The Second Chance Heiress

Start Reading

My boyfriend's ex made a mistake at work, which cost the company 0-000 million.

Her first move was to fabricate evidence to frame the new intern to take the fall for her.

I desperately held back my boyfriend, who was about to tell lies for her in court.

Don't go! A hundred million dollars is no small matter.

"The police will trace it back to you. Then it won't just be your careeryour entire life will be over!"

Under my pressure, my boyfriend told the truth about what happened.

For this, he earned the appreciation of the company executives and rose quickly through the ranks.

Meanwhile, his ex was convicted of corporate misconduct and sentenced.

Unable to cope, she took her own life by cutting her wrists.

My boyfriend calmly, almost unnervingly so, handled her funeral arrangements and proposed to me as planned.

But on the one-year anniversary of her death, he took me to her grave.

He pulled out a dagger and sliced into my body with it, one cut after another.

365 cuts in total.

Wearing a sinister grin, he looked at me, a bloody mess.

"If I had committed perjury for Sophia back then, she would still be alive."

"If you hadn't meddled, Sophia wouldn't have died!"

"Die! Bitch! Go join Sophia in her grave!"

I died, consumed with hatred.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw my boyfriend, anxious and ready to commit perjury for Sophia.

I smiledI was reborn, and it was time to get revenge.

He didn't know that the new intern was the chairman's only daughter.

And the chairman? He was a notoriously doting father...

"Ethan, you personally reviewed the Summit Tech contract."

"Tell me, whose signature is at the bottom of that contract, mine or Lily's?!"

Sophia's pleading, almost childish tone snapped me back to reality.

I glanced at Lily, the company's new intern.

She was standing beside us, looking lost and overwhelmed.

It hit me then: I'd really been reborn.

In my previous life, it was at this exact moment that I stopped Ethan, so he told the truth when the executives questioned him.

Later, I found out that Lily was the chairman's daughter.

Because of proving Lily's innocence, Ethan gained favor with the company's upper management.

He was promoted to Vice President that very year.

Sophia, however, was prosecuted by the company for corporate misconduct.

It was her mistake from the start.

If she'd just had a better attitude, there might have been room for leniency, but she had been stubborn until the very end.

Eventually, due to cyberbullying and immense pressure from the company, she took her own life by cutting her wrists.

Ethan calmly handled her funeral and married me as planned.

But on the one-year anniversary of Sophia's death, he took me to her grave.

He slashed me with a sharp knife 365 times.

365 cuts, each one targeting the most sensitive parts of my body.

After that, he held the dripping knife. His eyes filled with ruthless cruelty and hatred.

"If you hadn't meddled, Sophia wouldn't have died!"

"Today is Sophia's anniversary. Your corpse is the best gift I can give her!"

I watched my own blood drain away, consumed by hatred in excruciating pain.

"Grace, what's wrong with you? Why are you holding onto me?"

Ethan's impatient voice pulled my thoughts back.

I snatched my hand away from Ethan as if I'd been electrocuted.

Ethan smoothed out his shirt, which I'd clutched and wrinkled, his voice laced with a threat.

"Grace, don't you dare meddle! Sophia's in trouble, and I can't just abandon her."

"Don't be petty and jealous, I'm telling you..."

"I don't care." I cut Ethan off before he could finish.

A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, but Sophia's sobs didn't give him time to think any further.

He pulled Sophia along and headed for the door.

"Don't worry, Sophia. That contract was definitely signed by Lily."

"Come on, let's go to Legal and clear this up. I'll testify for you!"

Lily, tears welling in her eyes, rushed after them.

As she left, her helpless gaze swept over me, making my heart clench.

But I didn't have time to dwell on it.

In this life, I had to seize control.

With that thought, I bolted towards the main monitoring room.

It seemed Ethan had been prepared.

The surveillance footage of Sophia signing the contract had been deleted.

Luckily, I'd learned some tech skills on my own for work.

After thirty frantic minutes, I finally managed to recover the footage and back it up to my phone.

Just as I let out a sigh of relief, the surveillance room door was violently pushed open.

"Grace, there's trouble in the main conference room! The new intern is threatening to jump!"

I rushed over with my colleague.

As I entered, I saw Lily, her face streaked with tears, standing by the open window, trembling and sobbing.

"That contract really wasn't signed by me! I need to see the surveillance footage! Otherwise, I'll jump!"

Everyone was at a loss for what to do.

Sophia suddenly stepped forward. She pointed at the shaking Lily and blurted out,

"Go on, jump! If you really jump, then everyone will believe you!"

Lily's eyes filled with despair. She looked at Ethan, her voice hoarse.

"I need to see the footage..."

"See what?! That exact segment of the footage was deleted!"

"Lily, I bet you deleted it yourself, didn't you?"

"Didn't think you'd be such a schemer for someone so young!"

As soon as Sophia finished speaking, she exchanged a quick, knowing glance with Ethan.

Their eyes filled with a triumphant smirk.

Colleagues were blinded by Sophia's words. Accusations against Lily echoed in my ears.

"Young lady, you can't behave like this."

"If you made a mistake, admit it. What's with this suicide threat?"

"Yeah! If it wasn't you, why was that footage deleted?"

"Just admit it! Otherwise, we'll all have to share the blame for this loss!"

I was frantically trying to figure out what to do.

Just then, a furious roar suddenly came from outside the door.

"What's all this commotion?!"

The person who arrived was Mr. Thompson, the General Manager of the Legal Department.

Sophia immediately stepped forward and pointed at Lily.

"Mr. Thompson, this new intern messed up the contract, causing the company a 0-000 million loss!"

"Now she's making a scene, threatening to jump!"

Mr. Thompson looked at Ethan.

"Ethan, you're always in charge of contract approvals. Is what she's saying true?"

Ethan nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, it's true! The contract submitted definitely has Lily's signature!"

"Mr. Thompson, it really wasn't me! I need to see the contract! Otherwise, I'll jump right now!"

Lily sobbed as she looked at Mr. Thompson, a flicker of determination visible in her helpless eyes.

As a high-ranking executive, Mr. Thompson was skilled at reading people.

He frowned and looked at the colleague responsible for surveillance.

"Go, pull up the footage..."

Before Mr. Thompson could finish, Ethan quickly stepped forward.

"Mr. Thompson, that segment of the footage was deleted by Lily herself..."

"I didn't delete it! It wasn't me!"

Lily's emotions grew more frantic. The tension and exhaustion made her shake like a leaf.

Suddenly, her foot slipped, and she stumbled backward, tilting towards the open window!

A collective scream erupted from the crowd.

Meanwhile, I caught a gleam of delight flashed in Sophia and Ethan's eyes.

Memories of being bullied by senior employees eight years ago when I was an intern at this company flashed before my eyes.

No time for hesitation. I sprang forward and grabbed Lily's wrist.

Then, I looked at Mr. Thompson, gritting my teeth.

"I have the footage!"

I followed Mr. Thompson to his office, walking past Ethan and Sophia whose eyes filled with threats and unease.

Ethan grabbed my wrist.

"Grace, I'm telling you, don't meddle!"

I yanked my hand free.

Once in the office, I placed the surveillance footage directly in front of Mr. Thompson.

"Mr. Thompson, I just recovered this footage from the surveillance room."

"The person who originally signed that contract wasn't Lily at all, it was Sophia!"

As the footage played, Mr. Thompson's face grew paler and paler.

He slammed his fist on the table.

"Those two have some nerve!"

"Not admitting their own mistakes! And almost causing someone's death!"

"Mr. Thompson, I believe this matter must be severely punished."

"Otherwise, wouldn't it encourage such a culture of bullying interns? And that's a 0-000 million loss!"

Seizing on Mr. Thompson's rising anger, I quickly offered my two cents.

"More importantly..." I leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "that new intern's last name is Anderson..."

Mr. Thompson's hesitant gaze froze instantly after hearing my last words.

He swallowed nervously.

After a long moment, he grabbed my hand.

"Grace, you truly saved my life!"

I knew very well that without using Lily's identity as leverage, the company would be reluctant to impose severe penalties.

Just like in my previous life, the company had initially given Sophia a chance to settle.

But now, once Mr. Thompson knew Lily's identity, it meant that Ethan's career was completely over.

Watching Mr. Thompson storm out, I felt a sudden wave of relief.

This time, Ethan wouldn't be able to cause any serious trouble.

As I left the office, I bumped into Lily, her face still streaked with tears.

Seeing me, she nodded profusely in thanks.

Finally, she placed a faded, yellow hair clip in my hand.

"Grace, I'm leaving the company today."

"If you ever run into trouble, take this to the highest executive with the last name Anderson."

"He'll definitely help you!"

With that, she turned and ran off.

I sighed, carefully placing the hair clip in my pocket.

In this life, this hair clip might be the turning point of my destiny...

A cool breeze swept by, sending a shiver down my spine.

The scene of Ethan's insane revenge from my previous life suddenly flashed in my mind.

And now, my life was still entangled with Ethan's.

Thinking of that, I immediately called a car and headed towards our shared apartment.

But as soon as I stepped out of the company building, a group of security guards surrounded me.

Ethan and Sophia strode towards me, following closely behind Mr. Thompson.

Mr. Thompson, who had been so profoundly grateful to me moments ago, now looked at me with a grim expression.

"Grace, you're fired."

Mr. Thompson's voice was icy and piercing, a complete shift from just half an hour ago.

Ethan stood behind him, a victorious smirk on his face.

Sophia waved a USB drive in her hand triumphantly.

"Mr. Thompson, you might have been deceived by them," I forced myself to stay calm.

"The surveillance footage on my phone can prove everything..."

"You mean this?" Ethan pulled out my phone, tossed it dismissively to the ground, and crushed it under his foot. "It's gone now."

Sophia feigned a sigh:

"Grace, we know you're jealous of my relationship with Ethan, but resorting to forging evidence is such a dirty trick."

I understood instantlythey had not only convinced Mr. Thompson but also destroyed the proof.

This life's turn of events was even more perilous than the last.

"Security, take her to payroll to settle her final check," Mr. Thompson turned to leave.

"Wait!" I thought on my feet, "Mr. Thompson, are you sure you want to protect them and risk offending the Anderson family?"

Mr. Thompson halted, but Sophia laughed mockingly:

"Anderson? That intern? Grace, at least make up a believable story!"

Ethan backed her up:

"Mr. Thompson, Grace has been mentally unstable lately, often hallucinating nonsense."

Watching them play off each other, I suddenly grasped something. In this life, events had veered off the previous path. I needed to find Lily urgently.

After being "escorted" out by security, I rushed to the apartment to pack my things.

Ethan could return any minute, and I had to leave before he noticed.

But when I pushed open the apartment door, I froze solid.

In the living room, Ethan was lounging casually on the sofa, toying with a daggerthe very one that killed me in my previous life.

"You're back so late, darling," he said with a gentle smile, but his eyes were cold as steel.

I suppressed my fear: "How did you get home before me?"

"Mr. Thompson drove us back," Sophia emerged from the bedroom, wearing my silk pajamas, "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mentionI'm moving in here starting today."

I looked at them and suddenly laughed: "So, you're planning to reenact the drama from the previous life?"

Ethan's dagger clattered to the floor, his face turning pale: "You... what did you say?"

Sophia stared blankly: "Ethan, what does she mean?"

In that moment, I was sureEthan had been reborn too. That explained why he was even more ruthless this time, why he destroyed evidence ahead of schedule, and why he had that dagger now.

"Three hundred sixty-five cuts, each aimed at the most sensitive nerves," I slowly repeated his words from before, "Do I need to remind you what you said at Sophia's grave?"

Sophia looked at Ethan in terror: "Grave? What grave? Ethan, what is she talking about?"

Ethan sprang up, his eyes wild: "Shut up! Grace, you've been reborn too! In that case, I can't let you go!"

As he lunged at me, I grabbed a vase from the table and hurled it, then bolted for the door. But Sophia clung tightly to my leg.

"Ethan! Hurry! Don't let her escape!"

In the chaos, the old hair clip fell from my pocket. I strained to reach for it, but Ethan stomped on my wrist.

"Still hoping for rescue? Dream on!" He raised the dagger.

Just as all seemed lost, the door burst open.