Chapter 2

"Ethan, have some coffee."

"The launch is in a few minutes. You need to stay sharp."

Hearing that familiar voice sent a chill straight down my spine.

I looked up and saw Liam's fake, smiling face.

He handed me a cup of coffee with a warm grin.

"Ethan, my girlfriend and I have a little emergency tonight. Can I take a three-hour leave? I promise I'll be back right after."

"Please, man."

Liam knew I was a soft-hearted boss. He knew I’d say yes.

In my past life, I agreed without a second thought.

And that was the exact moment I stepped into his trap.

Before the launch, I had tested the code hundreds of times. There was no way a glitch of that scale could happen naturally.

The only person who could have done it was Liam—he was the only other person with access to the source code!

How did he pull it off?

Looking at my intern, a cold sweat broke out across my back.

"Sure, go ahead," I smiled, patting his shoulder.

A dark glint flashed in my eyes.

Since Liam was leaving, it was the perfect time for me to set up a little safeguard. A safeguard to protect myself.

In my past life, I gave my blood and tears to this company, only to be framed and pushed off a roof.

I wasn’t going to let them get away with it this time.

"Ethan, drink up. I brewed it myself," Liam urged, pushing the coffee cup closer to my hand.

I picked up the cup and sniffed. The bitter aroma of roasted beans filled my nose, but underneath it, I detected something off.

In my past life, on this exact day, I only had this cup of coffee and the takeout food sent by the product team.

Yet, they found heavy traces of LSD in my system.

"Woah, Liam is such a golden boy," one of the junior devs teased.

"You're lucky to have an intern like him, Ethan!"

Hearing the compliments, a smug smirk crept onto Liam’s face.

I calmly set the coffee down. "Go on, don't keep your girlfriend waiting."

"Come on, Ethan! Your favorite intern made it for you. At least take a sip!" the other devs chanted.

My face went cold as I swept my eyes over them.

Sensing the sudden shift in the room's energy, a couple of the senior devs quickly ushered Liam out of the office.

"Go, go, Liam. Ethan was nice enough to let you leave during a major launch. Don't push it."

"Ethan, make sure to drink that coffee!" Liam called out one last time before the door shut.

I didn't reply. I felt sick to my stomach.

A little while later, right before the launch.

Chloe, the Product Manager in charge of the launch, walked in carrying a lunchbox.

"We're going live tonight. If anything goes wrong, we’re relying on you, Ethan!"

She opened the box, presenting the food.

"I made this myself. Can't have our star CTO working on an empty stomach."

Looking at her sweet, caring face made me want to throw up.

In my past life, I ate her food and felt incredibly drowsy.

That drowsiness was the reason I couldn’t react in time when the system crashed.