The Wrong Woman

"What about social media? Why did you block me?" Sienna inquired.

"Sorry, Sienna. Why exactly did you call me?" Jane's response left Sienna somewhat resigned, a sense of foreboding settling over her. Such was the way of supposed lifelong friends. Sienna had no interest in maintaining one-sided emotional investments in friendships. Cutting straight to the chase, she asked, "Jane, did you write 'Into the Light'?"

There was silence on the other end.

For Sienna, this silence was deafening. She couldn't believe it. Her heart clenched with a mix of sorrow and indignation. "So, 'Into the Light' is really your work?"

"Yes." Jane's voice, though slightly hollow, carried an air of entitlement. "I've already bought the book's copyright and secured a film contract."

Sienna let out a wry smile, her eyes moistening. "I never imagined that my best friend would steal my book. I-"

Before Sienna could finish, Jane cut her off, her tone assertive, "Sienna, my book was published three months before yours. Who copied whom? It's pretty clear, isn't it?"

Sienna sighed bitterly. "Jane, do you know the meaning of shame when you speak like this?"

Jane fell

took a deep breath and clenched her phone tightly, suppressing her

her voice measured. "I wrote tens of thousands of words for this book and stored it on my laptop. I never thought that even with all precautions,

plagiarized my novel. Considering

with them, and as long as you compensate me privately and issue an apology, we can consider this matter

too bad, it seems I'm more ruthless than you. All I want now is to destroy you. Just wait; we'll

hung up

could be

the materials for the lawsuit. She also got

mulled over their options for the

shot,"

who could retrieve the timestamps of my book's creation? Perhaps we could

table. "That might work.