Chapter 2

Watching Charlotte pull off her well-practiced performance, I couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

In my previous life, her innocent facade had me wrapped around her finger, making me believe she truly wanted to welcome me and teach me everything she knew.

So what happened?

I paid the ultimate price with my life.

I cut off Charlotte's performance, my voice ringing out bright and clear. "You're mistaken, Charlotte. It's exactly because we're sisters that we have to stick to the rules.

"This company is Dad's life work. If we let our personal ties mess things up and people find out, they'll say the Grant family can't separate business from personal matters, and that our management is chaotic."

As I spoke, I pulled out a document handover sheet I'd prepared in advance. "Charlotte, sign here. Once you do, I'll get to work right away."

Charlotte was caught between a rock and a hard place. She locked her gaze on me, and I caught a flicker of spite in her eyes.

If she signed, and something went wrong with the documents, she'd be on the hook as the one who handed them over.

But if she refused, all her talk about "doing what's best for the company" and "helping me grow" would turn into a joke in front of everyone.

"Fine, I'll sign it." Charlotte gritted her teeth, snatched up the pen, and signed her name in a dramatic flourish across the handover sheet.

"You'd better do your best, Evelyn. Don't let Dad down," she said, slamming the pen onto the desk and leaning in so only I could hear her.

I stared at her signature, bold and glaring on the handover sheet, a faint smile curling at my lips.

"Relax, Charlotte. I promise I won't let you down," I replied.

Charlotte clicked away in her high heels, storming out in a huff.

I sat back down and opened the black folder. Inside were the tender documents for the Southside Urban Renewal Project.

This project was the centerpiece for Grant Holdings this year, and Richard had pinned high hopes on it.

In my previous life, Charlotte had tampered with the critical data in the files she gave me, which caused Grant Holdings to submit an inflated bid and get eliminated on the spot.

This time, I booted up my computer, plugged in my USB drive, and got ready to do things my way.

No way was I going to follow Charlotte's orders and tidy up some files.

I was a hacker. I learned the ropes from a washed-up old man back when I was digging through trash in the slums.

That guy was crazy, but a total genius. He taught me how to write code, crack into systems, and rule the digital world like a god.

In my previous life, I kept my talents under wraps to fit in with the Grant family, wanting to be a model daughter.

But in the end, I got completely crushed.

This time, I would let everyone know that I, Evelyn Shaw, was not someone they could mess with.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, code flashing by on the screen.

Soon, I broke through Charlotte's firewall.

Digging through her computer, I found the original file she'd messed with and the chat logs between her and the boss at Sterling Enterprises.

Charlotte: [Relax, that idiot already got the files. The real show starts tomorrow. Once Grant Holdings is out, I'll have 30% of the Southside Project profits, like we discussed.]

As I read the chat logs on the screen, my eyes grew colder.

So it wasn't just about framing me.

Charlotte was such a fool. To get rid of me, she was willing to betray the company's interests and collude with outsiders.

Did she know that if Grant Holdings fell, her time as the Grant family's heiress would be over?

Or maybe she didn't care about Grant Holdings at all. She only cared about whether she could keep me beneath her.

If that was what she wanted, I would help her get it.

I backed up all the chat logs and original files, then planted an ultra-stealthy virus program deep inside Charlotte's computer.

The moment she opened that file in tomorrow's meeting, the virus would silently spring to life.

With everything set, I stretched lazily, putting on a show of shuffling through the paperwork on my desk.