Chapter 3

The two of them stood outside my door, pounding on it so hard the sound reverberated through the hallway.

“Hunter Sterling! My patience is wearing thin. You’ve got one minute—open this door, now!” Genevieve "Eve" Lockwood barked, her tone sharp with fury.

Felicity "Lissy" Dawson, on the other hand, sounded calm—though her words cut just as deep. “Hunter, why are you making life hard for Ryder? Just because you’ve walked through the rain doesn’t mean you need to tear up someone else’s umbrella.”

In my past life, I thought Eve, while bossy, had some kind of moral bottom line. Lissy? I respected her rise from orphan to tech magnate.

But now, they looked like confused, entitled fools.

I almost opened the door to shoo them away when I heard Ryder Hartwell’s voice, dripping with fake concern.

“Eve, Lissy, is Hunter really locking you out?”

Eve cleared her throat, embarrassed. “It’s nothing. What are you doing here?”

Lissy forced a smile. “Aren’t you busy prepping for the American Stock Tycoon Championship? What brought you back?”

Ryder’s tone dropped into something resembling guilt. “I… I want to withdraw.”

Lissy narrowed her eyes. “Did someone threaten you?”

“No… no one,” Ryder stammered, looking down. “It’s just… I’ve taken so much from Hunter—his family, his name. I owe him that much.”

Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at them both. “Don’t blame Hunter, okay? This is my choice. I even offered him my trading strategies. He didn’t steal from me.”

“What did you just say?!” Eve yanked him by the arm, her eyes blazing. “Are you telling me Hunter’s been stealing your trading strategies?”

Ryder flushed, mumbling, “Eve, not so loud…”

Eve let go of his arm, but the damage was done.

Ryder wiped his tears and forced a shaky smile. “It’s okay. I can handle this.”

The tears spilling onto Eve’s hand seemed to light a fire in her.

“That’s it!” she declared. “Hunter Sterling needs to apologize—now!”

At that, I swung open the door, her foot mid-kick. Her leg froze awkwardly in the air.

“Apologize? For what, exactly?” I crossed my arms.

Eve grabbed Lissy’s arm, pulling her aside to stare me down. “You stole Ryder’s trading strategies and kicked him out of the Sterling Estate. You’re disgusting, Hunter!”

As if on cue, venomous words spilled from both of them, condemning me without so much as a shred of proof.

I had no time for their nonsense. I pulled out my phone and called security. “There’s an unauthorized entry into my apartment. Please handle it.”

The building’s private security team arrived swiftly. Within a minute, ten guards were at my door.

Ryder’s face flushed red, then pale. Tugging on Eve’s and Lissy’s sleeves, he whispered, “This isn’t my home anymore. If Hunter wants us to leave, we should go.”

Lissy shot me a disgusted glare, and Eve clenched her teeth. “Fine. Let’s go.”

As she stormed out, Eve paused in the doorway to hiss, “Hunter Sterling, as long as I’m around, you’ll never lay a finger on Ryder!” Then she slammed the door behind her.

The apartment fell silent.

I took a deep breath and began packing. If Ryder could steal my stock strategies in my last life, he could do it again. The Sterling Estate wasn’t safe.

Maybe there were hidden cameras in my room. Maybe he had some virus planted in my laptop. Whatever the case, I needed to cut all ties.

I grabbed my suitcase and left, hailing a cab to my secret apartment downtown—a Midtown Manhattan Penthouse I’d bought with my stock earnings. Not even Lissy and Eve knew about it.

That night, I microwaved some frozen dumplings, ate in peace, and holed up in my study to analyze the market. The stock market had been on a prolonged bull run, but the data hinted at a downturn on the horizon.

After hours of comparing charts and indicators, I pinpointed a volatile stock with short-term potential. If I bought in at the right moment, I could secure at least a 30% gain.

I placed my buy order and ordered breakfast delivery.

Satisfied, I opened TikTok out of habit—and froze.

Ryder had posted a new video just an hour ago.

His smug voice filled the screen: “Buy this volatile stock at the opening dip, and you’ll see a 30% return in no time…”

I stopped listening, my fingers tightening around my phone.

The exact same stock. The exact same prediction.

Blood pooled in my mouth as I bit down on my lip, hard.

How? How did he know? This was my private apartment—there was no way he could have installed cameras here.

What was I missing?