She Begged For Money I Gave Her Predatory Loans Chapter 1

They say no good deed goes unpunished. I learned that the hard way when a simple act of kindness drove me off the ledge of a high-rise.

In my past life, a female colleague told me her father was in critical condition and desperate for surgery funds. Without a second thought, I wired her fifteen thousand dollars and approved a two-month leave of absence.

When the day came for repayment, she flipped the script. She blasted me all over social media, claiming I’d sexually harassed her, and demanded seventy-five thousand dollars in damages.

I was crucified by the internet. I lost my job. Even my fiancée, the woman I was days away from marrying, looked at me with total disgust.

Depression swallowed me whole. I jumped.

And then, I woke up.

I was back. Back to the exact moment she came to beg for money.

She was crying now, a performance that could move mountains and shake the heavens. But I just sat there, cold and detached, downloading a dozen predatory loan apps onto her phone.

She likes borrowing money? Fine. Let her borrow until she drowns in it.

I have no money for her. And I certainly have no life to spare.

* * *

I opened my eyes again to the sight of a girl looking at me through a shimmering veil of tears.

I glanced up. It was Sienna. The woman who had destroyed my life with nothing but empty words and a innocent face.

My arm felt stiff as I checked my watch. June 4th. The exact moment.

"Grant? Mr. Miller?"

When I didn't answer immediately, Sienna tested the waters, her voice trembling.

I snapped back to reality, locking eyes with her.

"Yeah. I'm listening."

"Grant, it’s my dad. He’s in critical condition. The doctors say he needs a liver transplant to survive. If he doesn't get it..."

The tears broke free, rolling down her cheeks like cracks in a porcelain mask.

In the last life, this exact display of vulnerability had broken me. Out of sheer humanitarian instinct, I’d lent her the money. When the rest of the office found out, they chipped in, too. I gave her two months off so she could be a dutiful daughter.

I never expected her to bite the hand that fed her. When I asked for the money back, she decided the debt was too heavy. So she tried to cancel it by cancelling me.

She went online, spinning a tale of workplace harassment, demanding a massive settlement for "emotional distress." She spoke with such conviction, armed with cropped screenshots and fabricated truths.

And then came the line that sealed my coffin: “No girl would ruin her own reputation just to frame a man.”

That sentence turned a localized dispute into a nationwide witch hunt. Strangers sent funeral wreaths to my home. They dumped trash at the office entrance. They found my number and called me at 3:00 AM, breathing threats into the receiver.

I tried to clarify things, but the truth is boring. Nobody wanted the truth. Even Meredith, my fiancée, accused me of being "improper."

People only believe what they want to believe.

The company fired me. My mind shattered. And I ended it all on the pavement below.

Thinking about it made the air in the room feel thick, suffocating.

I would never let history repeat itself.

"Wow. That sounds terrible," I said, my voice deliberately flat. "So, how many days off do you need?"

She blinked, stunned. The coldness of my response wasn't part of her script.

When she didn't answer, I pressed on. "You are here to ask for time off, right?"

Sienna bit her lip, dialing up the fragility in her eyes.

"Grant... actually, I wanted to ask if I could borrow some money. The surgery is expensive. We need about fifty thousand."

She dropped her head quickly, perfecting the posture of shame and desperation.

Right.

I pulled out my phone, opened the app store, and swiveled the screen toward her. Her eyes lit up with anticipation.

"Look," I said, pointing at the screen. "You can use PaydayAdvance. You can get a lump sum pretty fast. Interest isn't too bad."

"Or there's QuickCash, and LendTree..."

I reached over, took her phone from her hands, and started rapidly downloading every high-interest, predatory loan app I could find.

Before I could finish installing the fifth one, she snatched her phone back and fled the office.