On Valentine’s Day, my flower shop was bustling with business. One customer sent me a picture through DoorDash, asking if I could make the popular cash bouquet that was trending online at the time. I quickly counted, and the bouquet required 52 one-hundred-dollar bills to be stacked. However, he had only paid me 50 dollars. “I want it exactly like the picture, or I’ll leave you a bad review!” I patiently explained that the cash needed to be paid for separately, but all my messages remained unread. As the scheduled time drew nearer, and not wanting to damage my shop’s reputation, I reluctantly decided to use training banknotes as a substitute. The next day, to my surprise, the customer showed up with people to smash my shop. “You fucking bitch! I’ve been so nice to support your business, and you try to fool me with training banknotes? Now my crush won’t even talk to me! “I’m telling you, if you don’t pay me 50,000 dollars for emotional distress, I’ll make sure you regret this!” Robert Morales stepped on the fresh flowers and gestured with his hands. “Pay up! If you don’t, I’ll destroy your flower shop!” Many customers around stopped picking flowers and looked over. I felt heartbroken seeing the blue hyacinths crushed under his feet. This variety had just arrived at the shop. I loved them and had planned to keep a few for myself. A regular customer, Clara Jones, spoke up for me, “There must be some misunderstanding. We’ve been regulars here for a long time. She’s not the kind of person to do this.” Robert immediately pointed a finger at Clara and cursed, “You fucking bitch! None of your damn business!” Then Robert turned to me, his face full of anger. “If it hadn’t been for her using training banknotes in the custom-made cash bouquet for my crush, my crush would have been touched by my sincerity and would have agreed to be with me already!” As soon as he said that, people around started to think I had taken money for nothing, and began to criticize me. An older man’s face darkened, and he cursed at me, “As a business owner, how could you do something so unethical? “You took the money but didn’t deliver, and now you’ve ruined their relationship! How could you, a young girl, be so greedy for money? “Aren’t you going to return the money and compensate him?” Other customers didn’t directly shout at me, but they were all gossiping about me. I glared at Robert’s smug face and remembered why I had used training banknotes for the bouquet. It turned out that the night before, he had only paid 50 dollars and asked me to make a cash bouquet that needed 52 one-hundred-dollar bills stacked inside. I sent him many messages explaining that I was just running a small business. I asked him to bring cash to my shop or transfer the money to me. But he didn’t reply to a single message. According to DoorDash’s rules, if the order wasn’t delivered on time, the shop’s reputation score would drop. I had worked hard for years to maintain an excellent reputation score with no negative reviews. As the deadline approached, I had no choice but to use training banknotes to make the cash bouquet and deliver it. That evening, I received a negative review and a refund request. The reason was that the product didn’t match the picture. My DMs were flooded with angry texts. [You fucking bitch! Who allowed you to use training banknotes?] [How dare you try to fool me with these training banknotes? I guess you’re thinking of closing your shop, huh?] [My crush won’t even talk to me. According to DoorDash’s rules, you must compensate me ten times the amount, that’s 52,000 dollars. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.] He requested a refund only. Looking at those messages, my head was spinning. I immediately appealed on DoorDash, and his refund-only request was rejected. He was hopping mad and left some threatening messages in the chat. [You’ll regret this!] But I didn’t expect that he would show up at my shop this morning to pick a fight. I pulled out my phone and showed everyone the entire chat history. “I didn’t take money for nothing. The chat history can prove it. “He wanted a cash bouquet made from 52 one-hundred-dollar bills, but only paid me 50 dollars. How can this even be possible? I’m just running a small business. I can’t afford to deal with this kind of hassle. “And I also told him I couldn’t do it. I called him multiple times, but he never answered.”
This was absolutely ridiculous. I couldn’t believe something like this happened to me. I felt wronged and wanted to cry. The customers gathered around to look at the chat history. Clara comforted me, “I always said Ms. Wilson was an honest person. How could she do something like this?” Robert sneered, contemptuously smashing a vase on the floor. “You old hag, who asked you?” He then stomped his foot on my beloved fabric sofa, leaving a big black footprint. He pretended to be the one in the right. “She promised the bouquet would look exactly like the picture, that’s why I gave this order to her. “But she even messed up the most important part of the bouquet. Isn’t it normal for me to ask for compensation?” My flower shop promised that if a customer provided a picture, the finished bouquet would have no more than a 5% difference. The bouquet I made, compared to the picture he sent me, was exactly the same, except for the training banknotes. “If you didn’t want this order, I could have gone to another flower shop. Since you took it, you should have made it exactly like the picture!” I had never encountered such an unreasonable thug, so I was at a loss for words. “I sent you many messages saying I couldn’t do it, but all remained unread. I tried calling you, but you didn’t pick up. DoorDash doesn’t allow merchants to issue refunds without reason, so I had no choice but to use training banknotes. “For a flower order, after the platform takes its share and I cover the costs, I only get a few dozen dollars. Do you expect me to pay out of my own pocket for you? Is that even possible? “You think you can get a bouquet worth 5,200 dollars for just 50 dollars? No wonder she blocked you!” I was furious. This was clearly extortion. Everyone around me felt sorry for me and stood up for me. “You’re a grown man, and you actually think you can get a bouquet worth 5,200 dollars for just 50 dollars? Where in the world does something like that even happen?” “You must be nuts! Ms. Wilson isn’t running a charity. She’s going to lose money on your order.” “Exactly. Ms. Wilson is the real victim here, dealing with a customer like you. What you’re doing isn’t business. It’s robbery!” The customers were all defending me. Hearing this, Robert got even angrier. He jumped off the sofa, pointed a finger at me, and cursed. “Stop spouting nonsense. She’s the reason my crush won’t talk to me anymore. That’s the truth, right? “Am I not entitled to ask for some compensation for mental distress? “And then…” Suddenly, he changed his tone and stared at me. “With such a tiny profit, how can you even run a flower shop? “Who knows how you even manage to keep this shop open? “Every day, you dress all fancy, and men are coming in and out. Who knows what kind of shady business you’re running!” Robert’s friend immediately chimed in, grinning lewdly. “Exactly! I’ve seen men going in and out of her flower shop at night. “I kept thinking this girl looked familiar. Turns out she’s a call girl, only charging 200 dollars for the whole night!” Robert laughed loudly. “Well, that’s definitely a small business.” He picked up one of the potted roses I had planted, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. “With a private life like that, how can you still buy flowers from her? Aren’t you afraid of catching something?”
They spread rumors about me, causing my customers to drop the flowers and leave. I was so furious that my hands were shaking. I was shocked by his shamelessness. The flowers in my shop were delivered every night, carefully arranged by me for sale the next day. Yet, this guy spread rumors, claiming that I had an inappropriate relationship with the delivery workers. My flower shop had been running for almost five years. I worked hard every day. Not only were my prices lower than most other shops, but my flowers were air-shipped fresh every day, so fresh that you could literally see the water dripping off them. I had been running this shop with integrity, but he slandered me with lies. I clenched my fists, telling myself not to show weakness. “Everything needs proof. If you’re spreading rumors, I’ll take legal action.” Today was Valentine’s Day, one of the most profitable days of the year. I had hoped to handle this privately, avoiding the time-consuming police report. But this guy, Robert, clearly wasn’t going to let it go. I pulled out my phone and called the police. He tried to grab my phone, but I dodged him. When the police arrived, his attitude was still arrogant. They stepped over the flowers and vases scattered on the floor and took both of us to the station. Once at the station, his arrogance quickly deflated. He no longer had that thug-like attitude. “This lady reports that you damaged her shop’s property and spread rumors about her shop’s illegitimacy,” the officer said, taking notes. Robert’s face changed immediately. “This is a misunderstanding, officer! “If it weren’t for her using training banknotes that my crush found out about, my crush and I would’ve been together! “She’s the one who destroyed my relationship! I was just giving her a little lesson!” Of course, he didn’t mention the part where he tried to get a bouquet worth 5,200 dollars for just 50 dollars. He conveniently skipped that part. I interrupted, “Why don’t you mention how you tried to get a bouquet worth 5,200 dollars for just 50 dollars? Dream on! Your crush just blocked you, and that’s already too much for you! She blocked you but didn’t even insult you.” He was angered by me and shouted, “You fucking bitch! Officer! She’s admitting that she ruined my relationship! I’m so angry. I have a headache and stomach pain. I need to go to the hospital, and she owes me compensation for emotional distress!” He was throwing a tantrum on the ground. “Stay quiet!” He forced a smile. “Yes, sir.” The officer turned to me. “Can you explain what happened?” I presented the chat history and security footage, showing that he had attempted to extort me and then damaged my shop’s facilities. “He also spread rumors about my shop being involved in illegal activities. “I’m going to sue him for defamation.” Robert, now frantic, shouted, “Look at how well-dressed you are, and with all those men coming in and out of your shop, it’s hard not to suspect something! I just said a couple of things. Why are you suing me for that?” The officer tapped the table with his pen. “Stay quiet.” He finally stopped talking. The officer looked up at him and said, “You really think you can get a bouquet worth 5,200 dollars for just 50 dollars? Why don’t you just go rob her? Your actions are clearly illegal.” “And you spreading rumors about me being involved in illegal activities has damaged my reputation,” I added. The officer nodded. “That’s right. You’re guilty of provoking trouble and will be detained for four days. You need to compensate the shop owner for the damages. “As for spreading rumors, you’ll be detained for five days and fined 500 dollars…”
As soon as Robert heard that he had to pay such a large sum of money, he immediately backed down. I demanded legal action. The compensation I was entitled to was absolutely going to be received. After handling everything at the police station, I returned to the shop. I looked at the mess all over the floor and felt incredibly frustrated. This flower shop… I had spent five years building it up, little by little, into what it was today. The small chandelier hanging from the ceiling was something I had installed with my own hands. The fabric on the sofa was cut and sewn by me, piece by piece. The flowers and plants in the shop had been taken care of by me for a long time as well. In past years, I would usually make a little extra money on Valentine’s Day. But today, with the mess that Robert had caused, I couldn’t even make a profit—forget about earning money; I was losing everything. This couldn’t go on. I had to pull myself together. So, I began cleaning up the mess. I sold off the remaining fresh flowers at a low price. The next day, I noticed that there were noticeably fewer customers in my shop. But a few days later, a large order suddenly came in. The customer said it was for a birthday party. I couldn’t help but feel a little relieved, thinking that the loss caused by Robert might finally be recovered through this big order. I took a quick look at the recipient’s name—Jameson Cox. Robert’s incident had made me extra cautious. I decided to call the customer to confirm everything. It was a big order, and if the customer canceled at the last minute, I’d lose a huge amount of money again. The customer replied politely, so I felt a bit more at ease. Robert had been detained, so I assumed he would have learned his lesson. But I still felt a little uneasy inside. When I finally delivered and set up all the flowers, my previous unease turned into reality. Robert appeared with a group of people, grinning lecherously at me. “Hey, isn’t this the owner of Daily Blossom?” he mocked. I quickly realized that he was nothing but a thug—how could he possibly let this go so easily? “What do you want?” I asked, feeling both frustrated and unwilling to back down. I had worked so hard to run this flower shop. What did I do to deserve this? Was it just because I didn’t let him take advantage that he wanted to get back at me? Seeing my furious expression, Robert laughed loudly, but then his face turned dark. “I was locked up for ten days because of your call to the police, and I had to pay thousands of dollars in compensation. How could I just let you off the hook? No way!” He spat, spreading his hands wide. “One hundred thousand dollars in compensation, not a penny less. Otherwise, you’ll regret it!” To my surprise, just a few days later, even the amount of the compensation had gone up. One hundred thousand dollars—this was almost half a year’s profit from my flower shop. How could I possibly pay him that much? “That’s impossible! I won’t give you a single penny!” I said firmly. I dropped the flowers and walked out. He had a lot of people with him, and I was afraid of what they might do to me, so I left quickly, my palms sweating. I kept my guard up, thinking I would call the police if anything went wrong. But they didn’t do anything. Fortunately, they had already paid in advance. And since I believed there was nothing wrong with the flowers, I thought that even if they came up with all kinds of excuses, I was confident they couldn’t just get a refund. I kept reassuring myself. But when I got home and checked the messages on DoorDash, I was stunned.
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