Chapter 1

1

To secure my daughter Poppy an internship, I came out of retirement and traded my proprietary core algorithm with my best friend's firm for a three-month spot. Eager to impress, Poppy offered to help a male coworker organize files one evening.

By the next morning, rumors exploded. She was accused of seduction and wrecking a marriage. Garrett's wife slapped her in front of the entire office, weeping and threatening to jump. The team rallied around Garrett, calling Poppy a home-wrecker. I pulled her out, but that night his wife posted a carefully edited video that triggered a tidal wave of cyberbullying. Poppy just said she was tired and wanted to sleep. By the time I sensed something was wrong, she'd swallowed a lethal dose of sleeping pills and fell into a vegetative state. I suffered a catastrophic brain hemorrhage and was left paralyzed.

In the months that followed, Garrett's wife built a massive online following as the brave, faithful wife, dragging him onto reality shows and monetizing our tragedy. While my family was destroyed, I died in agony. When I opened my eyes again, my phone buzzed with a text from Poppy.

…

[I’m working late tonight to help a colleague sort some files.]

My breathing hitched. My hands shook uncontrollably.

Another message popped up instantly, accompanied by a cute sticker.

[Mom worked so hard to get me this spot. I have to prove myself and make you proud!]

My heart hammered against my ribs. I typed back at lightning speed.

[It's an emergency! Come home right now!]

This time, under no circumstances would I let Poppy be alone with Garrett again!

Minutes later, the front door unlocked.

Poppy rushed inside, panic written all over her face, not even stopping to kick off her shoes.

"What happened to Dad? Is everything okay?"

Looking at her glowing, youthful face, tears nearly spilled from my eyes.

In my past life, Poppy became a breathing corpse in a hospital bed.

Everyone knew she was brain-dead and urged us to pull the plug.

My husband and I refused to give up.

We watched our vibrant, beautiful daughter swell up, lifeless and fading.

It tore my heart into shreds.

My mother-in-law brought old photos of Poppy to my bedside, sobbing as she begged me to let ourselves and the child go.

I hesitated, paralyzed by grief.

Until someone leaked Poppy's hospital room address online.

Trolls invaded the ICU, taking crude, humiliating photos of her limp body and spreading them across social media.

The headlines screamed: Karma Hits Hard and The Fate of a Home-Wrecker.

Garrett’s wife pinned Poppy’s face to her live-stream cover to drive traffic for her online shop.

She put on a hypocritical show in her live streams, sighing heavily and telling her viewers not to be too harsh, right before pitching her products.

The chat was filled with praises for her big heart and vicious insults claiming my daughter deserved to die.

Her sales smashed new records.

I was so consumed by rage that I suffered another stroke, completely paralyzed.

Once a top-tier tech architect holding core industry patents, I was reduced to a drooling, helpless invalid.

Eventually, our family couldn't afford the medical bills for two bedridden patients.

We had to bring Poppy home to let nature take its course.

My mother-in-law died of heartbreak during the harsh winter.

My husband’s hair turned completely white as he struggled to care for me, only to be crushed by a semi-truck on his way to fetch my medication, leaving nothing behind.

By the time the police identified his remains, I had already suffered a fatal heart attack, dying alone in our cold apartment.

Recalling every nightmare of that past life made my blood run cold.

The culprits behind this tragedy weren't just Garrett and his wife.

There was also my so-called best friend.

I masked the cold fury in my eyes and took my daughter’s hands.

"Your father cooked a feast to celebrate your new job."

"That is the most important emergency right now."

In the previous life, when Poppy started her internship, David and I made a lavish dinner.

We waited with excitement, only to get her text about working late.

We knew how hard the job market was.

Even though our savings could support her comfortably for the rest of her life, she wanted her own career and wanted to make us proud.

We understood that.

To avoid burdening her, we said nothing and never forced her to come home.

We had no idea that silent understanding would lead to our total destruction.

In this life, to hell with working overtime!

Instead of being set up by snakes, we were going to sit down as a family and enjoy a proper meal.

I scooped a huge portion of fish onto Poppy’s plate.

She blinked, looking at me with a helpless smile.

"How do I explain this to my coworker tomorrow?"

"I promised to help, and now I’m at home eating a feast."

"He went through so much trouble to get me permission to enter the secure document vault. He’s going to be furious if I bail."

I raised an eyebrow and served her another piece of fish.

"He's just a colleague. Why do you owe him an explanation?"

"Everyone at the office knows you have connections. You should use that pull to set boundaries."

"It's a rare chance to put your foot down. Don't waste it and end up taking the blame for someone else's work."

Poppy blinked, biting her chopstick as she pondered my words.

I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

She had always kept her struggles to herself so we wouldn't worry.

It wasn't until everything collapsed in the past life that I realized the unbearable pressure she faced at work.

Enduring psychological abuse just to build a resume was never worth it.

I placed my hand over hers and met her eyes with absolute certainty.

"You are your parents' precious daughter. No one gets to bully you."

"Tomorrow, I’m taking you to resign. We can take our time finding a job. There's no rush."

"If you want, I’ll teach you programming step by step myself!"

Poppy froze, her expression torn, looking down in silence.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Poppy casually hit the speakerphone button.

Garrett’s anxious, sharp voice blared through the speaker.

[Why did you leave? Didn't you say you were going to help me?]

[Who taught you to handle work like this!]

[You only got this job through connections anyway! Aren't you embarrassed to embarrass your family like this!]

I snatched the phone straight out of my daughter's hand and let out a cold laugh.

"Helping you was an act of courtesy, not an invitation to walk all over her!"

"If you can’t even finish your own basic workload, no wonder Ms. Mercer keeps denying your promotion!"

"Looks like you're the one next on the layoff list!"

The line went completely dead before he abruptly hung up.

Poppy stared at me in shock, swallowing hard.

She reached out to take her phone back, but I held my hand over it firmly.

She went back to eating her dinner in silence before taking a shower.

As I was rinsing the dishes, the water running in the sink, a chime sounded.

I glanced down at the screen.

It was a text from Garrett.

[Poppy, I was just overwhelmed earlier. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you.]

[The workload is huge and I really can't handle it alone. Please come back and help me!]

[When the team has our next dinner, I'll make sure you get integrated into the group.]

[Don't tell your mom. Just slip out quietly and come over.]

I sneered.

I immediately backed up the messages to my cloud drive and blocked Garrett’s number on her phone.

I cut off his ability to harass Poppy once and for all.

The next morning, I accompanied Poppy to the office.

The moment we stepped through the glass doors of the suite, a shrill, hysterical screech erupted from the open floor.

"Where is Poppy? Where is the little slut trying to seduce my husband!"

"The Valley Firecracker isn't someone you can mess with!"

I frowned.

Tessa was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes wide and scanning the cubicles like a mad dog.

She held a phone recording in one hand while dragging a terrified female employee with the other.

The employee was trembling, and the moment she saw Poppy, she pointed frantically.

"That's her! She's Poppy!"

Tessa snapped her head toward us, charging forward with terrifying speed.

Whispers instantly broke out among the surrounding employees.

"That's what happens with nepo babies. They have zero skills, so they rely on cheap tricks to get ahead."

"The manager asked Garrett to train her, and Garrett took her everywhere last week. She probably thought he had big pull!"

"She offered to work late with him yesterday. Two people in a closed room, she probably couldn't wait to jump a married man!"

"How shameless. Here I thought she was just an innocent little rookie."

I shot a freezing glare at the two gossiping women and tightened my grip on my heavy leather handbag.

The two women instantly shrank back, shutting their mouths and looking away.

Poppy was shaking violently beside me.

She shook her head, looking at her colleagues in utter desperation.

"I didn't! That's not true!"

"I offered to help because Garrett was mentoring me recently!"

"I wanted to pull my weight and show I was working hard!"

"I had a family emergency yesterday, so I went straight home! We were never alone together!"

Her colleagues exchanged knowing, sarcastic smirks.

They stood on the sidelines, enjoying the drama and tossing fuel on the fire.

It was the exact same scene from my past life.

Except this time, I didn't burst into helpless tears while trying to explain.

I held Poppy’s trembling hand tightly, looking at her with immovable strength.

"A bunch of clueless bystanders. Talking to them is a waste of breath."

"You did nothing wrong. You don't owe them an explanation!"

"Stay calm!"

She froze, bit her lip, and gave me a firm nod.

Suddenly, Tessa lunged forward aggressively, calling Poppy a lying whore and reaching out to grab her hair.

Without a second thought, I swung my heavy leather tote with full force, smashing it straight into Tessa's phone and sending it flying across the room.

Tessa turned to me in a murderous fury, spewing a torrent of profanities.

I swung the bag a second time, slamming it directly into her mouth.

Tessa staggered back, falling onto her butt on the carpet, holding her bloody lip in absolute shock.

I swept a freezing glance across the open office.

"A company this size doesn't even have security?"

"What are we paying you useless people for!"

Dead silence descended upon the floor.

The security guards who should have been on duty were nowhere to be seen.

Garrett’s face turned pale as he rushed forward to embrace his crying wife.

"We're just small fish, how could we ever compete with people like you?"

"She has Ms. Mercer backing her! If we cross them, we'll be blacklisted from the entire industry!"

"Poppy, let me give you one last piece of advice!"

"Focus on honest work instead of using seduction to climb the corporate ladder!"

Garrett shook his head with dramatic disappointment.

Poppy was shaking with rage.

I walked straight up to Garrett with an icy face.

The moment he raised his head, I raised my palm and slapped him across the face.

"What kind of garbage are you! Take a look in the mirror!"

"You look like a bloated pig! Only a pig-obsessed woman like your wife would think you're a prize!"

Garrett’s expression darkened instantly. He scrambled to his feet, yelling that I was committing assault.

Tessa went completely insane, grabbing a heavy potted plant from a desk and smashing it onto the floor.

The office turned into pure chaos.

Security was nowhere in sight, and the coworkers stood by doing nothing.

Tessa sobbed hysterically, screaming that we were abusing our power, threatening to jump out of the eighteenth-floor window.

I walked over and pushed the window wide open for her.

"Jump!"

Tessa faltered, her hands slipping slightly from the window frame.

Seeing this, Garrett rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Honey, don't do anything crazy!"

"She's the one who destroyed our family and sent you provocative texts to rub it in!"

"Just because her mother is a big shot, are we supposed to suffer in silence?"

"Our life is ruined by her! Why should she get away with it? Let's expose her online!"

Heavy footsteps sounded from the hallway.

My best friend, Mia, walked in, her brow furrowed in deep annoyance.

"What is all this noise!"

"The CEO is coming by for an inspection shortly. Do you all want to get fired!"

The moment she spoke, the employees scrambled back to their cubicles.

Garrett held his wife, tears streaming down his face, acting as if the entire world owed them justice.

Mia turned to me, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Evelyn? What are you doing here?"

I looked at her, my smile not reaching my eyes.

"As an executive, is this how you manage your staff?"

"Garrett begged my daughter for help, and now he fabricates lies out of thin air to slander her! How do you even hire people like this!"

Mia’s eyes widened slightly. She immediately snapped at Garrett.

Garrett’s face shifted, and he pulled out his phone.

"I didn't want to ruin her completely, but your mother refuses to let it go."

"Your own mother is destroying your reputation! I've been more than generous!"

Garrett opened a text message thread.

On the screen was an explicit image of a scantily clad woman.

And the face belonged to my daughter.

"Look for yourselves!"

"She has no shame! She sent this photo directly to my phone!"

"Look closely at the sender's number!"

Gasping sounds rippled through the office.

Poppy snatched the phone, all color draining from her face.

She broke down in tears, protesting that she never took or sent such a picture.

But the phone number matched hers perfectly.

Mia let out a loud cough, signaling Garrett to put the phone away.

She shot a look at my daughter, her face filled with undisguised disgust.

"You really have no self-respect."

"He has a happy family. Why do you have to ruin it, and get exposed in public?"

"If I were you, I'd jump out that window right now!"

Poppy’s knees buckled in terror as she wept uncontrollably.

I pulled her into my arms, standing as steady as a mountain.

Garrett held his swollen cheek and spoke up again.

"The CEO asked me to mentor the new intern, so of course I tried my best. Who knew it would turn into a nightmare!"

"Ever since she started, Poppy constantly tried to be alone with me!"

"Once we got familiar, she started making physical contact!"

"Yesterday when I was drowning in work, she volunteered to help. Everyone in the office heard her!"

"I thought she was being helpful, so I put in a request for archive access."

"She knew the secure document vault didn't have security cameras inside, so she took advantage of it! She stripped completely naked right in front of me!"

"She said if I gave her a good review to ensure her full-time conversion, she'd make it worth my while! I refused, so she tried to force herself on me! Then she sent me this photo, threatening to send it to my wife!"

"I have a happy marriage! Why are you trying to ruin me!"

Garrett looked utterly broken.

I felt nauseous listening to his ridiculous lies.

I held my trembling daughter tight, holding back the urge to tear him apart with my bare hands!

Mia coughed softly again, signaling Garrett to stop talking.

Across the room, the employees pretended to work while staring intently at my daughter.

Their gazes were like sharp daggers, flaying her alive.

"Evelyn, take Poppy home for now."

"Everyone needs to calm down. Making a scene benefits no one."

"The CEO is arriving later. I'll explain the situation to her."

"Though as for your daughter's internship... I'm afraid..."

Mia put on an apologetic, helpless smile.

"I'm just worried about the firm's reputation. Even though you're old friends with Ms. Mercer, ruining the company's image leaves us no choice but to take strict disciplinary action."

I ignored Mia’s words entirely, keeping Poppy securely behind my back.

I stood tall, looking down at Garrett with icy contempt.

"The document vault holds our core proprietary assets. Access permissions require multi-tiered administrative approvals."

"If anyone enters without authorization, the system administrator receives an immediate alert."

"When we had a near-data leak previously, Ms. Mercer held multiple meetings demanding an upgrade to the security architecture, but even you, Mia, failed to solve the vulnerability."

"Yet just days before Poppy joined, a breakthrough miraculously occurred."

"Tell me, who built that system upgrade?"

"I am the top system administrator of this entire company!"

I folded my arms, letting out a cold, mocking laugh at Garrett.

"I never approved Poppy’s request to enter the document vault last night."

"So how exactly did she enter?"

"You sound so confident claiming her access was approved, without even verifying the system logs."

"The previous administrator was Mia. Do the two of you share some dirty little secret?"