Whether or not we want to tell other people about them, we've likely all had a revenge fantasy at some point, whether it was thinking of the perfect comeback days after being insulted or imagining what it would be like to publicly shame our worst ex.
But few of us actually have the opportunity for one of these fantasies to play out.
That's not true for TikToker @lindasolleyhurd, however, who found herself with the opportunity to give a man his comeuppance *eight years*—not days or months—after his crime.
Hurd explained how, back in college 15 years ago, she was attending a comedy show with a good friend, and when it ended and they stood from their seats her friend accidentally knocked her chair backward, hitting the guy sitting behind her and causing him to spill his drink.
He rose from his seat, called her a series of terrible names, and then spit on her.
After her friend hurried off to the restroom to clean up, Hurd turned to the man and accused him of assault. Instead of apologizing or simply reevaluating what he had done, the man called her several choice names as well .
Hurd, while retelling the story on TikTok, said ominously:
"We moved on with our night, but we did not move on with our lives."
Dun dun dun.
The next day, Hurd completed a quick Facebook search and found the man from the night before, who had tagged himself at the event location in a photo with the comedian who had performed. She also found him on Twitter.
She looked at his profile and found that he enjoyed the shows Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, which can be totally ruined with spoilers, so she created a fake Facebook account and started messaging him every spoiler she could find.
The man attempted to block her, but when he did, she simply created another fake account and continued the spoiler charade, eventually leading to him posting a series of hateful Facebook posts asking who was doing this to him.
After a while, Hurd became bored of this—but that all changed the next semester.
In her next semester of college, she shared a political science course with him and was frustrated by how he played "devil's advocate to everything."
In that same class, as he was setting up for a presentation, she noticed that he had a username on his computer that turned out to be connected to his Reddit account.
The video then took a swift turn:
"I didn't think about him for eight years until I see a friend of a friend, who is a f**king angel, and they get engaged."
Curious about what he was up to so many years later, Hurd checked his Reddit account and was shocked at what she found.
"I see some pretty sinister stuff on his Reddit. There are pictures that he is passing off as her and things like that, like really sinister stuff. If it was your partner, you would want to know."
And suddenly Hurd's ultimate revenge became clear.
Hurd shared everything she knew with the man's fiancée, who then called off their engagement.
"Last I checked, she has beautiful children, a thriving business, and seems to have a happy marriage, at least on social media, and she's gorgeous."
"I don't know what the hell he's doing, but yeah, you shouldn't assault women and call them b*tches."
You can watch the video here:
People on X, formerly Twitter, applauded the woman's commitment to the cause.
Many TikTokers were proud of their investigative queen as well.
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
There were a few TikTokers, however, who were deeply critical of her behavior.
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
@Lindasolleyhurd/TikTok
While some found this investigative long game to be excessive, most thought it was important to stand up for what was right.
The unfortunate reality, though, is that the tree remembers what the axe forgets—there's a distinct possibility that the TikToker trolled the man for an assault he didn't even remember committing, though that would be far more his fault than hers.
Kerry Dolan/Forbes
@teddysphotos/Instagram