Chapter 2

At that moment, Ryan, who was standing beside Jane, noticed me frozen in the doorway.

“Claire Hayes? Didn’t they already notify everyone about the meeting? Why are you only showing up now?”

As he spoke, he strode over, snatched the notebook out of my hands, and flipped through it casually.

The moment he saw what was written inside, his face filled with mockery.

“Don’t tell me you were lurking outside the door eavesdropping just now. What’s in this notebook is exactly the same as what Jane just reported. I’ve got to hand it to you. You write pretty fast.”

The others exchanged glances and laughed, their faces full of ridicule.

“Well, Claire Hayes, your team spent months running around in the wilderness, and now you’re copying an intern’s survey report?”

“Claire Hayes, I’m afraid that title of chief prospector won’t be yours much longer. She takes one look and knows exactly where the gold is. You spend months tossing people around, come back empty-handed, and then try to pass off someone else’s survey as your own. How are you supposed to compete with her?”

Hearing the crew mock me sent a chill straight through me.

But I knew that anything I said right now would be dismissed as an excuse, so I couldn’t be bothered explaining myself.

What mattered most was finding proof that Jane had stolen my survey results.

I didn’t believe for a second that she really had some so-called clairvoyant sight.

Next time, I wouldn’t let her get away with it.

When the next round of prospecting began, I asked the director to keep my survey area confidential and not share my whereabouts with anyone else.

The moment Jane found out I had requested confidentiality, she blocked my path with an indignant look on her face.

“Claire, what exactly is that supposed to mean?

“This time it’s just the two of us leading survey teams. If you’re asking to keep your location secret, then you’re clearly trying to guard against me.”

After hearing that, everyone else looked at me with accusing eyes too.

But I didn’t care in the slightest.

I was convinced that someone had been leaking the locations of the gold deposits I found to Jane ahead of time. Otherwise, there was no way she could keep reporting them before I did.

This time, I wasn’t letting anyone know where I was surveying. I wanted to see how she was going to get my data now.

I had already had my eye on this site before, so it took me less than a week to confirm its exact location and estimated reserves.

But when I excitedly went to report the deposit to the director, I saw her expression grow tighter and tighter, and a bad feeling rose in my chest.

Jane chose that exact moment to speak.

“Claire, I already told the director about that location yesterday. She’s already reported it.”

The director looked at me with disappointment.

“Claire, I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately because you haven’t found a mine, but you can’t take shortcuts like this.”

I had no energy to argue with her suspicion.

What I couldn’t understand was how Jane knew the location of the deposit when even my survey site had been kept secret this time.

Had she sent someone to follow me from the start?

Now that I thought about it, the last few days had felt off. I really had kept getting the feeling that someone was trailing me.

Once that thought hit me, I decided to play along.

On the next assignment, I deliberately announced that I would be surveying at Goldcrest Mountain. In reality, the person going there was my most trusted assistant.

I had her wear protective gear and disguise herself as me, then deliberately mark a fake gold deposit at the site.

As for me, I went somewhere else entirely, to the Rosha River, where a real vein was far more likely.

I wanted to see how Jane was going to get herself out of this one.

The moment she heard me openly announce my survey location, Jane sneered at me.

“Well, Claire, what happened to all the mystery this time? Weren’t you the one insisting your survey location had to be confidential? What a joke.

“I know you hate that I stole your spotlight the moment I got here, but I was born with clairvoyant sight. No matter how jealous you are, it won’t change that.”

I couldn’t be bothered responding.

All I wanted was to put my plan into motion as soon as possible, expose her for what she really was, and see if she could still act so smug after that.