Chapter 1
My younger sister, Angelina Gibbs, stole my Harbor City Power Tower design and secretly submitted it, all to craft her persona as a design genius. But the tower ended up collapsing, causing thousands of deaths.
Social media was flooded with hate, calling her evil incarnate and demanding she pay with her life for the lives she took.
But instead of facing the consequences, she went live and passed the buck to me.
She said, "My sister is the real killer. She stole my seal and submitted a design that was obviously full of flaws under my name!"
My parents wiped all the surveillance footage to cover for her, and my fiancé even paid off the higher-ups to have the official site announce me as the culprit.
Just like that, the blame was pinned on me for good. I was now the monster who killed thousands.
Not only did I get fired and dragged through the mud online, but one of the victims' furious family stabbed me thirty-nine times.
The moment I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day Angelina snuck off with my design.
*****
Staring at the time on my phone, reality crashed down on me. I'd come back to the past, and this was the day Angelina would steal my design.
In just three hours, Angelina would snatch my unfinished design and turn it in, blowing up on BuzzStream with everyone showering her with praise.
They'd build the Harbor City Power Tower based on that design, and the day it opened, it would crash down and take thousands of lives with it.
Angelina would do a livestream and dump all the blame on me.
My parents would wipe out every shred of evidence, and my fiancé would make sure I took the fall, sealing my fate.
I couldn't accept it. Ever since I left showbiz, all I wanted was to finish this design. But because Angelina wanted everyone to see her as a design genius, her stunt ended up costing me my life and thousands of others too.
The thought of all those lives lost made my heart race with fear. I hurriedly sent my unfinished design to Richard Peterson, the director of the Harbor City Power Tower.
I texted him: [Sir, this design's almost done, but there are serious problems! We can't start building yet!]
I didn't wait for a reply. I quickly changed and rushed out the door.
After the disaster, Angelina would pin it all on me, so I needed to get myself an alibi, no matter what.
I made my way to the Technical Workers Competition. It was such a niche event, no young people cared about it at all.
But the one good thing? It was aired live on the Public Broadcasting Service.
Back then, I got an invitation to this competition too, but I locked myself away, working on the design instead.
By the time I finally finished, my supervisors had already signed off on Angelina's version.
I had no one in my corner, so I could do nothing but watch as my parents sped up the whole thing just to hand Angelina the glory.
That crushing sense of helplessness never left me, not even now.
Once I got inside, I made sure to pick a spot as close to the cameras as possible.
By the time the camera turned my way, I'd already taken off the gloves I usually wore, so everyone could see my hands clearly.
Anyone who knew me would be taken aback.
It wasn't just my looks; people always felt sorry for the scars on my hands, left behind by years of experiments.
Those scars were the only thing that truly set me apart from Angelina. Once the show aired, no one could mistake me for her. It was the perfect alibi.
I'd like to see how my dear sister tried to throw me under the bus this time.