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hey everyone welcome back to Sleeping
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Reddit Pills if you're new here hit that
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subscribe button and join the crew i'm
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Jessica Lee and today I've got a wild
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story for you about how my mother-in-law
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Karen tried to tear down my bakery
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empire dreamy delights and how I fought
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back to save everything I'd built grab a
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coffee maybe a fresh pastry and let's
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trust me it's a roller coaster picture
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this i'm 35 running a thriving bakery
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chain called Dreamy Delights in Seattle
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it's my pride and joy built from scratch
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with every ounce of my heart and soul
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but last year my mother-in-law Karen
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decided my success was her personal
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i'll never forget the day she strutdded
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into my flagship store her smirk sharp
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"your muffins are dry Jessica," she
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announced loud enough for the whole cafe
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to hear no wonder your sales are tanking
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my stomach dropped i bit my lip to keep
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from snapping back but inside I was
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fuming karen had already messed with a
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big business deal earlier that week and
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here she was stirring up trouble again
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the kicker just hours before she'd asked
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me to pour my savings into her
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retirement fund yeah you heard that
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right to understand how things got this
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messy we got to go back 5 years dreamy
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Delight started as a tiny corner bakery
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just a dream I had baking was my escape
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my safe place especially after losing
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both my parents young it was like
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therapy kneading dough whipping up
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frosting creating something beautiful
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when I met David Karen's son he became
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my biggest cheerleader "jess your
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desserts are insane," he'd say scarfing
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down my latest lemon lavender scone
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you've got to share this with the world
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his encouragement lit a fire in me so I
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took every penny I'd saved quit my day
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job and opened my first shop in downtown
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Seattle those early days were no joke i
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dragged myself out of bed at 3:00 a.m to
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bake run the counter all day and lock up
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way past sunset my hands smelled like
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butter and vanilla 24/7 but I loved it
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my matcha eclair's and honey almond
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tarts started getting buzz customers
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lined up and soon Dreamy Delights was
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the hottest spot in town that's when
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Karen started paying attention one
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Sunday at a family dinner she leaned
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across the table her voice all syrupy
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jessica honey I had no idea your little
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baking hobby could actually make money
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that stung but I just smiled and nodded
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she was family right got to keep the
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peace but as Dreamy Delights grew so did
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Karen's interest and not in a good way
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when I got the chance to open a second
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location at Pike Place Market I was over
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the moon i'd secured a loan and
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everything was falling into place i
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shared the news at dinner all excited
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but Karen's eyes had this weird glint
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"oh sweetie," she said swirling her wine
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"expanding's risky you know what
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happened to Sally's sweets right?"
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Crashed and burned but don't worry I've
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got years of business knowhow i'd be
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happy to help you out i thanked her but
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said I had it under control big mistake
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the next morning my contractor called
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jess we've got code violations at the
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new spot tons of them fixing them
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delayed us 3 months and cost me almost
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later I found out Karen was tight with
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the inspector's wife shady right but I
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kept pushing the Pike Place location
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opened and it was a smash hit we got
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franchise offers a feature in Northwest
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Business Monthly The Works dreamy
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Delights was soaring but Karen she
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wasn't cheering at another family dinner
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jessica dear she said all fake sweet i'm
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so proud of what you've done with
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David's help of course his connections
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really opened doors for you didn't they
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i nearly choked on my water
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actually Karen I said keeping my cool
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dreamy Delights is my baby david's
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supportive but I built this from the
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her smile went cold then she dropped the
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well since you're doing so well we need
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to talk family obligations your
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father-in-law and I aren't getting
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younger and our retirement fund took a
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hit we'll need about $500,000 to keep
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the table went dead quiet my hands shook
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as I set my fork down karen I said
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carefully my profits are going into the
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business not personal loans her face
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darkened and I knew I'd crossed a line
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the next day I opened my laptop and saw
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it dozens of one-star reviews on our
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social media dry muffins got sick from
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their tarts our morning rush was half
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its usual crowd and whispers about the
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reviews spread like wildfire "then Karen
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walted into the shop smirking." "Your
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muffins are dry Jessica," she said again
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loud enough for everyone to hear "a
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corporate client I'd been wooing slipped
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out the door that's when it hit me this
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wasn't just Karen being Karen she was
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out to destroy me the weeks that
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followed were chaos orders got cancelled
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out of nowhere health inspectors started
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showing up during peak hours tipped off
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by anonymous complaints
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suppliers I'd worked with for years
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suddenly doubled their prices blaming
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i confided in David hoping he'd see what
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was going on babe he said looking at our
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grim sales reports are you sure mom's
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behind this maybe it's just bad luck i
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slammed my laptop shut frustrated bad
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luck doesn't file fake food poisoning
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he sighed torn between me and his mom
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and stayed quiet "then Karen upped the
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auntie." At another family dinner she
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leaned in all dramatic "i'm worried
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about Jessica," she said loud enough for
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everyone to hear "the stress of a
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failing business can make people
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unstable maybe she should sell before it
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gets worse." "I gripped my glass so hard
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I thought it had break." "My business
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isn't failing Karen," I shot back "at
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least not without some help."
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She turned to David fake concern
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dripping from her voice see what I mean
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paranoid accusations maybe Jessica needs
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a therapist i was done that night I
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restless I checked our bakery's security
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footage my heart stopped when I saw it
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karen sneaking into the kitchen after
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hours with David's spare key the next
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morning I checked our storage room she'd
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swapped our premium vanilla extract for
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cheap imitation stuff and our high-end
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chocolate for low-grade baking bars
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small changes but enough to mess with
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our quality over time i was livid but I
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knew I needed more than anger i needed
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proof i confronted Karen at her house
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evidence in hand she sat there sipping
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security footage Jessica how desperate
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my retirement fund offer still on the
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table i shook my head this isn't about
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money anymore is it you just can't stand
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that I succeeded without you her smile
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vanished replaced by a cold glare you
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married into this family dear everything
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you have you owe to us fund our
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retirement or watch your little bakery
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i stood trembling no Karen stop
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sabotaging my business or I'll show
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David and everyone else who you really
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are she laughed sharp and mean who do
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you think they'll believe me or the
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stressed out baker having a breakdown as
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I left my phone buzzed our biggest
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client David's Law Firm canceled all
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their orders karen's message was clear
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she wasn't done but she'd slipped up i
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stayed up all night piecing together a
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dossier the fake reviews traced to her
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IP address the supplier price hikes her
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golf buddy owned the company the
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security footage just the start 5 years
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of her games laid out in black and white
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the next morning I walked into David's
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law firm clutching my evidence like a
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lifeline david and his dad Richard were
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there karen showed up all smug until she
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saw my folder "what's she doing here?"
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she snapped i set up my laptop calm but
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firm everyone needs to see this for 30
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minutes I laid it all out footage of
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Karen tampering with ingredients
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screenshots of reviews linked to her
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emails from suppliers admitting her
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interference bank records showing shady
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transfers before every health inspection
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david's face darkened mom how could you
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karen laughed but it was shaky she's
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making it up she's stressed i'd invited
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a friend Detective Emily Carter she
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stepped in badge glinting
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karen sabotage and extortion are serious
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charges listen to Jessica then Richard
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dropped a bomb i checked our accounts
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karen you've been moving money to a
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private account for years care to
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explain her mask cracked turns out she'd
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been embezzling from their retirement to
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cover gambling debts pressuring me to
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plug the holes i looked at Karen i'll
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press charges unless you do two things
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publicly cleared Dreamy Delight's name
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and get help for your gambling
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defeated she nodded the next week her
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due to personal challenges I spread
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false claims about Dreamy Delights their
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quality is topnotch and I regret my
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customers flooded back we ran a
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half-pric pastry special and lines
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wrapped around the block dreamy Delights
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now has 10 locations stronger than ever
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david and I set boundaries with Karen
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who's in treatment richard's one of my
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biggest supporters now sitting in my
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flagship store watching folks enjoy
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fresh scones I've learned something
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success isn't just about building a
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business it's about standing your ground
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when someone tries to tear you down
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karen's redemption showed me the
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sweetest victory isn't revenge it's
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giving someone a chance to change so
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what would you have done pressed charges
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or given Karen a shot at redemption drop
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your thoughts in the comments and let me
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know what stories you want next maybe a
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bakery tour or a recipe thanks for
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listening and I'll catch you in the next
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one on sleeping Reddit pills
