I had been the sole disciple of a renowned mentor in the industry.

In my past life, my boyfriend had spiked my drink with a heavy dose of sleeping pills.

As I fell into a deep, unbreakable sleep, he stole the code I had poured my soul into through endless, sleepless nights.

Then, he handed it over to the company’s star beauty, Belle Maximus, the “genius” programmer.

At the team meeting, my colleagues exchanged puzzled looks as they compared our identical code, uncertainty flickering in their eyes.

Belle let out a heavy sigh, her voice dripping with disdain. “It’s truly disappointing when a little girl resorts to stealing my work.”

The scandal swept through the internet, igniting a storm of outrage. Devoted fans of the so-called genius programmer began digging into my personal life. They vowed to take matters into their own hands.

I had to abandon my work, constantly on the move, to evade their relentless pursuit. Yet, despite my efforts, I couldn’t escape. Eventually, they caught up to me, mercilessly stabbing me and casting my body into the depths of a dark alley.

By some stroke of reincarnation, I found myself back two days before finishing the code.

Gazing at the milk my boyfriend offered, I let a chilling smirk play across my face.

—

I pretended to doze with my eyes closed, yet my ears were finely tuned to the noises spilling from the room nearby.

My fists tightened, joints cracking in response.

The mingled voices of men and women moaning from the next room seeped into the silence.

"Did you mix the sleeping pills into her milk?"

"Of course. She didn’t even question it, just drank it down like a naïve little lamb. By now, she’s probably out like a rock. Now, give me a kiss, baby."

"Perfect… This code she wrote… No one else in the company has her skills."

"Still, she’s nothing compared to you. She makes chump change, barely enough to keep me in cigarettes. Useless!"

My boyfriend, Ajax Augustus, was the man betraying me in the next room.

In my past life, I was hopelessly devoted to him. He didn’t work, didn’t bother with chores, and spent his days idling away on games and drinking.

Meanwhile, I worked grueling overtime for weeks, barely snatching three or four hours of sleep each night to complete my code. And yet, each morning, I’d still rise to cook and clean for him.

Despite all my efforts to be good to him, he always seemed discontent.

Little did I know, he had already been involved with Belle, the company’s famed genius programmer.

Not only did he steal my code, but he also exposed my address, setting the stage for my death at the hands of his fanatical supporters.

Now, with the gift of a second chance, I immediately replaced the code on my computer when I returned. I played along, pretending to sip the milk he’d handed me.

The code I’d poured countless sleepless hours into was now securely saved on my USB drive. I will slip into an internet cafe tomorrow to make a few final adjustments. By next Monday, it will be primed for submission.

As for Belle?

Let her flaunt her “genius” with a code full of nonsense.

I could barely contain my anticipation, picturing her falling flat in that meeting.

Three days later, the boss heard that Belle had supposedly finished the code, and he couldn’t contain his pride.

In front of the new employees, he sang her praises. “Look at her, a true genius in programming! It’s no wonder our company spent so much to bring her in. She’s brilliant!”

“And what are all of you? Just a pack of freeloaders!”

“None of you match her skills, let alone her looks!”

I hid a smirk. Go on, shower her with praise. The harder they raise her, the further she’ll fall.

During the team meeting, Belle arrived a full half-hour late. Strangely, the boss, usually quick-tempered, seemed unusually calm, lowering his head in a gesture of politeness.

Belle glanced around at our faces, a sneer tugging at the corner of her lips. "What’s the matter with you, newbies? Can't even handle basic code, and now you need me to step in?"

With deliberate slowness, she opened a file.

The moment I saw the contents, my heart sank.

How could this be?

The file she opened wasn’t the one Ajax had stolen. It was the version I had painstakingly modified at the internet cafe.

For a brief moment, everything around me seemed to whirl in confusion.

I’d thought no one had seen me make those changes, but now, the identical code glaring back at me proved she had stolen my work.

As soon as Belle ran the code, the room erupted into applause.

"Of course, she's a beautiful genius! So impressive!"

"Wow, I had no idea it could be done like this. The mind of a genius is truly something!"

The honor that should’ve been mine slipped through my fingers, now held firmly in someone else’s hands. Everyone was genuinely in awe, except for me. My heart felt as though it had shattered into pieces.

With a triumphant smile, Belle pointed directly at me. "You! I hear you also wrote this code. Show everyone, and let them decide!"

I gritted my teeth.

I had done the same in my previous life, taking out my code to challenge her.

But when one side was a beautiful genius renowned for writing brilliant codes, and the other was a nameless programmer, who would they believe?

The tide of public opinion turned against me instantly, accusations of plagiarism swirling in the air.

Now that fate had given me another chance, I couldn’t afford to gamble.

All eyes were on me, their whispers like a storm in the background.

"Her? How could a newcomer possibly be this skilled?"

"She’s just bluffing. I can’t believe Belle is even giving her the time of day. If I were her, I’d hide in a hole."

"She’s got nothing. Let’s see how she digs herself out of this one!"

A thousand daggers seemed to stab into my chest. I fought to keep my smile in place.

"No, you’re amazing."

The sneers and whispers surrounding me were impossible to ignore.

"Strong woman!"

When I finally made it home, rage simmered inside me, a fire I could hardly contain.

Ajax stepped forward, his tone unusually tender. "Baby, how did it go? I heard Belle pulled off that impossible code!"

His face was alight with pride, a gleam in his eyes.

A sharp sneer tugged at my lips. "Why, does it really concern you whether she ran it or not?"

Without giving him a chance to respond, I snorted in disbelief and stalked off to my room.

Once inside, I made sure to double-check my computer and USB drive, ensuring no malicious surprises lurked within.

I scoured every inch of my room, my computer, clothes, even the furniture and light bulbs.

There were no hidden devices, no cameras lurking in the corners.

I ran a hand through my hair, my mind racing as I tried to piece together where everything had gone wrong.

Could it truly be just a coincidence?

No. It couldn’t be.

Even if the code could be chalked up to coincidence, how could the comments be so eerily identical?

It had to be Ajax and Belle; they were behind this.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Dahlia! What do you think you're doing? How dare you speak to me like that!"

"Come out and cook! Are you trying to starve me?"

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He’d played the part of the gentle lover in front of Belle, but I knew better than to buy into it.

Ignoring his angry shouts, I made my way to the internet café.

But when I checked the surveillance footage, everything seemed normal.

I was starting to feel lost in the confusion.

I picked up the phone and called my mentor, Ambrose Zelinsky, one of the most respected figures in the industry. "Teacher, do you remember the code I asked for your help with a few days ago?"

I had discussed some of the crucial parts of the code with him. In other words, both my mentor and I had a copy of the final version.

When I mentioned the code, Ambrose chuckled, his voice full of amusement. "Of course, I remember! You nearly outdid me with this one; how could I forget?"

I hesitated before asking, "Teacher, today in the group meeting, someone presented a code identical to ours. Her name is Belle. Do you recall her?"

If the surveillance footage turned up clean, the only conclusion I could reach was that my mentor had shared the code with a friend, who, for some reason, had passed it to Belle.

But Ambrose paused, his voice steady but resolute as he rejected the idea. "Impossible! You're my pride, my most cherished disciple. I would never hand that code off to anyone."

I felt an even greater sense of confusion. Every explanation seemed to hit a wall.

Soon, there was no time left to dwell on it. The company’s performance review was fast approaching.

Every year, the company held an evaluation tied to year-end bonuses. If your score was too low, you could find yourself out the door.

A few years ago, an employee had scored zero on the evaluation, and now he ran a pancake stall across the street.

And Belle? She had been number one every year without fail.

The incident had left everyone at the company thinking I was nothing more than a pretentious failure.

I squinted my eyes, fueled by the need to prove them all wrong. The questions were challenging, and my mind worked in overdrive. I didn’t finish until the very last second.

Though I had taken my time, I was certain everything I submitted was flawless.

After all, I had spent four years learning under the legendary mentor Ambrose. He was a giant in the industry, far outshining Belle by miles.

The colleagues around me were in full-on discussion.

"This question is impossible!"

"I only managed to solve one problem."

"Same here!"

The group was deflated until they caught sight of me.

Suddenly, they perked up.

"Hey, Dahlia, how many did you get right? Bet you didn’t solve a single one!"

"You were so smug in front of Belle earlier. Now look at you!"

"Don’t tell me you're going to score a zero. Oh, god, we won’t be seeing you around much longer, right?"

I couldn’t be bothered to respond. With a dismissive glance, I turned and walked toward my workstation.

The others, disinterested in me, quickly shifted their focus and bumped into Belle. Their eyes lit up, full of admiration, and they rushed toward her. "Belle, how did the test go?"

Belle lowered her voice, giving it a moment's thought. "It was manageable, not too difficult."

She turned her gaze to me, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "Of course, for some who don’t understand a thing, it must have been tough."

Ever since I joined the company, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Belle harbored some subtle animosity toward me.

At first, she treated all the new employees to milk tea, but I was strangely left out.

I assumed it was just an oversight, but when I went to ask for mine, she lashed out in front of everyone. "Are you used to being kept by a man? Do you really want me to buy you milk tea?"

She constantly handed me a mountain of menial tasks, each more irrelevant to my field than the last.

It didn’t take long for everyone to start thinking I was just an incompetent fool in my profession.

But this time, I was ready to show them I was more than that.

I gave her a sharp look, my voice cool. "We’ll see who the fool really is; it’s far from settled."

When the evaluation results were released, I was left completely stunned.

It wasn’t the low score that shocked me; it was the fact that my answers were identical to Belle's.

I froze for a moment, my breath catching in my throat.

How could this happen?

If I had suspected before that Ajax was behind the issue with the code, now it seemed the company itself was involved. Ajax’s influence couldn’t possibly stretch this far.

It might've made sense if Belle had accessed the system after I submitted my answers. But she’d submitted hers three minutes before me.

How could this be possible?

Belle looked at me, a heavy sigh escaping her lips, tinged with disappointment.

"Well, well... I didn’t mind when you were bragging earlier, but now you're stealing others' work?"

"It’s normal for young girls to have some pride, but you went ahead and copied every single thing, didn’t you?"

"I really can’t wrap my head around how someone like you even got into this company!"

The mocking voices of my colleagues grew louder around me.

"You were bragging just a moment ago, and now look at you, slapped right in the face!"

"If I were you, I’d find a hole in the wall to crawl through!"

Their jeers rang in my ears until the manager finally arrived and looked around. "What’s all this shouting about?"

One colleague quickly pointed at me, shouting, "Manager! She copied Belle’s answers, word for word!"

The manager's glare was fierce, his eyes wide with disbelief as he puffed out his cheeks and gritted his teeth. "What’s wrong with you? Do you have no shame? How dare you plagiarize? Pack your things and leave!"

He didn’t hold back, his voice rising, "We don’t need people like you here!"

I clenched my fists, my mind swirling with shock. I couldn’t form a single word in my defense.

As I opened my mouth to respond, Belle cut in, her voice loud and sure. "Don’t fire her!"

Belle, noticing the change in the room’s mood, casually touched her nose, playing the role of the understanding colleague. “I mean, we all make mistakes. She deserves another shot, don’t you think? We should give her that chance.”

Internally, I couldn’t help but sneer.

She was probably worried that there would be no one left to copy from once I was gone.

With Belle speaking up, the manager let out a reluctant sigh, rolling his eyes at me. “Apologize to Belle now! She’s being so understanding!”

“Coming to work with that bare face, no makeup, it’s downright disgusting!”

I shot Belle a cold, piercing look. “Who’s claiming I plagiarized? I wrote my birthdate in the comments section. Does Belle need to copy that, too?”