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Living Well Is The Best Revenge
NovelMaster
new
Hoàn thành
On the third night of our graduation road trip, we were playing Truth or Dare at our Airbnb. Chloe got a Dare. She had to imitate someone in the room. She rolled her eyes, sat stiffly on the couch,...
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第1章
On the third night of our graduation road trip, we were playing Truth or Dare at our Airbnb.
Chloe got a Dare. She had to imitate someone in the room.
She rolled her eyes, sat stiffly on the couch, and started reading in a robotic, monotone voice.
The rest of our classmates burst into hysterics.
Tyler laughed so hard he cried. He slapped my shoulder and said, "Avery, oh my god, that is literally you! You’re such a robot. Why can’t you learn to loosen up like Chloe?"
I stared at their smug, knowing smiles and said nothing.
Since we were kids, they had always used me as their personal punching bag to boost their own egos.
I brushed Tyler’s hand off my shoulder and stood up.
I grabbed the cup of Coke from the table and poured it directly over Chloe’s head.
"Since you guys love setting the mood so much, enjoy the rest of the night yourselves."
I left our three-person Snapchat group and walked out of the Airbnb.
The Coke dripped down Chloe’s blonde hair, staining her expensive white dress.
The living room went dead silent. The only sound was Chloe’s sharp gasp.
"Avery, what is your problem?"
Tyler was the first to react. He leaped up, knocking over a can of beer on the table.
"Are you insane, Avery?"
"It’s just a game! Do you really have to take everything so seriously? You’re such a sore loser!"
I looked at his furious face and let out a cold laugh.
It was always like this. Like when Chloe ridiculed my style, mocking me for wearing sports bras instead of lace.
When I told her to shut up, they both accused me of "not being able to take a joke."
"Yeah, I am a sore loser. I take everything seriously."
"And I’m done playing your pathetic games."
I turned on my heel and walked out the door.
The three of us grew up next door to each other. We were supposed to be childhood friends.
In the beginning, we actually had fun. Chloe was beautiful and would pick out cute hair clips for me.
Tyler was loyal. He’d go shopping with us and stand up for me if anyone tried to bully me.
But somewhere along the way, everything changed.
In high school, Chloe and Tyler were placed in the same class.
I was in another.
Chloe gradually became the center of the social scene, and Tyler became her devoted white knight, letting her get away with anything.
And me? I became the "boring, uptight nerd who couldn’t take a joke." I was just the shadow trailing behind them.
I had even given up my dream university just to go to the same college as them.
The night air was freezing. I pulled out my phone and ordered an Uber.
"Take me to the nearest train station."
Once inside the car, I opened Snapchat.
I found our pinned group chat, "The Golden Trio," and hit leave.
The second I left, my phone vibrated.
Tyler's name flashed on the screen.
I answered it.
"Avery, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Tyler’s voice was thick with suppressed rage. "Chloe was just playing a game. Was it really necessary to pour Coke on her? She’s sobbing her eyes out in the bathroom right now!"
In the past, seeing Chloe cry would make me anxious. I would immediately start blaming myself, wondering if I had done something wrong.
Tyler knew that about me. That was why he always used guilt to control me.
But this time, I felt absolutely nothing.
"She can cry all she wants. What does that have to do with me?"
Tyler's tone shifted to disgust. "I am so disappointed in you, Avery."
"We’re supposed to be celebrating, and you have to ruin the mood. It’s bad enough that you’re usually a buzzkill, but now you’re just being malicious. Just come back, apologize to her, and we’ll forget this ever happened."
It was always the same script.
Even when Chloe "accidentally" spilled coffee on my laptop, forcing me to rewrite my entire senior thesis.
Tyler had said: "She didn't mean to. Don't be so dramatic. Just let her apologize and move on."
"I’m not coming back."
"Avery!"
Tyler raised his voice. "Where are you even going to go? You don’t know anyone around here. Stop throwing a tantrum and get back here!"
"Tyler, don't ever contact me again."
I hung up and instantly blocked his number.
Then, I blocked Chloe.
Looking at my clean contact list, I leaned back against the seat.
Outside the window, the streetlights blurred past.
The train station was practically empty.
I bought a ticket for the earliest train back to the city.
During the four-hour ride, I didn’t sleep a wink.
Instead, I deleted every single photo, video, and shared note involving them.
The suffocating, nauseating weight in my chest finally lifted.
第2章
At 6:00 AM, I pushed open the door to my dorm room.
Most of our classmates had already moved out. Only Chloe's and my things remained.
Chloe’s desk was covered in unwashed mugs and scattered makeup.
Usually, I would have cleaned up after her.
Today, I didn't even look at it.
I pulled out two large cardboard boxes and started packing my life away.
I didn't have much. Most of the room's space had been taken up by Chloe's random clutter anyway.
While sorting through the bookshelf, a thick binder containing my senior thesis fell out.
I flipped to the acknowledgments page.
Chloe had written: "Special thanks to Avery. Even though you're as boring as a robot, thanks for doing all my data analysis."
I threw the entire binder straight into the trash can.
During our junior year summer, Chloe wanted to go to a music festival, so she dumped her entire research workload on me.
I pulled two all-nighters to build her statistical models.
The day she submitted it, she and Tyler went out for expensive sushi to celebrate.
Tyler posted a picture of them clinking glasses on Instagram with the caption: "Celebrating my girl Chloe crushing her thesis!"
Someone in the comments asked where I was.
Tyler replied: "A certain someone is still typing away in the dorm. We have different roles in this squad, lol. Plus, she hates going out anyway."
I had felt so hurt back then, yet I still liked the post.
Looking back, that wasn't trying to fit in. That was just pure stupidity.
Two hours later, I rolled my suitcase out of the dorm.
I had already rented a cute one-bedroom apartment near my new office.
While riding in the Uber to my new place, a text from an unknown number popped up.
"Avery, what is the meaning of blocking us? Chloe didn't even eat dinner last night. Haven't you played this drama long enough? We’ll be at the campus cafe at 2 PM. Get over here and let's talk this out."
I deleted the text immediately.
Then, I blocked the number.
Once I arrived at my new apartment, I spent the entire afternoon cleaning and organizing.
No cloying sweet candles that Chloe liked. No ugly action figures Tyler forced me to display.
The whole place smelled of clean linen, decorated with simple, aesthetic bedding I chose myself.
That evening, I went downstairs and treated myself to a bowl of pasta.
When I paid, the owner smiled and said, "New to the neighborhood, sweetie? You look like you’re ready to take on the world."
I smiled back.
"Thank you."
Back home, I opened my laptop and checked my onboarding email for tomorrow.
Vanguard Consulting—one of the top elite consulting firms in the country.
I landed this offer entirely on my own. I had never told them.
Tomorrow was a brand new beginning.
第3章
Vanguard Consulting was located in a towering skyscraper in the heart of the financial district.
At 9:00 AM sharp, I was sitting in the conference room for orientation.
After HR introduced us to the company structure, they led the new hires to the main floor.
"This is the head of Project Group Six, Julian Vance."
I looked up.
A man in a charcoal-gray button-down stood in front of a whiteboard, marker in hand.
He turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over us. His voice was cool and commanding.
"I’m Julian Vance."
"In my team, I care about results, not seniority. If you have a problem, tell me directly. I don't do office politics."
After assigning our desks, Julian handed me my first task.
I had to clean up and compile a competitor analysis report for the new energy sector.
The data was massive and incredibly messy.
I immediately sat down, broke down the numbers, and started building the model.
By 5:00 PM, I sent the completed report to his email.
Ten minutes later, he walked over to my desk.
"Avery."
I stood up.
"I reviewed the report. Your logic is clean, and you hit the key metrics perfectly."
Julian looked at me, his expression neutral.
"Good job."
I blinked, momentarily stunned.
"Is there a problem?" he asked.
"No, nothing."
I shook my head. "Thank you, Mr. Vance."
He nodded and walked back into his glass office.
I sat down, my palms slightly sweaty.
Growing up, Tyler and Chloe's feedback was always:
"You’re just a bookworm." or "What’s the point of doing all this? You’re still just a nerd."
Even during college group projects, they would take my written reports and present them on stage.
They got the praise, while I was treated like a background extra.
This was the first time in my life someone recognized my work directly, as an equal.
No backhanded compliments, no degrading remarks.
On the subway ride home, I received a text from Sarah, our college class president. It was a screenshot of Chloe’s Instagram.
It was a selfie of her and Tyler at the airport, both looking exhausted and miserable.
Caption: "Ten years of friendship, destroyed over a tiny misunderstanding. Some people just drift away. Maybe we weren't worth it."
Below, Tyler commented: "Some people just don't know how to appreciate you. You still have me."
Sarah messaged me privately: "Avery, what happened between you guys? Chloe was throwing major shade in the class group chat today. Everyone's asking me about it."
I looked at the hypocritical post, my fingers flying across the keyboard.
"Sarah, please don't send me anything about them anymore."
"Also, I am completely done with both of them."
I closed the app.
When I stepped out of the subway, it was raining.
I didn't have an umbrella, but I didn't run.
I walked home slowly, letting the cool rain fall on my shoulders.
It felt incredibly refreshing.
第4章
By my second week, I had completely adapted to Vanguard's fast pace.
To my surprise, although Julian was a demanding boss, he was fiercely protective of his team.
On Thursday afternoon, we had an initial pitch meeting with a major client.
Halfway through, one of the client’s directors sharply questioned a specific data point.
The tension in the boardroom instantly spiked.
Instead of defensive backtracking, Julian calmly turned to me.
"Avery, you ran the core data. You explain it."
I stood up.
I pulled up my backup slides and broke down the entire derivation process clearly and confidently.
The client director listened, stayed silent for a few seconds, and then nodded.
"Very solid."
After the meeting, Julian stopped me in the hallway.
"You did great back there."
He handed me a bottle of water. "Quick on your feet. You didn't panic."
I took the bottle.
"Thank you."
"You're not just detail-oriented; you're an excellent communicator."
Julian's tone was matter-of-fact. "I want you in on all future client-facing meetings."
I gripped the plastic bottle.
"An excellent communicator."
Chloe had once ridiculed me in front of our entire class, saying I was socially inept.
But here, in a real, professional environment, a top industry expert was telling me I was excellent.
For the first time, a wave of genuine gratitude toward Julian washed over me.
On Friday evening, I packed up my bag and walked out of the office lobby.
The moment I stepped onto the plaza, I spotted someone standing by the stairs.
Tyler.
He was wearing a wrinkled jacket, with a duffel bag sitting by his feet.
Seeing me, he quickly blocked my path.
"I knew I’d find you here."
He glared at me.
"Move, Tyler."
"Wow, Avery, look at you now."
Tyler let out a harsh laugh. "Blocking our numbers, packing up your dorm in secret, and getting a job without telling us. You think you’re so cool, don't you?"
I looked at him coldly.
"What I do is none of your business."
I tried to step around him, but he grabbed my wrist.
"Don't walk away from me."
Tyler reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a thick manila envelope, waving it in my face.
In the top right corner was the red seal of our university's Registrar's Office.
My eyes narrowed.
It was my diploma and my Latin Honors certificate.
Because I had left campus early for my background check, the office required an authorized student to pick them up.
Before our fallout, I had signed a release form giving Tyler permission to collect them.
Without these original documents, Vanguard couldn't finalize my permanent employment contract.
"Recognize this?"
Tyler smirked, looking smugly confident.
"Chloe hasn't slept in days because of your little tantrum. We’re supposed to be friends. Why do you have to make things so ugly?"
"You're both girls, why do you have to tear her down? What’s that term online... 'internalized misogyny'? Are you just jealous because she’s more popular than you?"
My fists clenched. "Me wanting nothing to do with you guys is targeting her?"
"Tyler, you are literally insane!"
It was the first time I had ever cursed at him.
Tyler froze, startled. But he quickly pulled the envelope back, hiding it behind his back.
"Now, pull out your phone and apologize to Chloe."
"Otherwise, you can kiss your degree goodbye."