Chapter 4

I had been kicked out of the home I’d lived in for five years.

The landlord and his son stood over me like supervisors, watching me pack everything up.

I took my clothes and a few necessities.

When I dragged two suitcases and held a cardboard box while standing by the side of the road, night had already fallen.

The city’s neon lights were flashing, but not one of them was shining for me.

I had become homeless.

I got a room at a nearby hotel and, after dumping my luggage there, threw myself hard onto the bed.

I stared at the light on the ceiling, my mind blank, while at the same time it felt like countless voices were screaming in my head.

Had I really done something wrong? If I hadn’t stepped in back then, would none of this have happened?

I don’t know how long passed before my phone rang. It was an old coworker, Leo.

He was an old hand at the company, well connected, and a pretty decent guy.

“Hey, Jason, you okay?” His voice carried a hint of sympathy.

“I’m not dead yet.” My voice was hoarse.

“Man, this whole thing got out of hand. Everyone at the company is talking about it now.” Leo sighed.

“This afternoon, Mr. Walker officially announced that Project Phoenix would be fully handed over to Tina.”

“That little girl even pretended in the meeting that even though Jason was stepping away for now,”

“she would definitely carry on Jason’s spirit and do the project well.”

“I almost threw up listening to it.”

“She must be loving this right now.” My voice turned cold.

“Loving it is an understatement!” Leo lowered his voice.

“She’s basically a saint at the company now. Everyone has to cater to her. A bunch of female coworkers are around her all day, checking on her and fussing over her.”

“Mr. Walker is treating her differently too and gave her a ton of special privileges.”

“I heard they’re even planning to hold her up as a model of brave resistance against workplace harassment. She’s definitely getting an award at the end of the year.”

“Jason, listen to me. Just swallow this,” Leo advised.

“You can’t beat her. For a guy to keep fighting a young girl over something like this, no matter who wins, your reputation is done.”

“Take one step back and the storm passes. Once things cool down, go ask Mr. Walker for help. Maybe you can still come back.”

“Swallow it?” I sat up on the bed, a fire lighting in my eyes.

“Leo, if a dog bites you, do you just swallow it, or do you kill the dog?”

There was a pause on the other end. “—What the hell are you planning to do? Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not using my fists. I’m using my brain.” I said each word slowly.

“Leo, do me a favor.”

“Tomorrow at ten in the morning, send a message in the department group saying I have the full video from that dinner.”

“Say we’re holding a clarification meeting and that Mr. Walker and all the coworkers must attend.”

“The video? You really have a video?” Leo’s voice changed.

“I do.”

“Holy shit! Jason, that’s awesome! Fine, I’m in. Damn it, I’ve long hated that little girl anyway!”

After hanging up, I took the black USB drive out of my pocket and plugged it into my laptop.

The video file opened quickly, and a clear image appeared on the screen.

The private room had a wide-angle camera, which covered almost the entire room.

I fast-forwarded to the night it happened, and the footage of Mr. Lewis forcing Tina to drink was crystal clear.

Then it showed me standing up, taking the glass, and downing three drinks.

After that, I clearly and without hesitation went back to my own seat, which was a full three people away from hers.

After that, I kept talking with the coworker next to me and never once turned my head back toward Tina.

And in the video, after I drank for her, Tina showed no fear or panic at all.

Instead, she exchanged a glance with the female coworker beside her, flashed a smug look, and then lowered her head to play on her phone.

My whole body stiffened. I could barely believe my eyes. I hit pause and rewound it to watch again.

No mistake.

That really was a smile, a smile full of contempt and triumph after everything had gone according to plan.

Seeing that, my blood almost froze.

That wasn’t the face of a victim.

That was the face of someone whose scheme had succeeded!

So from the very beginning, this was a setup!

She deliberately played weak to pull me in, then used that to make a huge scene. Her goal was to steal my Project Phoenix!

I clipped out the key parts of the video and saved the complete original file with the timestamp in another folder. The evidence was airtight, with no room to fight back.

After finishing all that, I leaned back in my chair and let out a long breath of stale air.

I sent Sarah one last message.

I knew she had blocked me, but she would see this message sooner or later.

“Sarah, tomorrow at ten in the morning, I’ll prove I’m innocent.”