Chapter 2

I clutched my face, the familiar sting bringing back memories. Mom had slapped me the same way in my previous life, except that time I'd been tied beneath a helicopter, begging her for mercy.

I pulled myself together and met her eyes. "Mrs. Stafford, the emergency shutdown order came straight from the state government. I'm just being a responsible citizen. What's wrong with that?"

Hearing me address her so formally as Mrs. Stafford, she froze for a moment.

Isabel shoved me aside. "Responsible citizen? I think you're just itching to see Stafford Corporation collapse!"

She gestured at the floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding us. "Do you have any idea what a Category 5 hurricane means? These windows won't last five minutes before they shatter!

"Everything here will be destroyed! You expect me to just stand by and watch Stafford Corporation turn into rubble? I can't do that!"

But the truth was, all of Stafford Corporation's critical data was regularly backed up to the cloud. Even if the office were destroyed, we'd only lose some renovation costs at most.

I genuinely didn't understand what she was so hysterical about.

"Don't you think you're contradicting yourself?" My voice came out cold.

"If you know the windows are going to shatter, why are you dragging everyone back here to die with you?"

I made sure to speak loudly. The coworkers around us visibly trembled at my words.

"She's right. We're on the 16th floor. If the windows break, won't we all die?"

"The state government issued warnings to evacuate. This isn't a joke."

"Mrs. Stafford, I think Eden has a point. Maybe we should just shut down for a day…"

Even Mom looked stunned by this. After all, she knew perfectly well that this was exactly how Isabel had died in the previous life.

"Shut down? Shut down what?" Isabel suddenly whirled on the coworkers who'd spoken, screaming at them.

"If the windows really shatter, we'll huddle together! With all our combined weight, there's no way the wind could blow us away!"

Before I could argue further, Dad rushed in from outside with several workers in tow.

He turned to them urgently. "Board up the windows with plywood, and weld steel pipes next to every workstation. This needs to be done tonight! Spare no expense!"

Then, he wrapped his arm around Isabel's shoulders, his eyes reddening. "Sweetheart, I won't let anything happen to you this time."

Mom understood what he was planning. She immediately spoke up, her voice sharp, "See that? Now the windows won't shatter so easily, and even if they do, you can all grab onto the pipes."

Dad fixed everyone with a stern look. "When there's a problem, you solve it. You don't run away like Eden does!

"Isabel is the future successor of Stafford Corporation. How could she possibly let anything happen to you? If anyone refuses to comply, then get out now!"

I almost laughed. A Category 5 hurricane could uproot century-old trees and flip cars like toys. The corporate building sat right on the coast where the winds hit hardest.

In my previous life, grief had blinded them to what the office looked like after the typhoon tore through it. Even the floorboards had been ripped up. These flimsy precautions wouldn't stop anything.

When I didn't respond, Isabel slowly approached me, malice gleaming in her eyes. "Call the authorities right now and withdraw your report!"

Just then, a familiar voice came from the doorway, "No need. I already took care of it for you."

I looked up to see Shane Cross, my fiance of seven years, standing there.