I am an internationally acclaimed, top jewelry designer.

Yet, every time I come up with a new design, the rival company manages to release it first.

Our clients lost faith in me, refusing to collaborate anymore.

The rival company even publicly accused me of plagiarism, claiming they had undeniable proof.

My employees, affected by the controversy, started leaving one by one, and the company eventually went bankrupt.

I became the target of online hate. My sister was stalked and assaulted. In her despair, she took her own life.

Crushed under the weight of rumors, I too couldn't bear it anymore and chose to jump from a high-rise.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day I submitted my initial design.

It didn't matter what I did. My designs would still be stolen.

So, I gave up.

Design? I stopped caring.

Competition? I wasn't interested anymore.

To my surprise, my girlfriend and the rival company's CEO both started to panic.

——

My head throbbed as the room around me grew unbearably bright.

Voices of admiration filled the air.

"Mr. Thomas is truly a design genius! This jewelry piece is flawless. We'll definitely be the first to land this deal!"

"Mr. Thomas, you've worked so hard lately. I've already booked the celebration party. Once we close this, we'll all celebrate!"

Their excitement only made me feel cold. A wave of bitterness washed over me.

I was back on the day I submitted the jewelry design.

Our company, which I had built from scratch, had never secured a multi-million-dollar jewelry deal before.

This could be our big break. It's a chance to establish ourselves, expand, and gain recognition.

Every single employee had been with me from the start, sharing in our successes and failures.

We had spent months preparing for this deal, revising the design over a thousand times to create what I believed was the perfect jewelry piece.

In my past life, I eagerly submitted the design to the client, hoping this project would turn things around for us.

Instead, I was met with harsh reprimands.

The design I had proudly created was already in the hands of our rival company, identical in every detail.

The client immediately disqualified us and publicly accused us of plagiarism.

I became the subject of ridicule, and my employees couldn't escape the rumors and accusations that followed.

Years of hard work vanished overnight, and insults trailed me relentlessly.

"This guy's a design genius? More like a fraud. Stealing others' work. What a disgrace!"

"He's been caught now, but who knows how many other companies he's trampled to get ahead."

"I always knew there was something shady about him. Looks like a pretty boy. Who knows where he got the money to start a company? He's probably sold himself for it."

The rival company presented a barrage of evidence, sealing my fate as a plagiarist and inciting public outrage.

People began stalking me and harassing my family. My only sister was attacked, and the perpetrators went unpunished.

Unable to bear the trauma, she took her own life.

My employees, overwhelmed by the pressure, resigned one after another.

Finally, I too crumbled, jumping from the rooftop.

After my death, I saw my girlfriend growing closer to the rival company's CEO.

When I finally saw his face clearly, I was shocked.

The rival company's CEO was my former classmate, Jack Garcia. He was also my girlfriend's first love.

I remembered how, over the years, I had never guarded against my girlfriend. I'd always left the designs lying openly on the table.

Was it Olivia who had passed on our designs to Jack?

I recalled Olivia's mocking, sneering face when I was accused of plagiarism.

"Levi, you only know how to cheat and steal. Look at what a big company you destroyed with your selfishness."

I opened my mouth to argue but couldn't get a word out.

Olivia had been with me through the entire creative process, helping me revise the designs countless times.

She was the one who knew best that every line of those designs had come from me, but she refused to speak up.

Now, it seemed likely that they had been colluding all along to set me up.

Living again, I now had the chance to change the designs in advance.

This time, I wouldn't fall into the same trap twice!

Under the stunned gazes of my employees, I tore the jewelry design blueprint into pieces and deleted all the electronic versions of the design.

There was a dead silence around me.

The employees looked as if they were about to cry, but one of them bravely asked me, "Mr. Thomas, the deadline is almost here. What are we going to tell the client now that you've torn up the design?"

"We've put so much effort into this design. Why did you delete it in such a rush?"

I calmly shook my head and said, "Everyone, leave. I know what I'm doing."

Even though they were still worried, they could only leave, glancing back nervously as they walked out.

I closed the door to my office and thoroughly checked every corner to make sure there were no hidden cameras.

I double-checked my computer to ensure no one had installed any viruses.

Once I was sure everything was secure, I blocked Olivia Wilson on WhatsApp and focused entirely on recreating the jewelry design.

With my experience from the past, I easily came up with a completely new design.

It was even better and more refined than the previous one.

By the time I finished, it was already early morning.

I stretched and felt a mixture of exhaustion and excitement.

This time, I was sure no one could steal my jewelry design. I was going to wipe away the shame of my previous life!

When I got home, I found that Olivia was still waiting for me on the couch.

When she saw me return, she frowned and said, "Why are you so late? Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

I didn't say much and explained casually, "Oh, I had an issue with the design, so I had to redo it."

I watched her face carefully, but I didn't see the panic I was hoping for.

On the contrary, she seemed very calm, with a faint, almost mocking smile on her lips.

"You must be tired. Go rest," she said.

Everything was going in the opposite direction of what I expected, and a sudden unease crept into my heart.

I grabbed Olivia's hand and asked, "Are you still in contact with Jack?"

"No."

Her eyes flickered slightly when I mentioned Jack's name.

This made my unease begin to fade.

I wasn't wrong. Something was going on.

"The only person I love now is you. I don't even remember Jack anymore," she said.

"Alright, enough talking. Let's go to bed."

She turned and walked back to her bedroom, her steps a little hurried.

I watched her retreating figure, lost in thought.

The next morning, I received complaints from the client.

"Why does your design look exactly like one from another company?

"If you have to copy someone else's designs, I think we should end this collaboration. We don't want to work with a company that lacks integrity."

I was stunned and quickly denied the accusation of plagiarism.

To my surprise, the client sent over a document, and the title was exactly the same as mine.

Other than the PowerPoint template, the jewelry designs were 99% identical.

If I hadn't compared them carefully, I might have believed it was my own design.

But how could that be possible?

I had been keeping Olivia away from my phone.

There were no cameras in the office, and my computer wasn't infected by a virus.

The moment I finished the design, I sent it to the client. Even if the other company was fast, there's no way they could be faster than me, the original designer! This was too strange.

After my repeated pleas, the client reluctantly agreed to let it slide this time.

But they warned me that if there were any more plagiarism issues with future designs, they would make everything public.

I knew that this was the best possible outcome for me.

But I didn't feel relieved at all.

I felt like my fate was being controlled by an invisible hand, pushing me forward. My heart pounded, and cold sweat dripped down my back.

Who on earth had the power to bypass all the security and steal my designs?

Just then, Jack started a livestream.

Thanks to his handsome looks and the image of a young CEO, Jack quickly attracted a large audience as soon as he went live.

He smiled and calmly answered questions from the chat, charming thousands of fans.

"We're well-prepared for this collaboration. I have complete confidence, but..."

He pretended to sigh helplessly and said, "There's always this one company jealous of us, constantly copying our jewelry designs. It's like having a fly buzzing around that just won't leave.

"The client said they'd let it go this time. If it happens again, they'll make everything public.

"Which company? Well, I won't say. The guy's pretty young, went to the same school as me. Out of respect for him being my senior, I'll let this go. You know, gotta leave some room for people."

While he didn't give any specific details or mention my name, it was clear that he was talking about me.

Anyone who did a little digging would realize the "plagiarist" he was referring to was me.

My heart grew colder and colder.

Sure enough, not long after, his little fangirls got my official account trending for all the wrong reasons.

"So young and already a plagiarist? Must think Jack's easy to bully!"

"Ugh, he went to the same school as Jack? He doesn't deserve to be his senior!"

Comments like that flooded my comment section again.

Just like in my past life, my company was being attacked with insults.

But this time, the client and Jack hadn't named me directly, so there was still a glimmer of hope.

I gritted my teeth, set my computer aside, and started imagining new jewelry designs in my head.

Unlike the last design, this time, I used a completely different concept. It's something futuristic and groundbreaking.

I refused to believe he could steal what I hadn't even put on paper yet.

By the time I finished conceptualizing the design, Jack was still streaming.

Using a burner account, I typed in the chat like one of his fans, "Mr. Garcia, how's this jewelry design coming along? Does it need any adjustments?

"You must be frustrated to have your work plagiarized. I'd be so annoyed if I were you."

On screen, he squinted and laughed at my comment.

Casually, he said, "Yeah, I'll have to make some changes.

"I've already figured out the changes I'll make."

As he said that, he went ahead and revealed the design!

With a smirk, he added, "I'm showing it off. So what?

"Let that plagiarist know I'm not someone to mess with."

His bold words sent his fans into a frenzy of cheers in the comments.

But unlike the lively atmosphere of the stream, my heart clenched, and a cold chill washed over me as soon as I saw the design.

Because the design Jack revealed wasn't the one I created yesterday.

What he had just shown was the design I had only imagined in my head moments ago.

What was absolutely impossible, happened at this very moment.

I saw Jack streaming live with my own eyes, so how did he pull out this design?

To be sure, I stayed in the live stream the entire time. I can confirm that he had nothing to do with any of the design work.

Yet, the incomplete design I had in my mind suddenly appeared in his files, out of nowhere.

After thinking for a moment, I called my girlfriend.

"Come with me somewhere tomorrow."

Olivia sounded extremely impatient and said, "You've got the nerve to ask me out? Don't you realize that everyone is calling you a plagiarist? If I'm seen with you, people will humiliate me too!"

Her harsh tone didn't surprise me.

Since getting together with Olivia, I've practically put her on a pedestal, catering to her every whim and putting her needs first.

Even after a night of heavy drinking, I would get up in the middle of the night to make her some jujube soup.

Over the years, anything she wanted, I would make sure she had it by the next day.

All these things added up, and she became indifferent to me.

So in my past life, when I was ruined, she left without hesitation. Before she walked out, she took everything valuable, the final straw that broke me.

Despite her attitude, I spoke calmly, "I'm planning to visit Jack's company and observe for a bit."

Her tone shifted instantly. "Why are you going there? You just want to embarrass yourself?"

I explained, "No, I just think he's talented and want to learn from him.

"And I want you to come because you used to date him. He'll definitely give you some respect and let me in."

Maybe because I sounded humble enough, Olivia sneered and agreed.

"Fine, as long as you're not afraid of making a fool of yourself."

The next morning, I brought a gift and headed to Jack's company.

The receptionist was incredibly snobbish, giving me a disdainful look.

"You can't see my boss without an appointment."

I forced a smile and was about to say something when Olivia showed up.

The moment the receptionist saw Olivia, her attitude completely changed. She promptly escorted us to the CEO's office.

Jack was still in a meeting with his team.

He was discussing the same jewelry design he had revealed that day.

But he said nothing about substance; he just read off the slides.

Yet, everyone in the room looked at him with admiration, Olivia included.

When it came to the open discussion, no one volunteered to speak.

After hesitating for a moment, I stood up and said, "Mr. Garcia, could you explain why you chose to embed moonstones here? It doesn't seem cohesive and looks a bit out of place."

This was one of the traps I had set.

If Jack couldn't answer, maybe I could turn the tables.

But Jack didn't seem fazed by the question. Instead, he slowly smiled.

"Why should I tell you? So you can plagiarize me again?"

At this point, everyone in the room knew who I was.

Whispers started spreading around the room.

"This is the first time I've seen a plagiarist so bold, flaunting it in front of the original creator. How shameless."

Even Olivia shot me a look of frustration. "You plagiarize, then turn around and question him? He's way smarter than you."

I didn't panic, though. Calmly, I asked, "Jack, if you say this jewelry design is yours, why can't you explain the inspiration behind it?"

The room fell silent after I said that.

Jack looked at me, slowly curling his lips into a smile.

"I could tell you, but why should I reveal it to my competition?

"Here's the deal. I'll explain it, but only if you swear that if you plagiarized, you'll crawl under my legs and bark like a dog in front of everyone here."

His tone was provoking, and everyone's eyes were on me, filled with curiosity and malice.