Chapter 2

"Ryan, you personally reviewed the Summit Tech contract. Tell me, whose signature is at the bottom of that contract, mine or Ava's?!"

Chloe's pleading, almost childish tone snapped me back to reality.

I glanced at Ava, the company's new intern, standing beside us, looking lost and overwhelmed.

It hit me then: I'd really been reborn.

In my previous life, it was at this exact moment that I stopped Ryan,

forcing him to tell the truth when the executives questioned him.

I later found out that Ava was actually the chairman's daughter.

Because of this, Ryan gained favor with the company's upper management and was promoted to Vice President that very year.

Chloe, however, was prosecuted by the company for corporate misconduct.

It was her mistake from the start. If she'd just had a better attitude, there might have been room for leniency,

but she chose to be stubborn until the very end. Eventually, due to cyberbullying and immense pressure from the company, she took her own life by cutting her wrists.

Ryan calmly handled her funeral and married me as planned.

But on the one-year anniversary of Chloe's death, he took me to her grave.

365 cuts, each one targeting the most sensitive parts of my body.

He held the dripping knife, his eyes filled with ruthless cruelty and hatred.

"If you hadn't meddled, Chloe wouldn't have died! Today is Chloe's anniversary, and your corpse is the best gift I can give her!"

I watched my own blood drain away, dying, consumed by hatred in excruciating pain.

"Eleanor, what's wrong with you? Why are you holding onto me?"

Ryan's impatient voice pulled my thoughts back.

I looked down, then snatched my hand away from Ryan as if I'd been electrocuted.

Ryan smoothed out his shirt, which I'd clutched and wrinkled, his voice laced with a threat.

"Eleanor, don't you dare meddle! Chloe's in trouble, and I can't just abandon her. Don't be petty and jealous, I'm telling you..."

"I don't care."

I cut Ryan off before he could finish.

A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes,

but Chloe's sobs didn't give him time to think any further.

He pulled Chloe along and headed for the door.

"Don't worry, Chloe. That contract was definitely signed by Ava. Come on, let's go to Legal and clear this up. I'll testify for you!"

Ava, tears welling in her eyes, rushed after them.

As she left, her helpless gaze swept over me, making my heart clench.

But I didn't have time to dwell on it.

Reborn, I had to seize control.

With that thought, I bolted towards the surveillance room.

It seemed Ryan had been prepared; the surveillance footage of Chloe signing the contract had been deleted.

Luckily, I'd learned some tech skills on my own for work.

After thirty frantic minutes, I finally managed to recover the footage and back it up to my phone.

Just as I let out a sigh of relief, the surveillance room door was violently pushed open.

"Eleanor, there's trouble in the main conference room! The new intern is threatening to jump!"

I rushed over with my colleague.

As I entered, I saw Ava, her face streaked with tears, standing by the open window, trembling and sobbing.

"That contract really wasn't signed by me! I need to see the surveillance footage! Otherwise, I'll jump!"

Everyone was at a loss for what to do,

when Chloe suddenly stepped forward. She pointed at the shaking Ava and blurted out,

"Go on, jump! If you really jump, then everyone will believe you!"

Ava's eyes were filled with despair. She looked at Ryan, her voice hoarse.

"I need to see the footage..."

"See what?! That exact segment of the footage was deleted! Ava, I bet you deleted it yourself, didn't you? Didn't think you'd be such a schemer for someone so young!"

As soon as Chloe finished speaking, she and Ryan exchanged a quick, knowing glance,

their eyes filled with a triumphant smirk that their plan was about to succeed.

Accusations from colleagues echoed in my ears.

"Young lady, you can't behave like this. If you made a mistake, admit it. What's with this suicide threat?"

"Yeah! If it wasn't you, why was that footage deleted?"

"Just admit it! Otherwise, we'll all have to share the blame for this loss!"

The crowd was quick to turn, indeed.

I was frantically trying to figure out what to do,

when a furious roar suddenly came from outside the door.

"What's all this commotion?!"