OMG HE’S LIVE
WHERE’S TESS
WHAT DID YOU DO
I take a breath. It sticks halfway in my chest.
“Hi,” I say.
My voice cracks immediately.
“A month ago, I started a dare on this channel. To work a month of ‘real work.’ It was a joke. A stupid joke. But it became real.” I swallow.
“I met someone. Tess Bennett. She’s the head baker at Sunrise & Salt. And she’s the real thing. She runs her bakery with… soul. A word I’ve been hearing a lot. A word I misused.” The chat slows.
Zane glances up at me and nods once. They’re listening.
“You’ve been seeing the clips. ‘Billionaire Baker.’ It was fun. I was having fun. But I blew it. I did what guys like me always do. I tried to fix something that wasn’t broken.”
My hands curl into fists out of frame.
“She showed me her dream. A real one. An apprentice program. A way to help kids. And I tried to buy it. I thought I knew better. I tried to scale it. I went behind her back. I signed a deal to franchise her bakery, to turn her life into a brand.”
Julian shifts behind the camera, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“She told me no,” I continue. “She showed me her plan. She told me what she wanted. And I didn’t listen.”
My voice breaks.
“She said, ‘You don’t get to make my choices.’ And she was right. I took her choice. I took her agency. I set a trap. I became everything she hates.”
I reach off-screen. Zane hands me the folder without a word.
“The deal, ‘Sunrise & Soul,’ is dead. It’s over.”
I hold up the LOI.
“This is the shortcut,” I say. “And Tess Bennett doesn’t do shortcuts.”
Julian’s jaw tightens. I pull out the lighter. The chat explodes. I flick it.
The paper catches, curling black at the edges, flames climbing fast. I don’t look away. I watch it burn until my hand feels warm and the edges crumble.
“This isn’t for her,” I whisper. “This is for me. This is accountability. I broke her trust. And I don’t know if I’ll ever earn it back.”
I drop the ashes into the glass bowl Zane sets in front of me. They scatter, fragile and final.
“I failed,” I say. “I failed the dare. I failed the bakery. I failed her.”
My breath shudders.
“But I have another idea,” I say. “The one I should have started with.”
I look into the camera.
I am not charming.
I am not polished.
