Chapter 2

2

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Gavin frowned, leaning against the doorframe in his tailored suit.

"We're resigning, of course, Mr. Keller."

I looked at him with cool mockery. I swept the flash drives containing years of my core work, along with the pile of fresh ashes, right onto the floor at his feet.

"Oops, clumsy me. Make sure you clean that up properly."

His expression darkened when he spotted the words "Joint Property" on the scorched paper.

Yet he still clung to his arrogant CEO persona, crossing his arms and issuing a low warning.

"Zoe, I don't know what nonsense you dug up, but if you leave this firm, do you really want to crawl back to that rundown orphanage?"

The old me might have been wounded by those words.

The reborn me simply stepped forward and slapped him across the face.

A sharp, resounding crack echoed through the empty office.

My team members clamped their hands over their mouths in utter shock.

Gavin pressed his tongue against the inside of his stinging cheek, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

When I raised my hand to strike him again, he caught my wrist in a vice grip.

"Have you lost your mind?"

I ripped my hand free with all my strength, driving a brutal punch right into his gut.

Then I waved to my team and breezed past him.

I left him doubled over, clutching his stomach and staring after me in pure disbelief.

Actions spoke louder than words. By the next morning, my entire team had vacated the premises, and I moved out of the penthouse.

Collapsing onto the bed in my new rental, my phone buzzed violently.

His name flashed on the screen like a dull blade, but it could no longer cut me.

I hit mute and watched the dawn break outside my window.

Right about now, Gavin was probably standing in an empty office floor, staring at rows of dark monitors and neatly stacked resignation letters.

I got out of bed, wore a genuine smile, and headed toward our new studio.

When the elevator doors closed behind me, the morning sun was blazing bright.

All twelve core members had migrated, leaving the old HR archives completely cleared out as if we had never existed.

The front desk receptionist later told me Gavin smashed his favorite porcelain mug in the conference room.

It reminded me of three years ago, when he withheld our project bonuses and smashed tableware the exact same way.

I scoffed. The man had zero originality, forever playing the melodramatic tyrant.

While I led my team in mapping out our new business trajectory, Gavin called incessantly.

He booked a table at a revolving rooftop restaurant, desperate to discuss a new investment proposal.

When I ignored his calls, he blew up my phone and even used his mother's health as an excuse.

When his calls interrupted my gaming session for the twentieth time, my patience snapped.

The next evening, I showed up at the upscale restaurant with messy, unwashed hair and oversized casual clothes.

I glanced around, confirmed his mother was not there, and fixed a cold stare on him.

No matter what pitch he delivered, I remained dead silent.

Gavin kept glancing at my deliberately sloppy outfit, clearly struggling to hold back his irritation.

I kept my head down, flipping through the pitch deck and occasionally tossing my unwashed hair.

The moment he finished his spiel, I rolled up the proposal, turned on my heel, and left him with nothing but my cold back.

By the next afternoon, word reached his ears that I had signed that exact investment plan with his primary competitor.

Watching the leaked video of me shaking hands with his rival's executives, Gavin's brows knit into deep furrows.

Yet in his supreme arrogance, he convinced himself this was just my desperate ploy to win back his attention.

The very next morning, I arrived at my desk to find it buried under designer gift boxes and exotic flowers.

A giant card rested on top: "A makeup gift for our anniversary. Stop throwing tantrums."

Disgust churned in my stomach. Without opening a single box, I handed the entire pile to Leo and told him to feed it to the industrial shredder.

Leo sold the shredded luxury packaging to a recycler for about twenty bucks.

After collecting the cash, Leo posted a photo on his social feed, captioning it: "Shoutout to our favorite sugar daddy! Keep the junk coming, folks!"

"Twenty bucks! Free iced lemonades for the whole office today!"

Meanwhile, back at the penthouse, Gavin rested his chin on his hands, waiting eagerly for my tearful thank-you call.

He was still reveling in the romantic surprise he had orchestrated.

When he scrolled past Leo's post, his hand jerked so hard his phone nearly flew across the room.

Rage tightened his chest until he could barely breathe.

His mother walked past and set down a cup of coffee. "Why hasn't Zoe visited lately? Is she working too hard?"

Gavin stared at his mother's graying hair with growing irritation.

The company's public listing was right around the corner, yet his core development team was gone.

He was forced to scramble, desperately patching together scraps from the old code I had left behind.

Though drowning in chaos, Gavin waved a dismissive hand. "She's just throwing a little fit. She'll come crawling back in a few days."

His mother looked at my framed photo on the console table and let out a heavy sigh.

"We owe that poor girl everything. She still doesn't know the truth. Can't you just treat her better?"

Gavin ran a hand through his hair. "I'm trying, Mom! Who knew she'd be this unreasonable?"

In stark contrast to the gloom suffocating Gavin's firm, our new studio buzzed with electrifying energy.

Sunlight poured through floor-to-ceiling windows, washing over blueprints while the espresso machine hummed.

My team gathered around the whiteboard, passionately debating our pitch for the upcoming Tech Innovation Summit.

Sitting at the head of the table, watching their vibrant enthusiasm, I could not help but smile.

Nobody mentioned the past, but a fierce fire burned in everyone's eyes.

It was the burning hunger of talented people who had been suppressed for far too long, finally seizing their chance to shine.

Just as I raised our finalized deck to begin a brief meeting, the building's PA system crackled to life.

Gavin's deep voice boomed through the speakers.

He enunciated my name with crisp arrogance, sounding as if he were bestowing some grand imperial pardon.

My team turned to look at me, their eyes filled with a mix of disbelief and mockery.

I sighed. The man would never drop his self-important theatrics, acting as though the whole world owed him an audience.

When I stepped into the ground-floor cafe, he was sitting in the corner in a bespoke three-piece suit.

The moment I sat down, Gavin slid a fresh business proposal across the table.

I casually flipped to page three.

The patent analysis on the page was a clumsy Frankenstein job, stitched together like a ragged old coat.

I closed the folder and gave him a knowing smirk. "Are you really that desperate to win me back?"

Gavin cleared his throat uncomfortably. Remembering his mother's warning, he forced a solemn look onto his face.

He reached across the table to grasp my hand, but I dodged him with practiced ease.

His hand shot forward and slammed directly into my piping-hot mug of Americano.

"Fucking hell……" He hissed in pain, quickly pulling his hand back to maintain his polished facade.

I laughed silently on the inside while keeping my expression icy.

"I truly need you, Zoe. Everything before was just a misunderstanding. You have to trust me. The bond between our families runs deeper than you can possibly imagine."

What bond? I had uncovered that sickening truth in my past life, yet here he was, still trying to use it as leverage.

I feigned shock. "I know your mother took me in from the orphanage, but what deeper connection could our families possibly have?"

Seeing my surprised look, Gavin's smug confidence returned. He genuinely believed I was still the naive girl he could manipulate at will.

"Bring your core team back to me, and I promise I will tell you everything."

I frowned, putting on a conflicted expression. "Tomorrow is the Tech Summit. My team doesn't really trust you right now. If you can deliver an impressive presentation tomorrow……"

Gavin's wounded pride flared up immediately. He took my words as an insult to his capabilities.

"Then bring every single one of them. Come watch me deliver a flawless showcase."

I raised an eyebrow, stood up, and tossed back a cool parting shot. "We'll be waiting."