Chapter 6
After my family cut ties with Jayden’s family and pulled our investment, they laid low for only a short while. Then, together with Sophie, they began canvassing the city for funds.
Until now, every contract at Jayden’s family’s firm had been handled by people from the Devin Group. The jobs were small, yet still rich enough to keep their household comfortable.
With the break, our managers left as well, and the company was suddenly hollowed out. Apart from a handful of junior hires, no one remained who could steer the ship.
Chaos set in, resignations followed one after another, but Jayden’s family convinced themselves they could run things alone. They even decided the Devin Group had been timid-content with “petty profit”-and believed, at last, they could make their own bold decisions.
Their calls to former partners were clumsy and presumptuous. A few offended owners phoned me to complain. I told them, plainly, that whatever Jayden and his parents were doing had nothing to do with us. From this day forward, Jayden’s company was independent of the Devin Group; there was no need to involve me.
In those same calls, I learned what Jayden’s family was chasing. Years in business told me instantly it was a sham- one of those “hundredfold-return, no-loss” schemes that still surfaced from time to time. I offered only a quiet warning: be careful, and keep your friends from throwing money into the dark.
When Jayden’s family failed to borrow a cent, Jayden blamed me. Voicemails and calls poured in:
“Leah! You just can’t stand to see us succeed! How dare you block investors? Think the Devin Group can bully everyone?
“I didn’t know you were this petty! Even if you scare a few people off, plenty of investors still want in!”
His ranting attitude had grown unpleasant to me; I ended the call and added his number to the block list. I could guess how he’d tried to raise cash-waving my family’s name like a flag. It didn’t matter; once the sums grew large enough, our legal team
would move.
Soon enough they did. Before any wire transfers cleared, my family’s lawyers stepped in, and those would-be investors
withdrew.
With no cash in hand, Jayden turned to the bank, pledging the company as collateral. The first trickle of returns made him giddy, and he mortgaged the family home for a second round.
Now his whole family walked with their chins in the air. Dazzled by easy rebates, they plunged into revenge spending-luxury goods they could never have afforded before.
Friends told me they’d seen Jayden strutting through designer boutiques, and my phone was filled with photos they’d sent of his lavish lifestyle: a watch, a new car, another watch.
I neither blocked nor replied. It was all comedy to me-how lost they were without the Devin Group.
The third, biggest rebate never came. Overnight, both the scheme and Sophie vanished. Jayden’s company teetered on
bankruptcy, the money they had once earned through us long gone, replaced by a mountain of debt.
The next morning, Jayden showed up at my door, his face gray and hollow. When I stepped out, fresh from a business meeting, he forced what he must have thought was a charming smile.
“Leah!”
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