Chapter 5

This was the first company I joined after graduating from MIT.

I built my career here step by step. Why would I want it to burn?

But in my past life, before I could even explain, they dragged me to the roof and pushed me off.

I never got the chance to clear my name.

"I should have shown this video to HR weeks ago and had you fired," Chloe cried out, though her eyes flashed with excitement.

"I thought you were just venting."

"Do you know how many lives you're ruining?!"

"Do you know how many people won't be able to pay their mortgages because of you?!"

She played the victim perfectly, but her eyes betrayed her thrill.

The devs surrounded my desk.

Looking at their aggressive postures, it was clear that if I didn't boot up my PC and fix the code, they were going to get physical.

Losing a million dollars a second meant hundreds of millions were already gone.

Forget their launch bonuses—their jobs were gone.

"What are you waiting for?! Turn the computer on!" one dev screamed, his eyes bloodshot.

"Ethan, I thought you were a mentor. You're a monster! You don't deserve to live!"

They were shaking with rage.

Chloe added fuel to the fire. "You've caused historic financial damage. You're going to prison for life. If you want to reduce your sentence, you better fix it now!"

I smiled slowly. "If you guys want it fixed so badly, why are you crowded around my desk?"

"Does this company stop spinning without me?"

Their faces froze.

They realized none of them actually knew how to fix the core code without me.