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Chapter 4

Autor: Sesame King
The title read, "Evercrest Group: Interstellar Future City, an Immersive Smart Showroom."

Below it was the tagline, "Bringing Industrial Civilization to the Edge of the Galaxy."

Mr. Langley frowned the moment he saw it. Mr. Clarkson's mouth twitched.

Tom, sitting nearby, still hadn't caught on. He even shot Esther an encouraging look.

Esther cleared her throat. "Good morning, everyone. Our concept is inspired by space travel. We're creating a futuristic showroom designed to make visitors feel like they're stepping aboard a spaceship the moment they walk in."

She grew more animated as she continued, "The first section will be called Stargate Launch, the second Galactic Factory, and the third Metaverse Lounge. We're also planning an AI avatar of Mr. Langley that will let guests interact with a younger version of him."

As soon as she finished, Mr. Langley's face darkened. He set his cup down.

"A younger version of me?"

Esther didn't pick up on his tone at all and quickly nodded. "Yes. Virtual avatars are really popular right now. The AI can use your public interviews to create a younger, more approachable, more futuristic version of you."

Mr. Langley scoffed. "I'm still alive, and you're already making a fake version of me to greet people?"

The room went dead silent.

Esther's smile froze, and she turned to Tom in a panic.

Tom immediately stepped in. "Esther was only trying to reflect the company's transformation and make the brand feel younger and more modern. She didn't mean anything else by it."

Mr. Langley didn't even look at him. "Does she even know this company? This showroom is supposed to show people how we went from one old machine tool to where we are today, not to turn it into some flashy spectacle."

Esther went pale. She immediately pushed back. "But AI showed that younger clients are more drawn to this kind of high-tech design."

Mr. Clarkson finally lost his patience. "Ms. Stone, this showroom is meant for government officials, investors, and industry partners. It's not some influencer photo spot."

Esther scrambled to the next slide, but things only got worse. Right there on the third slide was the logo of Pinnacle Group, one of Evercrest's competitors.

Mr. Clarkson's face darkened. "What is this?"

Esther started stammering, "I-I think the AI must've picked it up while searching for reference images…"

Mr. Langley slammed his hand on the table. "You're using a competitor's project to fool me?"

Tom finally looked alarmed. He leaned toward Esther and said under his breath, "Skip it."

Esther was sweating now as she rushed to the next slide. The pricing sheet appeared, and the room fell silent again.

The total came to just 2.8 million dollars.

Mr. Clarkson let out a laugh. "Ms. Stone, do you know what our maximum bid price is?"

Esther bit her lip. "AI said lower bids have a better chance of winning."

Mr. Clarkson flipped to the budget section of the bid solicitation and slid it toward her.

"Our bid ceiling is 30 million dollars. If a bid comes in more than 80% below a reasonable cost estimate, it's automatically flagged as abnormally low. And you came in at 2.8 million dollars?

"What are you planning to build us, a showroom made out of cardboard?"

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  • I Let Her Ruin It Herself   Chapter 14

    Right after that, some of Esther's classmates came forward with more dirt.Apparently, she had taken credit for her group's work more than once. She had even been caught using AI to write a paper.Her livestream completely fell apart after that. The chat was flooded with people calling her a liar.Esther screamed and abruptly ended the stream, but it was already too late. Her name trended all night as the internet made a joke out of her.The next day, Esther's university released an official statement.She was no longer eligible for graduation honors, her graduation was delayed, and the school opened an academic misconduct investigationThe company also reported her internship record to the university exactly as it was. Her chances of getting hired by any major company were basically shot.Tom had it even worse.To protect itself, Marlowe Creative turned over all the messages proving that he had taken kickbacks and leaked our pricing information.The company filed a lawsuit ag

  • I Let Her Ruin It Herself   Chapter 13

    Esther was smart. She avoided any mention of the leaked file, the bid rigging, or the security footage and focused entirely on making herself look like the victim.The comments quickly turned against me."Another case of workplace bullying.""It's always women higher up picking on younger women.""What could an intern possibly have done that was so bad?"It didn't take long for people to figure out who I was and where I worked. Strangers flooded my inbox with abuse. Some even sent funeral wreaths to the office.Others swarmed Evercrest Group's official social media account, blasting them for doing business with a company that bullied its employees.Mr. Thayer was beside himself and asked if the company should put out a statement.I shook my head. "Not yet."He looked confused.I glanced at Esther's tear-streaked face on the screen. "Her first wave of paid commenters is still rolling in."Mr. Thayer had nothing to say to that.By 8:00 pm, Esther's video was trending locally.

  • I Let Her Ruin It Herself   Chapter 12

    Not long after Tom was taken away, his parents, Frank Greer and Lisa Parker, showed up at our office.I had just gotten out of a meeting. When I stepped off the elevator, I saw Lisa sitting in the lobby in tears. Frank stood beside her, looking grim.The second Lisa saw me, she rushed over. "Stella, please help Tom! You two were about to get married. He just made a terrible mistake. You can't really be this heartless!"The front desk staff and several coworkers turned to look.Lisa suddenly dropped to her knees. "I'm begging you. If you drop the case, we'll still accept you into the family."I looked at her calmly.There was a time when I had cared desperately about winning Lisa's approval.Every holiday, I bought her gifts, made restaurant reservations, and went shopping with her. She accepted all of it, but she still told me I was too strong-willed to make a good wife.After I died in my last life, I heard her say outside the hospital morgue, "Maybe it's better this way. A wo

  • I Let Her Ruin It Herself   Chapter 11

    Tom finally lost his composure. "Mr. Thayer, this isn't what it looks like!"Mr. Thayer scoffed. "We have the security footage, the emails, and the flash drive records. How are you still trying to talk your way out of this?"Esther suddenly burst into tears. "It wasn't me! Mr. Greer told me to go with him! I didn't know anything. I was just doing what he told me!"Tom whipped around. "Esther Stone!"She flinched, but her sobs only grew louder. "Mr. Greer did everything! He said if I helped him, he'd bring me on full-time. He even said he'd marry me someday."The room went silent again.Tom looked deathly pale.Watching them turn on each other was deeply satisfying.In my last life, they had worked together to destroy me. Now they were tearing each other apart.The police arrived soon after. Tom and Mr. Portman were both taken away for questioning.Esther was also asked to cooperate with the investigation. She was crying so hard her knees nearly gave out.Before they could ta

  • I Let Her Ruin It Herself   Chapter 10

    The final pricing negotiations were held the next day. We were up against two other companies, one of them Marlowe Creative.In my last life, Marlowe Creative was the company Tom had secretly been working with.Before the negotiations started, their representative, Mr. Portman, looked very pleased with himself. When he saw me, he gave me a knowing smile."Ms. Kline, I hear things have been a little unstable over there lately."I replied evenly, "We'll see once the bids are opened."Esther was there too, sitting behind Tom. She had clearly made an extra effort with her appearance.From the look of her, Tom had given her hope again.Once the pricing negotiations began, Marlowe Creative went first. Their bid was exactly 2% below the figure in the bait file.Tom's expression changed the moment he heard the number.Esther, meanwhile, still hadn't realized anything was wrong. She even looked a little pleased. She thought Marlowe Creative had done its part by bidding high so we could

  • I Let Her Ruin It Herself   Chapter 9

    At 3:00 pm, Evercrest Group sent us formal notice that we'd been invited to the final pricing negotiations.Mr. Thayer was thrilled. He immediately announced that the Evercrest project bonus was being increased, and applause broke out across the office.Esther sat in a corner with her head down, her nails digging into the desk.Tom stood by the window on the phone, keeping his voice low. As I walked past, I caught a few words."Their bottom line changed. Stella's keeping an eye on me now. Don't make a move yet."He hung up and looked over, meeting my eyes. His expression stiffened.I walked away as if I hadn't heard a thing.By 8:00 pm, most people had gone home.I pretended to leave, but instead took the elevator to the security room.After I died in my last life, my spirit lingered for a long time. I saw Tom delete the security footage. Then he faked evidence to make it look like I'd had a breakdown and jumped to my death.So this time, I'd already given Mr. Thayer a heads-

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