When I hung up, I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself.

Carly was stunned. The false confidence had evaporated. She opened her mouth, tried to say something, but no words came out.

“You… will regret this,” she finally managed, voice shaking.

I looked at her one last time:

“What I regret is not exposing people like you sooner. And starting today, that ends. For a while now I’ve been trying not to let people use me for their own benefit, as if I were an object.”

Only then ...