Chapter 1

"Ms. Kline, look! AI really can do the job of a seasoned employee now!"

Esther Stone held her phone up so close the screen was practically in my face.

She'd been with the company less than a month. She wore a pale pink blouse, with her hair pulled into a low ponytail. Her innocent, almost childlike smile made her look completely harmless.

The moment I saw her, my blood ran cold.

It wasn't the office AC. I could still hear the wind rushing past my ears as I plunged toward the ground in my last life.

I could still see Tom Greer's face as he grabbed my wrist. He looked so cold and distant that he barely seemed like the man I knew.

"Stella, why are you so determined to ruin Esther?" he asked.

A second later, he shoved me from the 27th floor. I hit the ground before I could even scream.

And now Esther was right in front of me again, proudly showing me what she'd created with AI. Her chat with the AI was still open on the screen.

"Create a competitive bid submission based on Evercrest Group's requirements for the smart showroom project. Keep the price as low as possible and highlight our company's strengths."

The AI replied instantly, "Bid submission generated and submitted online. Estimated chance of winning: 92%."

A few coworkers immediately gathered around her.

"Wait, seriously? It can even submit the bid for you?"

"That's insane. We used to stay up all night working on bids, and now you can do the whole thing with one prompt?"

"Esther, if you win this project, you're basically guaranteed a full-time offer!"

Esther flushed at all the praise.

Then she turned to me on purpose, her voice soft and sweet. "Ms. Kline, I know people who've been doing this a long time tend to be more cautious, but things are different now.

"We can just let AI handle basic stuff like this from now on. That way, you won't have to keep staying up late. Wouldn't that be nice?"

This was exactly what had happened in my last life.

Back then, I warned Esther that the Evercrest project was covered by a confidentiality agreement. The bid requirements specifically prohibited uploading proprietary technical plans, pricing information, or client data to any third-party tool.

The bid also had to be submitted using the company's digital certificate, followed by a second authentication step on the procurement portal. There was no way AI could complete the official submission for her.

Esther said she understood, then went straight to Tom's office in tears. She told him I was trying to hold her back because I was jealous of how efficient she was.

Tom was the company's associate director and my fiancé. At the next meeting, he called me out in front of everyone.

"Stella, just because you can't keep up with the times doesn't mean you get to hold younger employees back."

In the end, Esther waited until the last minute to put the bid together herself.

She missed a required company seal on one of the qualification documents, left the tax rate off the pricing sheet, and entered the wrong legal representative's name on the authorization form.

Evercrest Group immediately disqualified the bid.

Esther cried and pinned the entire mess on me. I tried to explain, but no one believed a word I said.

To protect her, Tom pressured me to sign a statement taking responsibility for what happened, but I refused.

Later, he asked me to meet him on the roof and told me I could keep my job if I took the blame. I still wouldn't budge.

Then I died.

At the memory, I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms.

Esther was still waiting for me to react. She expected me to frown and warn her, just like I had in my last life. She was probably already preparing to turn on the tears again.

But this time, I only looked at her and smiled. "Not bad."

The office went silent for a beat.

Esther froze.

I clapped twice. "You had AI handle the entire bid and even submit it for you. That's pretty impressive, especially compared to the rest of us staying up all night working on bids.

"Since you're so confident, you can take the lead on the Evercrest project."