornered. Just ghost him and block his number." Look at that. So incredibly thoughtful.

She was already mapping out my retreat, desperate to keep us from talking so her little lie wouldn't fall apart.

I flipped my phone face down on the nightstand and took a slow, deep breath. The bathroom door swung open right then, and Jasper walked out wearing a pair of dark gray lounge pants.

He was built broad, with defined abdominal lines from years of consistent lifting, and his dark hair was still dripping wet.

Seeing me sitting on the edge of the bed staring into space, he draped his towel around his neck. "It’s the middle of the night.

Who are you picking a fight with?" His voice was low and raspy. He walked over, naturally reaching down to wrap his arms around my waist.

I tensed and twisted away, avoiding his touch. Jasper froze. He was sharp; he immediately sensed the shift in the room, his brow drawing together. "Hey. What's wrong?

Are you feeling okay?" I looked up, holding his gaze.

Another line of text floated across the air: "Oh look, this poor guy has no idea he's about to get dumped because of a snakeinthegrass friend." "Honestly, Jasper's body is incredible.

No wonder Melanie is dying to get her claws into him." Ignoring the text, I tossed my phone straight into his lap. "See for yourself." Confused, Jasper picked up the device.

The moment his eyes scanned the screen, his expression went cold. The temperature in the bedroom seemed to drop instantly.

His long fingers swiped rapidly through the screenshots, his scowl deepening with every second. "Who the hell Photoshopped this?" Jasper snapped his head up, his eyes blazing with a quiet fury. "I don't even have your 'best friend' on social media, let alone her phone number.

Where did these messages come from?" I leaned back against the headboard, keeping my voice entirely level. "Melanie sent them.

She says you've been harassing her for a week." Jasper let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

He threw the phone back onto the mattress and spun around to grab his jacket from the chair. "I'm going to her place right now." "I have never seen anything so disgusting in my entire life." I reached out quickly and caught his forearm. "Stop." "If you go and confront her now, she'll just tell everyone you're acting out of guilt and rage." Jasper stopped, looking down at me from his height. "Do you believe her, or do you believe me?" There was a vulnerable, tight edge to his voice, a quiet fear of being misunderstood.

I looked at his tense jawline and suddenly found the whole situation almost absurd. "Of course I believe you." "On Wednesday at two in the morning, you were mumbling in your sleep and begging me to bring you a glass of water.

If you were sending thirsty texts while doing that, I’d have to call an exorcist, not a lawyer." The tension left Jasper's shoulders instantly.

He took my wrist, sliding down to sit on the edge of the mattress. "If you believe me, why won't you let me go tear her down?" I pulled my hand back, picked up my phone, and began typing a response to Melanie. "Because simply calling her out is too easy." I held down the voice message button, letting my voice crack with a hint of a sob. "Mel...

I... I can't believe he's this kind of person. I'm going to ask him to meet up tomorrow so we can talk facetoface. Can you come over and help me confront him?" Message sent.

Jasper watched my performance, raising an eyebrow. "What's the plan?" I turned to look at him. "I'm inviting her over for dinner tomorrow." "Since she wants to play the victim so badly, the least I can do is build her a stage." Jasper let out a soft snort. "Fine.

I can't wait to see what kind of garbage comes out of her mouth." 2 The next afternoon at 5:00 PM, the doorbell rang right on time.

I opened the door to find Melanie standing on the porch.

It was barely fifty degrees outside, yet she was wearing a tight, lowcut knit top and a pleated skirt that barely reached her thighs.

The moment she saw me, her eyes welled with tears. "Daphne, I didn't sleep a single wink last night.

I was so terrified you'd hate me for ruining your relationship." She leaned in, trying to hug me.

The overwhelming, sweet scent of her cheap perfume hit my nose, making me instinctively step back.

The floating text appeared right on cue: "Damn, she really dressed for the occasion.

Isn't she freezing?" "She didn't come to comfort her friend; she came to steal her man." "Poor Daphne. Remember her college senior crush, Devin?

Melanie pulled the exact same routine to ruin things back then." Devin. The name brought back a sharp, forgotten sting.

Back in college, a senior I really liked had confessed his feelings to me. Melanie had run to me crying, just like this.

She claimed Devin had cornered her, touched her inappropriately, and wouldn't leave her alone.

Furious and heartbroken, I had slapped Devin in front of half our class and cut off all contact.

Only later did I hear rumors that Melanie had tried to throw herself at Devin, got rejected, and lied to get revenge. I had dismissed it as gossip back then.

Now, I realized how painfully naive I had been. "Come on in. It's freezing out there," I said, swallowing the rising bile in my throat as I stepped aside.

Melanie slipped off her shoes, her eyes immediately scanning the living room. "Where's Jasper?

Is he not home from work yet?" Her tone was breezy, but she lingered on his name. "He's in the kitchen making dinner," I said, pointing toward the openconcept kitchen.

Melanie's eyes lit up. She dropped her purse and walked over. "Oh, we can't have a man doing all the cooking!

Jasper, let me help you with that." She reached out to grab the chef's knife from Jasper's hand.

Without looking up, Jasper slammed the knife down onto the cutting board with a loud "thud". The blade landed barely an inch from her manicured fingers.

Melanie shrieked, taking two sharp steps back. "Stay back," Jasper said, his voice cold enough to freeze water. "Your perfume is going to ruin the food." The floating comments went wild: "Hahaha, yes!

Jasper is savage!" "Look at her face. Melanie is turning green." And indeed, she looked mortified.

She turned to me, her eyes pleading for defense. "Daphne, look at him..." I pretended not to notice, turning to pour some water. "He's just stressed from work, Mel.

Don't take it personally. Why don't you wait on the couch?" Dinner was excruciating. Melanie deliberately avoided the chair I pulled out for her and sat directly opposite Jasper.

She picked up a piece of rib and cooed, "Jasper, these ribs are a little tough for me. My teeth are so sensitive... could you cut it up for me?" My grip on my fork tightened.

Who actually talks like this? Jasper set his fork down, a mockpleasant smile on his face. "If your teeth are that bad, you should probably stick to baby food.

Or I can recommend a good dentist." Melanie froze. Tears welled up instantly. "Jasper, why are you always so mean to me?

I'm Daphne's best friend." "Is it because I told Daphne about the harassing texts you sent me? Are you just angry because you got caught?" She finally brought it to the table.

Jasper sneered, ready to blow up. But under the table, I pressed my hand firmly against his thigh, holding him back.

I set my fork down, putting on a look of deep, sorrowful resignation. "Mel, I've already talked to him about it." Melanie blinked, thrown off by how easily I was letting this go. "Daphne... you're not mad?

He literally betrayed you behind your back..." "Of course I'm mad," I interrupted, my voice trembling slightly. "That's why I'm making him apologize to you properly.

To make it up to you, I want you to come over for dinner every weekend." A flash of smug triumph crossed Melanie's face, though she quickly masked it with feigned hesitation. "Oh...

I don't know. I wouldn't want to intrude." "Nonsense. We're sisters, aren't we?" I smiled warmly at her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her hand drifting toward my laptop on the coffee table.

That laptop contained the final draft of a major design project I had to submit tomorrow morning.

While we were talking, her fingers "accidentally" swiped past the edge of the table. A glass of orange juice tipped over, pouring directly onto the keyboard. "Oh my gosh!

I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Melanie gasps, leaping up and frantically dabbing at it with napkins, her clumsy movements nearly knocking the laptop onto the floor.

I watched her little performance in complete silence. The screen flickered twice, then went completely black. The text boxes fluttered across my vision: "Oh my god!

This snake did it on purpose! Daphne is going to get fired if she can't turn in her designs tomorrow!" "She's evil.

Pure evil." Melanie looked at me, eyes wide like a startled deer. "Daphne... your laptop... did I ruin it?" I stood up and walked over to her.

I didn't scream or cry like she expected. "It's fine. It's just a laptop." I pulled out a few tissues and slowly wiped the sticky liquid off the table.

Melanie let out a quiet sigh of relief, then turned her gaze back to Jasper. "This soup bowl is so hot...

Jasper, could you pass it to me?" Jasper moved his hands away as if she were toxic waste. "Use a potholder." 3 After last night, Melanie must have realized Jasper wasn't going to be an easy target.

But instead of backing off, it only seemed to fuel some twisted urge to win. The next morning, I arrived at the office.

Before I could even pull up my backup files from my cloud drive, my assistant rushed over, shoving her phone in my face. "Daphne, you need to see this Instagram post.

Is this your boyfriend?" I took the phone.

The headline was pure clickbait: "CAUTION: This seemingly perfect guy is actually a violent abuser!" The cover photo was a blurry shot of a man's back.

Even with the heavy filter, I recognized Jasper instantly. The post also included several horrifying photos of arm bruises and fake medical reports. The account name: @mel_sadgirl.

The text boxes hovered above the screen: "Lmao, this girl really posted a fake abuse callout on Instagram using makeup to draw bruises." "Those bruises are literally eyeshadow.

Does she think people are blind?" "If she can't have him, she wants to destroy him. She's trying to ruin his reputation first." I let out a cold laugh.

I took screenshots of the post, the account details, and the obviously forged medical documents.

I sent them straight to my friend who worked at a corporate law firm. "Can you get a notary to preserve this evidence for a defamation suit?" My friend replied almost instantly: "This is easily actionable.

Do you want to pull the plug now?" "Not yet," I typed back. This was only the opening act.

During my lunch break, Jasper called. "Daphne, what is your psycho friend doing now?" His voice was tight with irritation. "What happened?" "She just sent me a bunch of photos claiming her pipes burst and she's terrified.

She asked if I could come over and fix it." Jasper scoffed. "Is she missing a brain cell? I work in private equity.

Does she think I'm Mario?" I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. "What else did she send?" "Hang on, I'll screenshot it." A second later, the images popped up.

Melanie: "Jasper, the water is up to my ankles. I'm freezing." Melanie: "Daphne is at work and I don't want to bother her, but could you please come?

I'm so scared here by myself." Attached was a photo of her bare feet in a shallow puddle of water, showing off her legs in a highly suggestive angle.

The text boxes chimed in: "Wow, she's pivoting to the damsel in distress routine. Classic." "Daphne, don't let him go!

She's trying to get him alone in her apartment!" "She's literally wearing a silk robe waiting for him to walk through the door!" I stared at the photos, the chill in my chest hardening into ice. "Jasper," I said into the receiver. "Go." The line went quiet for two seconds. "Are you insane, or did I mishear you?" Jasper's voice rose. "You want me to go to her apartment?" "Yes," I said calmly. "Her pipes are burst, right?

Go help her as my boyfriend. Just make sure to bring the building manager and a professional plumber with you." Jasper caught on instantly, letting out a low chuckle. "Got it.

Let's see what kind of show she puts on." At 3:00 PM, Melanie posted a "Close Friends" update on her Instagram. Of course, my burner account caught it immediately.

It was a photo of a man's hand twisting a valve. His face wasn't visible, but the Rolex on his wrist was unmistakable.

Caption: "When everything falls apart, you're the only one who shows up. It's nice to feel protected." I screenshot the post without hesitation.

When I got home from work that evening, Melanie was sitting on my living room sofa, wearing my silk robe.

Jasper was sitting on the furthest armchair, his face dark, holding a can of cold soda.

Seeing me walk in, Melanie immediately jumped up to greet me. "Daphne, you're finally home!" She stepped close, her voice dripping with sweet gratitude. "My apartment flooded today, and Jasper was sweet enough to bring people over to fix it.

I have nowhere else to stay tonight, so I had to crash here.

You don't mind, do you?" I looked at the robe she's wearingone I hadn't even worn yetand forced down my anger. "Of course not.

Make yourself at home." I slipped off my shoes and walked over to Jasper.

He immediately pulled me down by my waist, burying his face in my neck and inhaling deeply. "Finally," he groaned. "This place smells like cheap vanilla spray.

It's giving me a migraine." Melanie's smile faltered. She bit her lip, her eyes turning glossy again. "Daphne, you really need to keep an eye on him.

Jasper was texting me in the middle of the night asking if I was asleep." 4 The words hung in the air, thick and heavy.

Melanie blinked innocently, looking like the loyal friend trying to protect me from a monster. Jasper leaned back against the sofa, laughing out of sheer disbelief. "I texted you?

Are you out of your mind?" Melanie shrank back, looking terrified. "Daphne, I'm not lying.

He's always like thisperfect to your face, but constantly trying to slide into my DMs when you're not looking." She sighed, a picture of tragic honesty. "I just couldn't watch you get hurt anymore." The text boxes hovered around her head: "This is wild!

She created a burner account with Jasper's profile picture and used an autoresponder app to text herself!" "Jesus, she's committed.

She's trying to force them into a fight." "Daphne, keep your cool!" I looked at the text boxes, my mind crystal clear.

I patted Jasper's arm, calming him down before he could explode. Turning back to Melanie, I offer her a warm, reassuring smile. "Mel, you're right.

We need to settle this once and for all." "We're hosting a weekend gettogether at Jasper's family cabin upstate.

Everyone from our old college circle will be there." I paused, watching her face closely. "Bring all your evidence.

If you show everyone what he's been doing, I'll dump him on the spot." Melanie's eyes flared with a sudden, greedy light.

She tried to hide it, but her excitement was palpable. "Daphne, I'm so glad you're finally seeing the truth.

Don't worry, I'll make sure everyone sees him for who he really is." She nodded eagerly, already dreaming of the moment Jasper was ruined and she got to swoop in and claim himand his prime real estate.

The weekend arrived. Upstate, the bonfire was crackling, and our friends were gathered on the deck, drinking and laughing.

Melanie dressed up for the occasiona white slip dress that made her look fragile and pure. She held a glass of white wine, hovering near Jasper like a ghost.

The floating warnings flashed rapidly: "ALERT!

Melanie has a small vial of contactallergy powder in her bag!" "She's going to rub it on her neck and chest when she's alone, then claim Jasper assaulted her!" "Watch her!

She's moving!" I stood on the secondfloor balcony, holding a glass of champagne, watching the scene play out below.

I had highdefinition security cameras installed in every corner of the cabin earlier this week. The live feed was playing right now on my phone. Sure enough, Melanie made her move.

She waited until Jasper went into the pantry to grab more drinks, then slipped in after him. I looked down at my phone screen. The pantry was dimly lit by a single warm bulb.

Melanie locked the door behind her. She didn't approach Jasper.

Instead, she quickly turned her back to him, pulled out a small bottle, and rubbed the powder onto her collarbones and legs.

Then, with a sudden, violent tug, she ripped the shoulder strap of her dress. The sound of tearing fabric was loud in the quiet room.

Jasper turned around, holding a case of seltzers.

When he sees her standing there with her dress torn open, he looked like he'd seen a ghost, immediately taking two steps back. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Melanie ignored him.

Taking a deep breath, she let out a bloodcurdling scream. "Get off me! No!

Jasper, stop!" She clawed at her own hair, messing it up, and threw open the pantry door, running out into the main cabin. Outside, the music cut out instantly.

Everyone froze, staring at Melanie as she stumbled onto the deck. She collapsed onto the floorboards, clutching her chest.

Red, angry hives were already flaring up across her exposed skin, looking exactly like the aftermath of a violent struggle.

Jasper walked out of the pantry, his face dark, still holding the case of drinks.

The deck erupted into chaos. "Oh my god, what happened?" "Jasper, what did you do to her?" "Are you insane?

Daphne is literally right upstairs!" Melanie sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at Jasper. "I just went in to help him... and he locked the door... he tried to touch me..." She looked up at me as I walked down the stairs, her face wet with tears. "Daphne!

Help me! He's a monster!" Our friends looked at me with a mix of pity and outrage. A few of the guys were already stepping forward, ready to corner Jasper.

Jasper didn't defend himself. He just stood there, his eyes locking onto mine through the crowd. I walked past the whispering guests, stopping right in front of Melanie.

She reached out, trying to grab my jeans. "Daphne, you have to believe me now!" I looked down at her theatrical tears, a cold smile touching my lips. "Is that so?

Why don't we let everyone take a look at this first?"