Chapter 3

Meeting Trent’s furious, burning eyes, I slowly curled my lips into a smirk.

"Why are you so worked up over me taking a break?"

The other coworkers exchanged glances, their thirst for office gossip visibly sparking.

"Yeah, Trent," Leo chimed in. "Luke isn't even stressed about it. Why are you freaking out?"

"Seriously. Anyone watching would think you were the one losing business."

Their remarks acted like a bucket of ice water, snapping Trent out of his panic.

The fury melted off his face, replaced by a strained mask of deep concern.

"I... I'm just looking out for Luke!"

He raised his voice, desperate to sound sincere.

"Didn't you say you were only a few deals away from your down payment? Leads for The Grand South Residences are so rare! Stepping back now means losing a ton of cash! I just hate seeing you miss out!"

He looked on the verge of tears, delivering an Oscar-worthy performance.

I chuckled.

"I'm just tired. I need some rest."

I picked up a lobster tail and peeled it leisurely.

"Besides," I paused, looking straight into his eyes with an innocent smile, "didn't you just hit the jackpot? Hundreds of thousands of dollars. If I end up short on my down payment... you wouldn't mind lending me a bit, right?"

The air froze again.

All eyes instantly locked onto Trent.

Every drop of color drained from his face. His lips trembled, but not a single sound came out.

I chewed the lobster meat slowly and added with an easy tone:

"Our generous Trent definitely wouldn't say no, right?"

Cornered under the scrutiny of the entire team, he had no choice. Through clenched teeth, he squeezed out a few words.

"O-Of course I wouldn't."

Terrified that I might actually ask for cash, he quickly tacked on, "Though... it wasn't really that much. Just... some pocket change."

I glanced at the designer Celine shirt he was wearing, the limited-edition Swiss watch on his wrist, and the banquet spread in front of us that could feed an average person for six months.

He was right.

My $500,000 wasn't going to last long at the rate he was blowing through it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Before leaving, I told the waiter to box up the untouched king crab and lobster.

A couple of coworkers muttered behind my back.

"God, packing up leftovers from someone else's treat? How tacky."

"Seriously, acting like he's never seen food before. So embarrassing."

I heard them, but I didn't care. I simply beamed at Trent.

"Trent, thanks for spending so much. It'd be a waste to leave all this great food behind. You don't mind if I take it home, do you?"

Trent’s face looked like a bruised palette of colors.

In front of the crowd, he could only grit his teeth and nod.

"No... not at all."

Back at the office, I casually slid the takeout boxes into the communal fridge, completely ignoring the judgmental stares.

That afternoon, I knocked on the payroll office door.

"Rachel, I need to request an advance on half of my monthly pay."

Rachel looked up from her desk. "Company policy requires the manager's sign-off, and all payouts happen at the end of the month via direct deposit."

I handed her a signed form I had prepared earlier.

"Sarah already approved it."

"And I don't want a bank transfer."

"I want cash."

If my bank account was being magically siphoned off, cash was the only safe bet.

An hour later, I was back at my desk, clutching a thick envelope of bills.

It held fifteen thousand dollars—my base pay for this month plus a chunk of last month’s commission.

I tucked the envelope into the deepest inner pocket of my backpack and zipped it tight.

In my previous life, losing that half a million was the start of my descent into hell.

In this life, I would rebuild everything starting with this fifteen grand.

Yet before my seat was even warm—not even five minutes later—

My right eyelid began to twitch wildly without warning.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Each pulse was harder than the last.

A crushing wave of dread gripped my heart!

I frantically unzipped my backpack and reached into the inner compartment—

Empty!

The envelope was still there, but the thick stack of hundred-dollar bills was gone!

My blood ran cold, and the hairs on my arms stood on end.

I never expected Trent’s method of siphoning my funds to have zero limits!

Was he trying to cut off every single path of survival for me?

I looked over at Trent across the room. A sly, triumphant smirk flitted across his face.

I squeezed my fists tight. Good thing I had already figured out how to checkmate him!