Chapter 7 Everyone Pays A Hefty Compensation
Chapter 7 Everyone Pays A Hefty Compensation
But officer, we didn’t even do anything! We were just following Jade Simmons‘ orders! Why are you arresting us?”
“Exactly! We were charging forward for justice–what’s wrong with that? You should be arresting Jade, not us!”
+5 Free Coins
As they kicked up a fuss, a tall officer calmly pulled out a pair of handcuffs and snapped them onto the nearest streamer. That finally shut the Karma Crew up. They boarded the police van with grim faces, clearly unwilling but with no choice left.
“You trespassed on private property and destroyed personal belongings. That means you owe compensation—and you’ll be detained.”
“Fine, whatever. Like her junk’s worth anything. Probably doesn’t even cost more than what I make in a single stream.” The streamers held their heads high, clearly unrepentant.
I just laughed coldly to myself and worked with the police to pull up the receipts for the damages.
“This one antique alone is worth nine million!” one officer exclaimed, and with every new entry, his voice grew louder. “And this one’s an original from a famous artist–thirty million!”
Jade didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. In fact, she let out a sneer. “Officer, you must be mistaken. This woman’s obsessed with buying knockoffs. There’s no way any of that’s worth that much.”
Benjamin nodded vigorously. “She always loved showing off with fakes. I was embarrassed every time I took her out.”
I’d made up some excuse back then to keep him from asking questions. Never thought he’d turn it into a reason to despise me. No wonder he never brought me to see friends or clients–he thought my ‘fakes‘ made him look bad.
The streamers quickly joined in. “Exactly! Don’t fall for those receipts. For all you know, those are fake, too. You guys better do your job right.”
The officers exchanged looks and started checking every item one by one. As they confirmed each price and provenance, their faces grew darker.
Jade scoffed nearby. “What a pathetic gold digger–faking receipts like that. You must be desperate for cash.”
“All of Ms. Iverson’s receipts are legitimate,” an officer said firmly.
“Ha! So, they are- Jade choked on the word fakes, her face turning bright red.
Benjamin’s smug grin froze on his face, replaced by pure disbelief. “What? They’re all real?”
The officer nodded. “After verification, Ms. Iverson’s total loss is approximately 870 million.”
Benjamin’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “That’s impossible! I only gave her a few grand a month! Where would she get that kind of money to buy the real thing?! They have to be fake! They all are!”
“The streamers‘ faces twisted like they’d tasted something rotten, rushing forward to inspect the receipts themselves. But no matter how many times they checked, the results didn’t change.
The members of Karma Crew slumped against the wall, some of them so shaken they could barely stand. Faced with astronomical compensation, they began backpedaling fast.
“We were doing this for justice! Since when is standing up for what’s right a crime? Why should we have to pay?!”
“Yeah! If anyone’s paying, it should be Jade. She’s the idiot who didn’t check her facts and dragged us all into this!”
They all turned on Jade in a heartbeat, blaming her for everything. According to them, if it hadn’t been for her, they never would’ve ended up like this.
But I refused to mediate. I made it clear I wouldn’t be settling out of court.
“You’ve got enough money to buy all that crap. You must be filthy rich. Why can’t you just let this go?”
1/2
11:11 AM
Chapter 7 Everyone Pays A Hefty Compensation
“So what, rich people can just ruin the lives of regular folks now? I’ll be paying this off for the rest of my life!”
“This is so unfair. All I ever did was fight for what’s right, and this is what I get in return!”
+5 Free Coins
One minute, I was the victim, and the next, I was suddenly the villain who pushed ‘good people‘ to the brink.
I raised my voice. “When I begged you to leave me alone, did you? Weren’t you all saying it was divine punishment? Heaven’s wrath? Well, take a look now–this is what karma really looks like.”
Their faces turned red with shame, and they started shirking responsibility again.
“That one wasn’t me! I only broke the cheapest thing!”
“I didn’t break anything either! I just stood to the side and passed stuff along–I swear!”
I pulled out high–def security footage. With everything clearly recorded, there was no room for denial. Each person’s actions were captured in crystal clarity.
Finally, the streamers started frantically making calls to scrape money together. Their earnings from streaming weren’t enough, and now, with viewers demanding refunds and pulling support, they were in serious trouble. They not only had to compensate me, but also refund their top donors.
Some managed to gather the funds–begging, borrowing, doing whatever it took–and left the police station in disgrace.
Others weren’t so lucky. Unable to pay, they were hauled straight to jail.
Jade, who’d caused the most damage by far, was on the hook for almost 400 million on her own.
She bit down hard on her lip, helplessly leaning against Benjamin as she finally worked up the nerve to call her father. “Dad! You need to get to the Auburn Grove police station right now. If you don’t help me, I’m going to prison!”
Benjamin tried to comfort her. “It’s gonna be fine, Jade. Your dad’s a senior exec at Iverson Group–he’ll handle it.”
That made me chuckle. Iverson Group? It’s not the Iverson Group, is it?
Jade, thinking she’d regained the upper hand, glared at me through red eyes. “So what if I have to pay the compensation?! With my dad’s status, we’ll earn it back in a few years anyway!”
2/2
