Chapter 1 Rebirth
The moment consciousness returned, Emily Green smelled the strange mixture of instant coffee and printer toner.
She was alive.
Instead of feeling the excruciating pain of shattered bones, she found herself sitting in her office chair.
In front of her was the familiar computer screen, with the date in the corner showing—five years in the past.
A point in time before any of the tragedies had a chance to unfold.
At this moment, she hadn't yet been diagnosed with severe depression.
Earlier this year, she had just been promoted from sales representative to sales manager after landing a major account, believing her future looked bright. What she didn't realize was that this would mark the beginning of her nightmare—she had caught the eye of her lecherous boss, William Stone.
To keep her job, like all naive newcomers to the corporate world, she chose to endure. Stone's greasy innuendos, his inappropriate touching at business dinners—she dodged them all with forced smiles, thinking that if she just played dumb, this phase would eventually pass.
But her retreat only encouraged his escalating behavior. Eventually, he set her up to take the fall for his mistakes. Not only was she demoted from her management position, but she also lost an entire year's worth of bonuses and commissions. Overnight, she went from being the department's rising star to a marginalized employee barely surviving on base salary.
Even more devastating than this was the betrayal from her family.
When she finally gathered the courage to confide in her parents, instead of comfort, she received nothing but harsh criticism. They even shamelessly pressured her to sacrifice herself to help pay off her gambling-addicted brother's debts.
She refused, only to be met with the most vicious curses imaginable. From that moment, she sank into deep depression.
Crushed under the dual pressures from work and family, five years later, she finally broke. She jumped from the roof of her company's thirty-story building.
Emily had always thought rebirth was just a fantasy in online novels. But as the cold memory of death intertwined with the warm sensation of her living body, she finally believed that this was heaven's last mercy for a coward like her.
One death was enough to teach her everything she needed to know.
For instance, that weakness was the most useless thing in this world.
She took a deep breath, stood up, and walked directly toward the director's office at the end of the hallway.
She kicked the office door open.
William, with his protruding beer belly, was chuckling stupidly when the loud bang startled him. Seeing it was Emily, he immediately put on his boss face. "Emily? What's going on? Don't you know how to knock?"
Emily remained silent.
She walked up to him and slammed the stack of printed text messages on his greasy face.
"William Stone!" Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an icy chill. "You disgusting old pervert! At your age, still harassing young women. Open your damn eyes and see clearly—am I someone you can mess with?"
William was momentarily stunned by her fierce demeanor, but being the seasoned manipulator he was, after a brief moment of panic, his lips curled into a greasy smile. "Emily, don't be rash. Think about your family situation..."
He thought she was still that puppet whose strings could be pulled by her toxic family.
Unfortunately for him, the current Emily had cut all those strings herself.
With a sharp crack, she slammed her palm on the desk.
"I have no parents, and I certainly don't have a brother!" She enunciated each word, her eyes as resolute as if she didn't mind losing anything. "Cut the crap and approve my resignation immediately!"
William's face froze. He suddenly realized he was about to lose an employee who contributed nearly half of the department's sales! Without her, his performance metrics for the year would be completely shot!
Just as he was about to ease the tension, Emily's cold voice cut him off.
"Say one more useless word," she pointed at the window, her voice eerily calm, "and I'll jump from here right now, with a livestream running."
William's face instantly darkened. He stared intently at Emily, trying to find any hint that she might be joking.
But he failed.
On her face was nothing but a dead calm. He had no doubt that if he dared to say another word, this crazy woman would actually do it. At that point, forget his career—his entire life would be ruined!
Weighing the pros and cons took only an instant.
He turned to his computer and quickly approved Emily's resignation, though even then, he couldn't help making threats. "Fine, you win! But remember, you signed a non-compete agreement! When you can't find a job, we'll see if those hungry mouths at home don't tear you apart!"
"None of your business." Emily impatiently cut him off and turned to leave.
Watching his frustrated expression, Emily felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction surge through her. So this was how it felt to crush a villain beneath her feet—it felt damn good.
After completing the resignation procedures, Emily walked out of the building without a trace of nostalgia, amid the stares of colleagues who looked at her as if she were insane.
She splurged on a rideshare for the first time, heading straight to what was supposedly her home.
Her salary for the previous month had just been deposited—the money in her account would be her starting capital for her rebirth. She wouldn't leave a single penny for that family.
Emily pushed open the door to the rented apartment. That familiar sense of oppression hit her immediately. In the two-bedroom apartment, her parents and brother each occupied a bedroom, while she, the sole breadwinner of the family, slept in a curtained-off balcony.
Fortunately, none of them were home today, sparing her an inevitable ugly confrontation.
She went straight to her parents' room and expertly found her bank card in the hidden compartment of the bedside table. Along with the card was a thick stack of cash, clearly prepared as emergency funds to help her debt-ridden brother.
She gave a cold smile and unhesitatingly stuffed both the money and the card into her bag.
She didn't have many possessions—a 20-inch suitcase was enough to pack everything. As she dragged the suitcase out, she didn't even bother to look back.
With maximum efficiency, she found a small, old apartment in the Raintree District and rented it immediately.
After the landlord left, Emily rolled up her sleeves and began cleaning. Her hands, long accustomed to part-time work in housekeeping, made short work of the dust.
Looking at this small but entirely her own space, she felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and peace.
This was what a home should feel like.
Thankfully, she was now wide awake.
To celebrate her new life, she decided to treat herself to a good meal. She pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar number.
From the other end came a lively, energetic female voice.
"What's up?"
"Sophia, let's go out for dinner. My treat."
There was a two-second silence on the other end, followed by an incredulous shriek.
"Oh my God! Emily! Have you been possessed or something? You are actually being so generous!"