Chapter 1

"We're screwed. The tracking system just crashed. There's no getting back that 200 billion dollars now."

"Chester Gardner, this is all on you for insisting on showing off that trash program of yours!"

"Yeah, we're going to get fired by the bank now!"

When the familiar voices hit me, I realized I had been reborn.

Three minutes ago, hackers stole the bank's encryption keys and hacked straight through the firewall.

If we moved fast enough, my colleagues' solid skills could still turn things around. Yet, Chester insisted on showing off the tracking program he built himself.

To make it worse, Nancy Cost backed him up and even told us to give the newcomer a chance.

"Nancy, what should I do now? Is the bank going to make me pay for this?"

Chester was so panicked that he looked like he might cry. He was even stumbling on his words.

Nancy comforted him gently, "They won't do that. I'll find a way to fix this. Even if it goes wrong, you won't be blamed."

She then shot me a cold glare. "Spencer Quill, why aren't you coming up with a recovery plan yet? Do you want everyone to go to prison because of your mistake?"

It was the same in my past life. Nancy was the first to throw the blame on me.

I was also worried that Chester's mistake might drag down the rest of the team, so I stayed up all night to fix things and recover the money.

In the end, Nancy held a grudge against me and got me thrown into prison.

I wasn't going to do that this time.

"It wasn't me who used the self-made tracking program. The mistake had nothing to do with me."

Tears slid down Chester's face, his voice choked with sobs. "Mr. Quill, you said you'd have our backs if anything went wrong. Now that something's happened, you're backing out?"

I snorted out loud and replied coldly, "I did say that, but that was two years ago. Besides, I was talking about work. Clearly, this goes beyond what I'd promise to take responsibility for."

Nancy couldn't stand anyone treating Chester harshly. Her eyes flared with anger as she snapped, "If the bank hands down a penalty, do you really think you'll get off scot-free? Get to work. Use your skills to track and recover the money.

She'd already issued me the order, leaving me no room to argue.

The other colleagues all looked at me pleadingly, trying to butter me up. For now, I was the only one capable of recovering the money.

I sat down calmly but didn't touch my computer. Instead, I wrote a resignation letter and handed it to Nancy.

"Sorry. I can't track it. Besides, I'm resigning."

Seeing how serious I sounded, Chester panicked instantly.

"You're an ungrateful traitor! Our team always treated you well, but you're abandoning us at this hour! As the team leader, you should be responsible for overseeing us. This loss should fall on you. You may leave, but not before you recover the money or sign a liability agreement!"

Thinking about the 200 billion dollars lost, the other colleagues shifted the blame onto me, just like him.

"Yes, you're the team leader, so this is on you! It's all your fault, so you should bear full responsibility for the loss."

I had built the IT team from scratch. But before the loss was confirmed, they had already followed Chester, pinning the blame on me.

It was honestly disappointing.

I flashed a smile.