Victoria walked past Ethan Mercer without glancing in his direction, her entourage moving in crisp formation around her.
Ethan let out a long breath of relief. Fortunately, she didn’t notice me.
Gripping his folder tightly, Ethan walked into the human resources suite for his interview.
"Good morning, interviewers," Ethan began, stepping forward with a confident smile. "I am a twenty-one-year-old junior at Oxford University, and I’m here for the position of Deputy Sales Manager."
The panel of corporate interviewers stared at his resume, their eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"Who let this profile through?" Vice President Lin demanded, frowning at the paper. "Our minimum entry requirement for management positions is a master’s degree or doctorate from an elite institution. How is an undergraduate who hasn’t even graduated sitting in this room?"
A young HR assistant quickly checked her tablet, her face turning pale. "I’m so sorry, Vice President Lin! We had a massive stack of applicant files, and his folder was mistakenly swapped with a senior applicant’s."
The interviewer turned to Ethan, waving a dismissive hand. "You may leave. This interview was a clerical error."
Ethan’s smile vanished. A clerical error?
In his previous life, the board had praised his strategic brilliance and offered him an extravagant salary on the spot! How could they dismiss him before he even spoke?
"Are you certain you want to turn me away?" Ethan argued, his expression darkening. "I possess exceptional talent. Refusing me will be a massive financial loss for the Sterling Group!"
The interviewers stared at him in sheer disbelief. Where did this delusional narcissist come from? To claim that a multi-billion-dollar enterprise would suffer a loss by turning away an ungraduated college student was utterly laughable.
Vice President Lin’s patience wore thin. "Please escort yourself out."
Ethan gritted his teeth. Before his rebirth, executives treated him with endless deference whenever he visited the corporate towers. "Think carefully! Do you really want to pass on hiring me as your Deputy Sales Manager at five hundred thousand a month?"
"If I walk out those doors today, I will never return—no matter how desperately you beg!"
The panel shook their heads in amusement. A standard sales manager made around four hundred thousand, yet this kid was demanding half a million without a degree.
Vice President Lin tapped his intercom. "Security, please remove this individual from the floor."
Two heavy-set security guards marched in, grabbed Ethan by his shoulders, and dragged him out of the building.
Standing on the sidewalk outside, Ethan straightened his collar, his heart burning with indignation. So what if they rejected me? I possess the ultimate advantage—the memories of rebirth! Turning me away will be your biggest regret!
Why was this timeline shifting away from his past life? Was Victoria Sterling pulling strings behind his back?
No, that’s impossible, Ethan reasoned. If Victoria arranged this, she would have paraded it in front of me to make me feel indebted to her.
Since the corporate route was blocked for now, he needed a faster way to cover his mother’s twenty-thousand-dollar medical bill.
"Get your lottery tickets here! Win big and change your life overnight!" a street vendor shouted nearby.
Ethan’s eyes lit up. The lottery! He distinctly remembered the winning numbers for this exact week’s multi-million-dollar jackpot draw!
Without wasting a second, Ethan rushed to the booth, slapping three hundred dollars and a slip of paper onto the counter. "Thirty tickets with these exact numbers, please!"
As the tickets printed, Ethan grinned triumphantly. In a few days, millions would drop straight into his bank account. Who needed to work for Victoria Sterling anyway?
Rose Manor
Julian woke up from an afternoon nap, feeling as though every muscle in his spine had been pulverized in a battle.
Doing five straight hours of intense marital cardio every night with an overly energetic yandere FL was taking a serious toll on his physical endurance.
Butler Chen entered the bedroom bearing a tray of nutritious soup. Seeing the visible bite mark on Julian’s lip, he gave a knowing smile. "Master Vance, you worked very hard last night."
Julian quietly drank his soup, opting for complete silence. He had transmigrated into this novel only three days ago, yet he spent every night being drained of his life force. He seriously questioned if he had ended up in a romance novel or an explicit erotica.
Over the next two days, Julian lived a pampered lifestyle of fine dining and luxury—except for Victoria’s unquenchable enthusiasm in the bedroom.
By Friday afternoon, the Vance family finally caved and wired the seven million dollars into Julian’s personal account.
[ Ding! Task completed. The stock market trend projection for the next thirty days has been delivered to your system storage. ]
Julian checked his phone calendar. Friday after market close? Getting the stock chart now means I have to wait until Monday morning to trade. What a tease.
Moments later, his phone rang with an incoming call from his mother, Elenor vance.
"I had your father transfer the seven million," Elenor snapped through gritted teeth, her voice dripping with resentment. Giving away that sum felt like pulling teeth—that money was supposed to buy a luxury sports car for her precious son, Leo
"Got it," Julian replied dryly.
"Don’t forget," Elenor warned sternly, "you are expected at the Royal Hotel on Tuesday evening for your formal engagement banquet with Miss ross!"
"Right. Got it." Julian hung up without waiting for a reply.
In the Vance family residence, Elenor glared at her phone. Julian had never been this dismissive before. She convinced herself he was merely acting out in a desperate bid to seek her attention.
Her daughter, Vance family’s eldest sister, remained silent. With Julian’s mediocre background, marrying into the wealthy Ross family was practically a jackpot.
Meanwhile, young Leo Vance smirked in the corner, a dark glint in his eyes. Miss Chen was notoriously crippled and possessed a volatile, cruel temper. Once Julian married her, his life would be a living hell.
Back at Rose Manor, Julian tossed his phone onto the velvet sofa with a light scoff.
"Engaged to Miss Ross? Whoever wants her can have her."
He wasn’t bound by traditional noble chivalry. He took the seven million dollars, and he had zero intention of showing up to any arranged marriage.
Suddenly, a glowing blue interface materialized before his eyes:
[ Ding! Emergency Task Issued: ]
* Objective: Attend the engagement banquet with Miss Ross, publicly expose Leo Vance’s fake identity as the genuine Vance heir, and reject the marriage proposal.
* Task Reward: +2 Stamina Points. (Current Stamina: 2).
* Failure Penalty: Uncontrollable hiccups for one full year.
Julian: "..."
A whole year of hiccups?! Are you insane?!
"System," Julian hissed through clenched teeth, "when you first gave me tasks, there were no failure penalties! Why is every single mission turning into a life sentence if I refuse?!"
[ Host, seeing as your only ambition is to leech off a wealthy yandere heiress for the rest of your natural life, I have no choice but to provide adequate motivation, ] the System replied in its crisp, mechanical voice.
Julian squeezed his temples. "Fine. You win."
By Monday morning, the financial markets opened.
Equipped with the system’s thirty-day stock projection, Julian invested a portion of his seven million dollars into an overlooked bio-tech stock that was scheduled to surge after a sudden FDA approval announcement later that afternoon.
By the time Victoria returned to the manor that evening, Julian’s portfolio had already doubled.
Over dinner, Victoria sat beside Julian, using her fork to feed him cuts of imported Wagyu beef. Her dark, possessive eyes remained fixed on his face.
"Julian," Victoria murmured softly, "my secretary mentioned that the Vance family has been sending out formal invitations across high society for an engagement banquet on Tuesday."
Julian swallowed the steak and glanced at her. "Yeah. My stepmother wants me to marry Miss Ross."
The temperature in the dining room instantly plummeted. Butler Chen, who was pouring wine nearby, froze mid-motion.
Victoria’s red lips curved into a cold, terrifying smile, her fingers tightening around her silver fork until the metal slightly bent. "Miss Ross? You’re getting engaged to another woman?"
"Of course not," Julian said smoothly, taking her hand and resting it against his chest. "I’m only attending to settle a few old debts with the Vance family once and for all. After Tuesday, they’ll never be able to bother us again."
Victoria stared into his eyes, searching for any trace of deceit. Seeing only absolute calm, the icy aura around her melted away into a sweet, lingering affection.
Oh ,jullian do you literally think that i am allowing you to attend engagement
"If anyone bothers you ,come at me ," Victoria whispered against his ear, her breath warm and dangerous, "tell me. I’ll make sure they disappear from the city by midnight."
[ Ohh system , how iam going to attend that engagement ]
System: "...."