Chapter 2

As Daniel stared at the surveillance video, scrubbing the timeline back and forth, his brows knitted into a knot.

"How strange. There's nobody."

My heart, which had been in my throat, eased up a little.

"Eloise." A voice crackling with static reached my ear. "It's me, the security camera! I'm the sharpest eye in the whole company. The moment you snuck in, I turned myself off. I didn't open my eyes again until you came out, so don't worry."

My nose stung with emotion.

While Daniel was still muttering to himself, I asked quietly in my mind, "Why are you all helping me? Daniel was the one who bought you, after all."

A chorus of complaints erupted all at once.

The security camera spoke first. "If I'd relied on him, I would've rotted in a warehouse ages ago! The company only started getting better because of you. And he still expects me, a single camera, to have a 360-degree view with no blind spots. He works me to death every day. What a stingy pervert!"

"I'm the real victim here!" the mouse whined sharply. "He molests me all day long and makes me look at gross stuff. I'm just a baby—my eyes are melting."

The office chair creaked, practically sobbing. "I've got it even worse—200 pounds of him squashing me every day. And sometimes he brings some woman over and they both… Ugh, it's so gross I can't even finish my sentence. Eloise, can you please wipe me off after work?"

I almost laughed out loud, but quickly held it in and hurriedly agreed, "No problem."

Talking to office items for the first time actually felt pretty nice.

"Eloise." Daniel's voice pulled me back to reality. He walked over, rubbing his hands together.

"How is the prospectus coming along? Let me take a look."

I felt a pang in my chest. The documents were all ready. But handing them over would have been like giving away everything I'd poured my heart into. Wouldn't that just let him ride my work to an IPO, then turn around and throw me in prison?

When he saw me hesitating, his expression darkened a little.

"It's been three days, and you're still not finished? The company may not have high expectations for you, but since you're drawing a high salary, you ought to actually get some real work done."

At this, I felt like I was about to blow my top.

I could've been relaxing at home over New Year's. Why the heck would I be stuck working overtime here if not to help him go public?

But instead of gratitude, he was reprimanding me.

In the past, I might have felt guilty. Now, all I felt was revulsion.

Upon noticing my face had fallen, Daniel flashed a phony smile and tried to smooth things over.

"Oh, come on, I know you have a lucky streak. Even though you always find a way out of trouble, we still need a solid plan. Double the safety net, double the peace of mind, right?"

I swallowed my anger and said, "It's done. I've already emailed you the prospectus."

He immediately turned and went to his computer, clicking print without even glancing at them.

The printer made a strange noise, and the paper that came out was covered in gibberish.

"It's my turn!" the printer crowed in my mind. "No way I'm letting him steal your hard work, Eloise!"

I pretended to frown in confusion. "Daniel, it looks like the printer's broken, and it's too late to get anyone in to fix it. How about we print the documents live at the board meeting tomorrow?"

He eyed me suspiciously but ultimately nodded. "That works too. You should head home early then. Don't let me down tomorrow."

Once he left, I immediately pulled out my phone and created a group chat.

The names on there were the very first ones marked for "streamlining" that I saw on Daniel's computer. They were all veteran employees who'd worked tirelessly alongside him since the company's founding.

I warned them that Daniel was planning to fire them once they were no longer useful.

The group chat instantly exploded.

"Eloise, all this overtime is messing with your brain. Go home and get some sleep."

"I've been working for Daniel for years—he said I'm like a brother to him. There's no way he'd stab me in the back."

"That's impossible! He promised me just the other day that he'd give me shares after the company went public."

Clearly, Daniel had been putting on an act far too well.

I didn't argue further.

But the next day, the second they entered the conference room, they all stopped dead in their tracks.