The first bad review arrived after a lemon cake. It said delivery had been two hours late and the filling had spilled across a car seat. Aida checked the messages: the customer had collected the cake personally, smiling, ten minutes early. Her fiance Nermin said the internet attracted spiteful people. He suggested closing the page until she found a safer job.
Aida worked from a rented kitchen, following all its rules, and was saving for her own premises. Nermin considered it an expensive hobby. Still, he brought flour and drove her to the market, so she interpreted his objections as fear of debt. When a second review arrived for an order she had never received, she began recording profile names and dates.
The third concerned a birthday cake for a woman named Nadja. Aida knew only one Nadja, a librarian who had thanked her a week earlier with a photograph of an empty plate. She sent her a screenshot and asked whether she had misunderstood something. Nadja was angry that somebody was using her name, but even angrier that they described a private event they had not attended.
The review said her granddaughter cut the cake with a green knife. Aida had told only Nermin that detail, laughing about the child's persistence. She did not immediately draw a conclusion. She showed him the messages over dinner and asked him to help report the fake profile. Nermin said she should not create drama. Then the review disappeared before the report was submitted.
The next day she asked him directly. At first he denied it, then admitted wanting to show her how difficult business could be. He claimed he was trying to protect their future. Aida placed her hands on the table to stop them trembling. "My future can't depend on whether you stop sabotaging it," she said. She did not remove her engagement ring theatrically. She set it aside while washing dishes and never put it back.
Nermin removed the remaining false posts and confirmed in writing what he had done. Aida did not publish his name. She kept the confirmation and requested a review of the disputed ratings. She asked customers to describe their honest experiences if they wished, without telling them what to say. Nadja wrote that the cake arrived on time and the child ate two slices. She also mentioned the green knife.
Within three months Aida saved enough for a small counter in a shared shop. At the opening her friend brought flowers and her mother an oversalted pie. The first customer ordered a lemon cake. Aida wrote down the date and requested a deposit, as she did from everyone. Success was still uncertain, but failure finally had nobody secretly helping it along.