Chapter 1
Mia Parker, the salon owner, was hell-bent on hitting her sales numbers, so she tried to make me inject a batch of unlicensed, unapproved hyaluronic acid fillers into her clients.
I said no.
Right there in front of every staffer in the place, she jabbed a finger into my forehead and snarled, "Do the damn job or get out. Don't forget, you signed a five-year non-compete. You walk out on me, nobody in this whole industry will touch you. Got it?"
I was desperate to scrape together $200,000 for my little sister Sophie's surgery, so I gritted my teeth and used that shady batch on the last client of the day.
After my shift, I went to get paid.
Mia didn't just dock half my commission. She grabbed what little I was still owed and threw it right at my uniform.
"Who do you think you are? Some nobody injector trying to haggle with me?" she spat. "Docking your pay is me doing you a favor, for God's sake."
I didn't even bother looking at the crumpled bills on the floor.
Calm as anything, I pulled out my phone and filed a report with the FDA under my own name, admitting I'd used unapproved medical devices on a client.
Mia lunged at me, finger stabbing so close to my nose it almost touched skin.
"Are you out of your mind?" she shrieked. "You reported yourself? You don't care if they pull your license?"
I just smiled.
I knew they'd pull my license. I knew I'd be investigated for what I'd done.
But there was one thing Mia had missed.
That afternoon, she'd run a livestreamed injection demo and dropped a fortune flying in more than 30 influencers to watch.
Every second of it was on camera.
And by now, the whole internet had already seen it.
I'd handed over my $200,000 commission just to hit her with a $3 million fine.
That was one hell of a trade.
*****
"You gonna call them? Go ahead! The second FDA investigators show up, your license is the first thing they yank. You think you're walking away clean?"
Mia's spit hit my face, riding a wall of perfume.
I wiped it away with the back of my hand and glanced through the glass storefront.
"They're already here."
Mia whipped around fast.
Three vans marked FDA had the entrance completely blocked off. Five uniformed officers pushed inside, footsteps sharp and dead set.
The smug arrogance drained from Mia's face. She was frozen in shock.
She ducked behind the register, grabbed a pack of premium cigarettes, then hurried over with a syrupy smile plastered across her face.
"Officers, you must be worn out, working this late." As she talked, she tried to slip the pack into the lead officer's pocket. "It's just a little mix-up. We can sort it out ourselves. No need to trouble you all coming out here."
The lead officer stepped back, his expression turning ice-cold. He slapped her hand away without hesitation.
"What do you think you're doing? Put that away, now! Who filed the report?"
I raised my hand. "That was me. I'm reporting myself for administering unapproved injectables to customers."
The officer's eyes immediately swept toward the treatment room.
Inside the sleek, sterile room, several discarded product boxes sat on the counter, without much instructions.
"Bring out all medical licenses, purchase receipts, and inventory records." He turned to his team. "Seal the entire premises."
Mia panicked and grabbed his arm.
"Officer, don't listen to this broke loser spouting nonsense! She's completely lost it! Those products only look different on the outside. They work exactly like the legitimate ones. Can't you just cut us some slack?"
The lead officer yanked his arm free, his voice booming through the salon.
"Just different on the outside? No approval number means they're counterfeit. You're putting this into people's faces. Somebody dies, who's answering for it? Get in our way again and you're coming with us."
Mia stumbled backward, clearly rattled, but she still muttered under her breath, her voice sharp and resentful.
"What's with the attitude? You're just a tin-badge cop."
The officers finished cataloging and securing the evidence in no time.
They tagged every unlicensed vial on the shelves, one by one, sealed them with official evidence tape, and photographed everything for the record.
Mia stared at the strip of tape stretched across her inventory for several seconds.
Then, suddenly, she laughed loudly. "Claire, you absolute i***t! You thought you were so damn clever, didn't you? You wanted to report yourself under your real name? Feeling cozy now? You're about to lose your license for good!"
She folded her arms and circled me, her face wide open with contempt.
"You still can't afford your sister's surgery, can you? Job's gone. License is toast. So where do you figure you're getting the money now? You really thought you could take me on? I've run this neighborhood for years, and I've never met anybody as dumb as you."
