Chapter 7

The glowing reviews that used to flood in for my shop slowly started to take a darker turn.

"Ladies, stay far away from this place. Terrible service, overpriced, and the attitude? Ugh.”

"Exactly! I got scammed here. The nail polish made me break out in a rash—still dealing with the reaction!”

"Forget the bad service for a sec. Haven't you heard? The owner's an ex-con. Are you really going to a place run by someone like *that* for a manicure?”

"And here's the real kicker. I've got the dirt on her—this woman used to work as a hotel maid and tried to steal someone's boyfriend. In the end, she had to kneel and scrub the girlfriend's shoes!”

Business at the shop plummeted. A few days later, someone splattered red paint on the door.

"Murderer, go to hell!”

I stared at the ugly spray-painted words for what felt like forever, my head spinning. I thought I had left all of that behind me, but apparently, it wasn't that easy. Things were way more complicated than I ever imagined.

"This has to be that bitch Sophie's doing!” Claire snapped, hands on her hips, ready to charge.

I grabbed her arm before she could march off. "No. Impulsive moves aren't going to help us now. We don't have proof.”

I was at a loss for what to do when, out of nowhere, customers started pouring in. One after another, they'd finish their manicures, and without fail, each one would leave a glowing 50+ word review, pushing all the bad ones down in a matter of hours.

Something wasn't right.

I caught one of the girls as she was heading out. "What's going on here?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

She grinned. "Oh, someone hired me! They covered the cost of my manicure and paid me an extra $100 for every good review I post. Big sis, do you have a secret admirer or something? This is a smart move, honestly.”

I didn't need to hear more. It could only be one person.

Sean Parker.

I'd heard from Claire that Sean was in the middle of some serious business dealings.

"Thea, Sean's ruthless. His company's half the size of Sophie's family business, but he went all in—used a leveraged buyout to completely absorb Quinn Corp. The risk is huge, but he's playing to win.”

I didn't get all the details about leveraged buyouts, but I understood the basics. Sean Parker had thrown everything he had into a high-stakes fight with the Quinn family, betting it all on the line.

After that, no more bad reviews came in. The door stayed clean, and for the first time in weeks, things felt a little less tense.

Then, three days later, Sean Parker showed up.

It was a clear, sunny morning, and he walked in like a man trying to fit into a world that didn't quite welcome him. A few young women waiting in line for manicures turned their heads, giggling, whispering, clearly starstruck by his presence.

He looked completely out of place, standing tall and awkward in the middle of the shop. His posture was stiff, like he wasn't used to being the center of attention. The wind outside had messed up his usually immaculate hair, giving him an almost disheveled look.

He stood there for a moment, scanning the room, his lips pressed tight, eyes filled with something like uncertainty, like he was working up the nerve for whatever he was about to do.

It wasn't the confident, ruthless Sean Parker Claire had described. This was someone else entirely.

Finally, after a long pause, he cleared his throat and spoke in a voice rough from nerves. "Thea... Can we talk?”