My BFF Loved Him, I’ll Let Them Burn

Chapter 5

After Molly and I found a quiet cafe and sat down, I cut straight to the chase. Told her I wanted her to partner up with me on starting a clothing brand.

Molly clearly hadn't seen that coming. She kept running her fingers along her coffee cup.

"You sure about this? I don't even have any money to put in..."

I pulled out a contract and slid it across the table.

"You bring the looks. Use your face to pull in followers and customers on short-form video and livestreams. I'll handle the funding. We each bring something to the table, and we each get something out of it."

There was nothing for her to lose, so she finally said yes.

I hadn't had much to do with Molly in my past life, but everyone knew she was drop-dead gorgeous.

In a few weeks, she'd blow up online thanks to a clean-cut ID photo that went viral.

A bunch of agencies would come knocking, trying to sign her. But she'd end up locked into a twenty-year contract with some shell company that didn't even exist.

After that, they'd send her to all these boozy dinners with sleazy execs.

When she tried to get out, they hit her with a buyout she'd never be able to pay.

And that was what finally did it. She died in her apartment.

I wasn't asking her just because I knew her past and felt bad for her.

I also remembered she was the only one who ever warned me to watch my back around Maya.

Once the school approved our startup space, we picked a rising platform and hit the ground running. Our account blew up fast with creative cinematography and fresh transformation themes.

Our follower count broke half a million in just two weeks.

Other creators started copying our style left and right.

Our online brand, which focused on traditional heritage-style clothing, didn't take off right away. But sales were decent enough.

Then a big-name luxury label from overseas got caught ripping off the design of the classic pleated skirt from our region.

Overnight, every single piece we had in that style, along with all our other heritage-inspired items, got wiped out by customers.

All the packing, shipping, and after-sales stuff fell on just the two of us.

While we were raking it in, the school gave us both an award for outstanding student entrepreneurship, plus a cash prize.

Maya, who'd been living off-campus, caught wind of it from the school's official social media.

She must've dug up our studio address somehow, because she showed up one day with a giant bag of oranges.

She plopped down on the couch, poking her nose into every corner, her hands never still.

She even grabbed a piece we were supposed to show in our next livestream and slipped it on.

Right after she'd been peeling tangerines, leaving sticky juice all over the fabric.

Molly's face went sour. She was about to go off on her, but I held her back.

"Maya, it's been a while. What brings you here all of a sudden?"

Maya was all about saving face. If you called her out in public, she'd throw a fit.

I knew she'd come looking for me sooner or later.

Around this time in my past life, her attendance scam got exposed. Her parents found out and cut off her monthly allowance.

With no money, she was stuck in that rental with Miles, and every expense fell on him.

After a while, Miles got sick of it and told her to come borrow money from me.

Back then, I barely had enough to get by myself. But she looked so pathetic that I lent her most of what I had anyway.

I spent that whole month eating nothing but bread.

And she never paid me back a single cent.