Chapter 2

Gemma, who had been furious just a second ago, had instantly switched to a bright smile as she praised Leon. "It's because you're capable that you saved our company, unlike a certain someone, who only knows how to drag everyone down…"

In an instant, a tight, suffocating feeling had risen in my chest. Just as I had been about to defend myself, a sharp pain ripped through my head, followed by a flood of memories from my previous life, making my head spin.

Instinctively, I had reached out to Gemma for support, but before I could even regain my footing, she had shoved me away and snarled, "Dalton Brown, I told you I hate it when people touch me! Get your hand off me right now!"

Caught off guard, I had slammed straight into the corner of the desk. Warm blood had trickled down my forehead, and at that moment, I was certain I had been reborn.

In my previous life, Leon had claimed he was a corporate machine. He had claimed he never needed rest, could remain on standby 24 hours a day, and had the brainpower and knowledge to handle 50 projects at the same time.

Initially, Gemma had been skeptical, but after today's Q&A session, she became a firm believer in Leon's words. She hadn't only suspended me and ordered me to hand over all my projects to Leon, but also approved tens of millions of dollars in funds for him to venture into investments.

The moment he'd received the funds, he'd immediately invested in two dying industries. When I found out, I had done everything I could to persuade Gemma to withdraw the funds. Just as she was wavering, those two dying industries suddenly sprang back to life and made the company tens of millions in profit.

Leon had been beyond smug. He had gone above and beyond and declared that he wouldn't sleep for a single minute for the next two months and would work himself to the bone for the company.

Meanwhile, the projects I had previously invested in began to crash one after another, resulting in massive losses. Gemma had been so furious that she ordered me to serve as Leon's assistant so that I could learn how to invest from him.

After I had started working under Leon, I'd realized he truly was a corporate machine. Even after going a full week without a wink of sleep, he'd remained glowing with energy, and his work efficiency had been as high as that of a machine.

On the contrary, no matter how much I rested, it was never enough—my body felt as though it were being hollowed out, and on several occasions, I had nearly dropped dead from exhaustion.

After being hospitalized a few times, I'd started to notice a pattern.

Whenever Leon had worked at a high intensity, I would feel completely drained that same day and end up with a pounding headache.

And if I forced myself to keep going without rest, he would eventually begin to show signs of fatigue as well. Consequently, he'd frequently urged me to go and rest.

Gemma had caught me resting during work hours on more than one occasion and tore into me for it. Ever since then, I dared not slack off and worked even harder.

Yet, no matter how much effort I'd put in, the projects in my hands had suffered loss after loss, while Leon could invest with his eyes closed and still make hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sensing that something was wrong, I'd confided in Gemma about my suspicions. However, after hearing me out, she called me nuts.

Then, she'd turned around and used my excessive losses as an excuse to transfer all my shares, along with my luxury car and villa, to Leon as compensation.

And as the final nail in the coffin, she even filed for divorce and kicked me out of our house.

I'd ended up homeless on the streets, and that was when the loan sharks came to me. I belatedly found out there were dozens of massive loans under my name, each worth tens of millions of dollars.

They'd chopped off my fingers and beaten me half to death, demanding I pay them back. I had no other choice but to call Gemma for help, but she and Leon had been busy celebrating the hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends they were about to receive.

In the end, I had been beaten to death in the dead of winter. Right before I lost consciousness, I had heard a cold, robotic voice. "Dalton Brown has lost all vital signs. Removing target from the exchange system…"

The agony of the steel pipes shattering my bones had still been coursing through my body, and my whole body had gone cold.

In this life, I was determined to figure out exactly how Leon had swapped everything with me! I swore I would never let history repeat itself!