What's the most satisfying way you've ever gotten back at a cheating business partner? ????

Mark and I ran a web design business for three years. Split everything 50/50, shared the workload, trusted each other completely. Or so I thought. I started noticing weird things - clients mentioning conversations with Mark that I wasn't part of, him working late on "personal projects," being secretive about his laptop.
Then I found out the truth by accident. A client called asking about their website transfer to "Mark's new company." I played dumb and asked for details. Turns out Mark had been telling our clients he was starting his own firm and could offer them better rates if they switched over.
He'd been planning his exit for months, slowly poaching our client list while pretending to be my loyal partner. The betrayal was devastating, but I decided not to confront him immediately. Instead, I wanted to see how far he'd take it.
That's when our biggest opportunity came along - a Fortune 500 company offering us a $200,000 contract to redesign their entire e-commerce platform. Six months of work, biggest payday of our careers.
Mark's eyes lit up when we got the call. "This could change everything for us, buddy!" He had no idea I knew about his secret company, so he was probably planning to steal this client too.
Here's where I got strategic. During our proposal meeting, I deliberately let Mark take the lead on everything. He presented himself as the "creative director" and "primary contact" for the project. I sat back and let him claim full ownership of our biggest contract.
The client loved Mark's presentation and awarded us the project. Mark was thrilled, already calculating his commission from both our company and his secret side business.
But here's what Mark didn't know. I'd been handling our back-end systems, client management software, and technical infrastructure for three years. Mark was the creative front-end guy who made things look pretty. He had no clue how to actually manage a project this complex.
Two weeks after we got the contract, I submitted my resignation letter. "Mark, I'm leaving the partnership. The Fortune 500 project is all yours."
Mark panicked immediately. "Wait, you can't leave now! We just landed the biggest contract of our careers!"
"Actually, YOU landed it. The client sees you as the primary contact. I'm sure you'll handle everything perfectly."
The reality hit Mark fast. He had no project management system, no technical team, no backend infrastructure to handle a $200,000 enterprise client. He'd been so focused on stealing clients that he never learned how to actually deliver the services.
I took our other major clients who preferred working with me anyway. Mark was left with the Fortune 500 contract and absolutely no ability to fulfill it. He had 30 days to deliver a complex e-commerce platform with zero backend support.
Mark called me begging for help, offering to split the profits if I'd stay and manage the technical side. I politely declined, reminding him that he'd wanted to run his own company.
Within three weeks, Mark's project was in complete chaos. The client was getting radio silence on progress updates. Deadlines were missed. The few deliverables Mark managed to produce were amateur-level garbage compared to our usual quality.
The client terminated the contract for non-performance and demanded a full refund. Mark had to return the $50,000 advance payment plus cover legal fees for breach of contract. His new company folded before it even officially launched.
The best part? The Fortune 500 client called me directly asking if I'd be interested in completing their project independently. They'd figured out I was the actual technical expert and wanted to work with someone competent.
I got the full $200,000 contract as a solo freelancer, while Mark went back to working hourly jobs trying to pay off his legal debts. His attempt to steal our business ended up giving me the biggest payday of my career.
Mark learned that stealing clients is easy, but actually serving them requires skills you can't fake.