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.

After hearing me out, Shaun's expression became solemn, and he asked if I had a solution.

I nodded. "Kind of. But I still need your help."

Shaun, as loyal as ever, immediately patted his chest and said, "Just say the word."

I already had a rough idea of how Leon's exchange system worked. However, just to be safe, the moment I was discharged from the hospital, I mortgaged all my assets overnight and took out a ten-million-dollar loan for investment.

I split all of my money into two portions—one portion I had Shaun invest in declining industries on my behalf, while I used the remaining portion to invest in booming industries, just as I had in my past life.

The following day, Leon somehow caught wind of the news regarding my investments. After seeing the amount I had invested, he immediately asked Gemma for tens of millions of dollars and began investing with absolute confidence.

Half a month later, just as I expected, the booming industries I had invested in crashed again, and I took another loss.

Meanwhile, the declining industries Leon had invested in failed to gain any traction, and his investment similarly went down the drain. The company's shareholders were furious and vocal in their complaints, and it took Gemma's personal intervention to quell the matter.

With the results of my experiment confirmed, I happily invited Shaun out for drinks. At last, all the pent-up frustration I had been carrying came loose that night. I went home tipsy, only to find Gemma, who hadn't been home in ages, waiting for me on the couch.

Upon noticing me return home reeking of alcohol, a look of disgust crossed her face as she interrogated me. "Why on earth did you go drinking? Thanks to you, I—"

Before she could finish, she abruptly stopped herself. The very next second, she did something utterly out of character and came over to support me.

"Never mind. Since you're in a bad mood, I won't hold it against you, but you aren't allowed to drink next time. It's bad for your health."

Gemma had practically wished I would live at the dinner table to negotiate deals for her, and she never cared about my health. Yet, she was acting completely differently that day. Her unusual attentiveness made me wary, so I played along and pretended to be drunk to see what she was really up to.

Perhaps she assumed I was truly drunk, for she let her guard down completely and headed into the kitchen to call Leon.

"Are you sure this will work, Leo? I made him drink an entire pot the last time… Fine, as long as you're sure. Don't worry, once I coax him a little, he'll be as obedient as a dog.

"There, there, dry your tears. I'm doing this for you, aren't I? Once he drinks it, you can go ahead and do whatever you want…"

I smiled wryly. So, she knew everything all along. Not only that, she was in on it.

At that moment, the last shred of hope in my heart died, and I finally came to terms with the fact that the eight years I had spent with her had been nothing but a long, absurd dream.

Gemma emerged from the kitchen with a cup of freshly brewed tea and told me it was a hangover remedy she had made for me. Then she told me to drink it and said she had specifically come back tonight to spend time with me.

I gazed at her trembling lashes while she lied through her teeth and chuckled. "In that case, why don't you take a shower first? I promise I'll drink it once you're done."

Gemma didn't suspect a thing and went straight into the bathroom. The moment I heard the sound of running water, I hastily grabbed the tea, made my way out, and poured it into the garbage pile outside the villa.

As I watched a few bold rats gather around and lick at the brown liquid, a faint sense of anticipation rose within me.

I wondered if Leon would realize that he had begun exchanging with a few rats.