Gemma, who had been furious just a second ago, had instantly switched to a bright smile as she praised Leon. "It's because you're capable that you saved our company, unlike a certain someone, who only knows how to drag everyone down…"

In an instant, a tight, suffocating feeling had risen in my chest. Just as I had been about to defend myself, a sharp pain ripped through my head, followed by a flood of memories from my previous life, making my head spin.

Instinctively, I had reached out to Gemma for support, but before I could even regain my footing, she had shoved me away and snarled, "Dalton Brown, I told you I hate it when people touch me! Get your hand off me right now!"

Caught off guard, I had slammed straight into the corner of the desk. Warm blood had trickled down my forehead, and at that moment, I was certain I had been reborn.

In my previous life, Leon had claimed he was a corporate machine. He had claimed he never needed rest, could remain on standby 24 hours a day, and had the brainpower and knowledge to handle 50 projects at the same time.

Initially, Gemma had been skeptical, but after today's Q&A session, she became a firm believer in Leon's words. She hadn't only suspended me and ordered me to hand over all my projects to Leon, but also approved tens of millions of dollars in funds for him to venture into investments.

The moment he'd received the funds, he'd immediately invested in two dying industries. When I found out, I had done everything I could to persuade Gemma to withdraw the funds. Just as she was wavering, those two dying industries suddenly sprang back to life and made the company tens of millions in profit.

Leon had been beyond smug. He had gone above and beyond and declared that he wouldn't sleep for a single minute for the next two months and would work himself to the bone for the company.

Meanwhile, the projects I had previously invested in began to crash one after another, resulting in massive losses. Gemma had been so furious that she ordered me to serve as Leon's assistant so that I could learn how to invest from him.

After I had started working under Leon, I'd realized he truly was a corporate machine. Even after going a full week without a wink of sleep, he'd remained glowing with energy, and his work efficiency had been as high as that of a machine.

On the contrary, no matter how much I rested, it was never enough—my body felt as though it were being hollowed out, and on several occasions, I had nearly dropped dead from exhaustion.

After being hospitalized a few times, I'd started to notice a pattern.

Whenever Leon had worked at a high intensity, I would feel completely drained that same day and end up with a pounding headache.

And if I forced myself to keep going without rest, he would eventually begin to show signs of fatigue as well. Consequently, he'd frequently urged me to go and rest.

Gemma had caught me resting during work hours on more than one occasion and tore into me for it. Ever since then, I dared not slack off and worked even harder.

Yet, no matter how much effort I'd put in, the projects in my hands had suffered loss after loss, while Leon could invest with his eyes closed and still make hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sensing that something was wrong, I'd confided in Gemma about my suspicions. However, after hearing me out, she called me nuts.

Then, she'd turned around and used my excessive losses as an excuse to transfer all my shares, along with my luxury car and villa, to Leon as compensation.

And as the final nail in the coffin, she even filed for divorce and kicked me out of our house.

I'd ended up homeless on the streets, and that was when the loan sharks came to me. I belatedly found out there were dozens of massive loans under my name, each worth tens of millions of dollars.

They'd chopped off my fingers and beaten me half to death, demanding I pay them back. I had no other choice but to call Gemma for help, but she and Leon had been busy celebrating the hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends they were about to receive.

In the end, I had been beaten to death in the dead of winter. Right before I lost consciousness, I had heard a cold, robotic voice. "Dalton Brown has lost all vital signs. Removing target from the exchange system…"

The agony of the steel pipes shattering my bones had still been coursing through my body, and my whole body had gone cold.

In this life, I was determined to figure out exactly how Leon had swapped everything with me! I swore I would never let history repeat itself!

"This is bad, Ms. Hawkins!" The atmosphere in my office had still been tense and awkward when my assistant came running in, panting.

"The two projects Mr. Brown invested in have just crashed. The companies involved were sealed off a moment ago. Our losses are estimated to be over 20 million dollars at the very least!"

My heart lurched. Had Leon already bound himself to me ahead of time in this life?

Before I could dwell on that, several of the company's shareholders had already rushed in and swarmed me.

Ignoring the blood running down my face, one of them yanked me by the collar and demanded, "Back then, you were the one who promised us that these two projects would be profitable! Now that tens of millions of dollars have gone down the drain, tell us, how exactly are you going to compensate us?

"First, you pull that stunt at the tender meeting, and now you've caused us to lose this much; what exactly are you up to?! Are you trying to drive us to jump off a building?"

While I was wondering how to explain myself, another shareholder suddenly stared at his phone and gasped.

"What? The declining stocks Mr. Hart invested in yesterday have rebounded! Look at this limit up, we're probably going to make a fortune this time!

"It looks like we really should give opportunities to the younger generation after all. I have to say, you were removed from your post for good reason, Mr. Brown!"

After checking the stocks, Gemma sneered at me with utter disappointment in her eyes. "Dalton, you've been in this industry for a decade—you aren't a greenhorn anymore, yet you still managed to lose this much of the company's money!

"If Leon hadn't made a profit on his investments this time to cover for you, there's no telling how much the company would have lost!"

As soon as her words fell, Leon scratched his head, feigning embarrassment. "You flatter me, Gemma. I don't know anything about investing. I was merely lucky this time."

His humble demeanor evidently pleased Gemma. With a doting look in her eyes, she patted Leon on the shoulder before glancing sideways at me and snapping, "What are you waiting for? Leo is your benefactor. Get down on your knees and thank him right this instant!

"If it weren't for him, our company's shareholders might truly have been driven to their deaths by you. Besides, he has done such a great job that you, as his mentor, should reward him.

"Why don't you give him 5% of your shares? That way, you can make up for your mistake and ensure the company retains such talent!"

I couldn't help but sneer inwardly as my gaze landed on their intertwined hands.

Her claim about hating physical contact was nothing more than a pathetic excuse to brush me off. And all that talk about making up for my mistakes and retaining talent? It was nothing more than a ruse for Gemma to find ways to give Leon money.

Unfortunately, I had been such a fool in my previous life. I had refused to accept that she had already fallen for someone else. I'd always believed that if I just worked a little harder, I could win her back.

Little did I know that Gemma had only ever seen me as a tool. At first, I made money for her. Later on, I paved the way for Leon. Once I had been squeezed dry and of no further use, she decisively kicked me to the curb.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I nodded and agreed with her. "You're right, Ms. Hawkins. Leo has saved me twice, so I've decided to give him half of the shares under my name. "

Right after my words fell, everyone in the room turned to look at me in bewilderment.

Gemma, too, hadn't expected me to agree so readily. Her expression eased, and she immediately asked her subordinate to prepare the transfer agreement.

When I signed my name without hesitation, Leon, standing beside her, couldn't hide the glint in his eyes. Still, on the surface, he wore a flattered look and politely began to refuse.

"I was only able to achieve this because Dalton taught me well. I should be the one thanking him. How could I possibly accept his shares?"

After saying that, he went back to his desk, grabbed a jar of coffee beans, and headed to the pantry. He returned a moment later and walked up to me with a steaming cup of coffee that looked a little off.

"This coffee is made from beans my mother roasted by hand before she passed away. To me, they're the most precious thing in the world. I hope you won't look down on them, Mr. Brown. Please drink it as a token of my gratitude!"

Leon poured me a cup with a sincere expression, but alarm bells were ringing in my head.

If I remembered correctly, everything had started going wrong in my previous life right after I drank his coffee. The more times I drank the coffee he served me, the worse my luck became.

Initially, I had thought I was just unlucky or cursed. I had even gone to churches to pray for peace and protection.

Looking back on it now, that must have been when he had bound me to the exchange system.

So, his repeated attempts to bring me coffee afterward weren't out of respect—he was strengthening the exchange.

Now that the suspicion had taken root, there was no way I would drink it. "Since your mother left these beans, you should keep them for yourself. It would be a waste to give them to me."

The second I refused, tears welled up in Leon's eyes. He was on the verge of tears as he turned toward and asked weakly, "Gemma, does Mr. Brown think my coffee beans aren't good enough for him…"

As soon as Gemma heard that, she shot me a vicious glare and kicked the back of my knee. Caught off guard, my knees hit the floor with a loud thud, drawing everyone's attention in the office.

"Dalton! How could you be so ungrateful? Not only are you refusing to thank Leo, but you're even looking down on the coffee he's serving you?" she snapped.

With one hand, she grabbed the teapot beside her, and with the other, she seized me by the hair, shoving the spout into my mouth.

I choked and coughed violently, but she forced the entire pot of scalding coffee down my throat. In the end, she let go of me when there wasn't a single drop left in the pot.

"You've already been dismissed, Dalton. Leo is the general manager now. If you dare disrespect him again, don't expect me to go easy on you!"

Her voice, which used to be gentle and tender, had turned incredibly cold at that moment. My heart twisted in agony as I looked up at her, only to see her gazing with total admiration at Leon, who was looking immensely smug as he began to talk at length about his next investment plan.

Meanwhile, the shareholders who had just been cursing me out had already gathered around him, showering him with praises and sycophantic smiles.

"I have to give it to you, Mr. Hart. You're so young, yet you're already a master at investing, unlike a certain someone, who only knows how to lose money."

"Exactly! He who is a failure should leave rather than hang around the company and be an eyesore every day. We'll be counting on you from now on, Mr. Hart…"

Amid the rising chorus of people stepping on me to lift him up, I dragged myself to my feet and staggered toward the restroom.

In my previous life, Leon had only made me drink it cup by cup. This time, however, Gemma had forced an entire pot down my throat. Hence, I needed to find a way to throw it up as fast as I could.

Fortunately, there was hand soap in the restroom of the office building. I mixed a basin of soapy water and gulped it down.

Moments later, my stomach churned violently. I vomited for two full minutes, and it wasn't until acid reflux kicked in and I threw up gastric juice that I finally felt at ease.

However, right after that, everything went black. My limbs gave out, and I collapsed on the restroom floor.

…

When I came to, I was in the hospital. My friend, Shaun Guerrero, who had been watching over me by my bed, frowned the moment he saw I was awake.

"I told you Gemma's ruthless, but you refused to believe me. If I hadn't happened to come looking for you this time, you might've died in that restroom, and no one would've known."

Looking back on everything that had happened, I let out a bitter chuckle. "Sometimes, people just won't turn back until they've hit the wall."

"Enough of that. What on earth happened? You've been acting really strange these last two days…"

It turned out that a video of me singing folk songs during the Q&A session had been surreptitiously filmed and posted online. Shaun had come across it while scrolling through his social media feed and, sensing that something was wrong, came looking for me.

That was how he discovered I had passed out in the restroom.

Ever since I had devoted myself to work, Shaun was the only real friend I had left. After thinking it over, I decided to tell him a simplified version of everything that had happened.