Chapter 2

A ripple of surprised gasps went through the office.

Esther's eyes flashed with excitement, though she still tried to sound modest. "Are you sure, Ms. Kline? You've been working on this project for three months. I only helped with a few tweaks."

I gave her a calm look. "Why not? If a younger employee can do the job, the company should give them a shot."

Just then, Tom's office door opened. He stood in the doorway with his black shirt sleeves rolled to his forearms, looking as handsome as ever.

He sounded pleased as he said, "Stella, you finally came around."

I looked at him.

I used to think he was someone I could always count on. Now, the sight of him made me sick.

Tom walked over and stood beside Esther without a second thought. "Esther's sharp and learns fast. Help her get up to speed."

Esther ducked her head, her cheeks turning pink. "Mr. Greer, I'm just worried I don't have enough experience."

Tom smiled. "Don't worry. I'm here."

He didn't look at me once.

The looks around the office said it all.

I heard someone whisper, "Mr. Greer sure seems to favor Esther."

"She's young, pretty, and knows AI. What's not to like?"

I didn't rise to it. I gathered the project files from my desk, locked them in a drawer, and sent a message to the department group chat.

"From today on, Esther is in charge of the Evercrest smart showroom project. I'll only sit in on meetings and assist when needed. All decisions, document submissions, and client communication will be handled by Esther."

A few seconds later, Tom replied, "I'm on board. The company needs to give younger employees and new ideas a chance."

Esther responded almost immediately, "Thank you for trusting me, Mr. Greer. And thank you, Ms. Kline, for giving me this opportunity. I won't let you down."

I stared at the screen, a slow smile tugging at my lips.

In my last life, I cleaned up every mess Esther made, only to die for it in the end. This time, I wanted to see just how far AI would get her without me around to clean up her messes.

That afternoon, Esther took over the small conference room where I usually worked with the project team.

We used it as our war room for putting bids together. The walls were covered with Evercrest Group's customer flow diagrams, budget breakdowns, and construction timelines.

Esther's heels clicked across the floor as she walked in. She wrinkled her nose.

"Seriously? All this paper? That's so outdated."

Then she turned to me. "Ms. Kline, can I take all this down? It looks messy, and the flowcharts AI generates are way clearer."

I glanced up. "Do whatever you want."

She froze, clearly thrown by how easily I'd agreed.

Tom came up behind us. "If Esther's in charge of the project, she should get to decide how the conference room is set up."

Then he turned to me. "Stella, don't look so unhappy about it."

I smiled. "I'm not."

Esther gave him a sweet smile. "Mr. Greer, Ms. Kline is just used to the old way of doing things. She probably needs a little time to adjust."

She spoke as if she were being thoughtful, all while ripping down the breakdown charts I'd spent two weeks putting together. The tearing paper sounded painfully loud in the conference room.