Chapter 1

The dorm buzzed with excitement as Amber Gardner flaunted a glossy job offer from some foreign company, her voice brimming with pride. "Check this out! Three days on, four days off, and a cool $50,000 to start!"

Jessica Snow swooned. "Are you kidding? That's better than college life."

"No kidding," Amber said, tossing her hair. "It's a top-tier international firm. The offer said that the company values human care and organizes two outings each month. You can go wherever you want."

Her pitch was so vivid that Jessica and Ruby Richards were eating it up.

Amber spun toward me, lounging on her bed with a smirk. "Sabine, what do you think? Pretty sweet deal, right?"

In my past life, I'd pored over that offer letter like a detective.

The company was based in a lawless corner of Stormisfen, crawling with crime. Even millionaires with armed escorts weren't safe.

I'd pulled up gruesome stories of kidnappings and worse to dissuade her, but she was a mess academically.

She'd lucked into our university with a fluke admission but floundered from day one. She cozied up to me early, playing the friendly roommate card. I fell for it, helping her scrape through four years of assignments to graduate.

But when the job season hit, her shaky skills left her empty-handed, except for that sketchy offer.

After I talked her out of it, she was jobless and desperate. So, I asked my dad to get her a job at his company.

He offered her a cushy internship: $6,000 a month and eight-hour days, better than most fresh graduates could hope for.

I thought I'd gone above and beyond, but she turned up her nose, griping that it was grueling work for peanuts.

Then she spun a vicious lie, livestreaming to the world that my dad tried to coerce her into an inappropriate relationship. When she bore with it, he went further and demanded she bear him a son.

The lie spread like wildfire.

My dad, Logan Forbes, was a respected entrepreneur. He and my mom had a picture-perfect marriage, and I was their only child.

After my mom passed away, people would occasionally bring her up in public, and internet influencers jumped on the chance to portray him as the devoted husband and father.

Amber's claims flipped the narrative. Trolls, rival companies, and tabloids tore him apart, calling him a two-faced creep who preyed on young women.

Boycotts tanked our sales, partners ditched us, and our stock plummeted. The debt crushed Logan, and to spare me the burden, he climbed to the top of the office building and jumped.

Amber, meanwhile, milked her "whistleblower" act to become an influencer. She raked in millions, buying a mansion and a luxury car within months.

God gave me a second chance. I'd been kind, and she'd ruined us. This time, I'd let her chase her "dream job" and face the consequences.

Swallowing my fury, I forced a neutral tone. "Sounds like a lot to process. I'm off to the library to hit the books."

I grabbed my backpack and bolted.

Behind me, Amber's voice turned venomous. "Well, look at Miss Grad School, acting like she's above us. She'll just be another wage slave."

Ruby piled on. "Total nerd. Aces tests but flops in life. If she's too cool for us, we don't need her."