Chapter 3My Roommate Slandered My Private Life

After Anna left, I walked back to the dorm.

Zach was sitting at his desk playing games. When he saw me walk in, he flashed a grin.

"Hey, Nate. Back from your date?"

"Yeah."

"Your girl is gorgeous," he said, his tone sounding incredibly genuine. "You're a lucky guy, bro."

Looking at his smiling face, my mind was a mess.

You stab me in the back, and then act like my best friend to my face.

"Yeah, I am," I muttered.

Zach chuckled and turned back to his monitor.

From the top bunk, Harvey shot me a look that said: Told you so.

I ignored him, lying down on my bed to figure out how to handle this. Honestly, I didn't want to make a scene. We were roommates, and we had another year of living together. Ruining the peace wouldn't do anyone any favors.

I figured I’d find a quiet moment to talk to Zach privately and tell him to back off.

But then there was Anna.

I pulled out my phone and texted her: Anna, just ignore Zach. I'll handle him.

She replied instantly: Okay, Nate! followed by three adorable emojis.

It was too sweet. So sweet it made me nervous.

Sure enough, the next morning, I realized what a devoted girlfriend's wrath actually looked like.

When I woke up, Zach's face was completely pale. He was staring at his phone, his brow furrowed deeply.

"What's wrong, man?" Harvey asked.

"My internship..." Zach's voice was trembling. "The HR rep just messaged me. They rescinded the offer."

Harvey gasped. "What? I thought that was a done deal."

"It was!" Zach panicked. "They had me preparing onboarding documents last week. Now they’re saying there's a sudden department restructure and the position is gone."

I lay in bed, pretending to scroll through my phone while my heart did a sudden drop.

No way.

I opened Anna's social media.

Her latest post was from 2:00 AM. It was a photo of a glass of red wine with the caption: Feeling great tonight. Took care of a little errand.

My fingers started to shake.

I opened our chat: Anna, Zach's internship... was that you?

She sent a voice note, her tone sweet and innocent. "What do you mean, Nate? I didn't do anything."

"Are you sure?"

"I swear! I just casually mentioned to my dad that some creep was bothering me, and he made a quick call."

Casually.

A quick call.

Anna's dad, Arthur Sinclair.

The head of one of the most powerful financial empires on the East Coast. A casual word from him could cause an absolute earthquake in the business world.

Zach's internship was at a major tech firm. A firm whose recent funding round was led by a venture capital fund owned by the Sinclair family.

I closed my eyes.

He was doomed.

"Anna, I told you I would handle it."

"I know, and I didn't touch him," she said, her voice sounding slightly pouted. "My dad decided to protect me. That has nothing to do with me."

I sighed.

Sure. Whatever you say.