Dawn Within the Twilight

“Evan, are you even listening to me?”

Rosie Nelson grabbed my arm tightly when she saw me standing there in a daze.

The suffocating sensation of my last moments still lingered in my mind, and the pain made me come back to my senses.

I stared blankly at the familiar scene of the press conference, unable to process what was happening. Rosie’s anxious face filled my field of vision.

“Evan, everyone’s accusing us of plagiarism after the data leak. You can fix this, right?

“You’ve been on this project from start to finish. You have to come up with something!”

I did not have time to think about anything else. I yanked my arm free from her grip, shook my head, and said in a cold voice, “I was only in charge of overseeing the project timeline. I don’t know a thing about the actual research. What could I possibly do?!

“Besides, only a handful of people had access to the final data. Who leaked it and caused this mess?”

For a split second, Rosie’s eyes darted around nervously, but she quickly regained her composure. Her eyes reddened.

“Finding out who leaked the data isn’t important right now. What matters is how we’re going to handle this crisis.

“The publicity team’s been hyping this up for three years, and we’ve already signed contracts with several companies! Now, it’s all gone down the drain!”

She kept muttering under her breath. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and her forced smile was so stiff that it was almost frightening. People nearby were starting to look at us.

I watched her unravel with a cold gaze, not feeling the slightest bit of concern. Instead, I felt a rush of satisfaction.

Up on the stage, Tyler Zach stood tall and confident, speaking with ease like a rising star in the scientific world. It was a stark contrast to Rosie in the audience, whose composure was slowly slipping.

It felt like fate was playing a cruel joke.

In my previous life, Tyler had suddenly gone on stage and accused us of stealing his research during this very same conference.

This event had been critical for the Nelson Corporation and was meant to secure its next ten years of growth. No one could bear the consequences if it failed.

Everyone was panicking, and I had been the one to step up and argue with him on stage. In the end, I pulled out the original lab notes and turned the situation around.

Not only did the company avoid disaster, but we even signed several major deals as a result.

However, after the conference, Rosie looked at me with disgust and asked, “Why did you barge onstage while Tyler was giving his speech? You made such a scene, yelling like that. You completely lost your composure.”

Something felt off at that time, but a client called me away, and I did not notice the subtle, intimate look Rosie and Tyler exchanged.

By the time I was done with work, the company took me to court, accusing me of leaking core research data.

Rosie stood firmly on the opposing side, producing agreements and bank records I had never seen before, sealing my fate.

I could not believe it. I filed an appeal, but it was completely useless.

When Rosie found out, she came to see me in private. Her eyes were red as she told me something I could never forget.