Chapter 4

I tapped into Laurel's chat log with Dave. As my fingers flicked through page after page, my expression grew darker with every swipe.

Dave had a polite tone the whole time.

"Hello, please complete payment for the strawberries. I've shipped all ten cartons to you, and you can't just use AI to fake rotten fruit images to force a platform refund.

"You said you needed them to make desserts, so I went out of my way to pick the ripest ones for you. I already gave you every discount I could manage. This really isn't a small sum of money for me."

But Laurel acted as if she couldn't understand basic human speech. Operating under my name, she started spouting utter garbage.

From the log, I saw Dave explaining his situation over and over again. He even took the initiative to tell her that, due to medical reasons, he was unmarried and childless. However, he had spent the last few years sponsoring three students, which added to his heavy financial strain.

One of the students had just finished their SAT and got into a prestigious college, while the other two were already in college. He was carrying their entire tuition and living expenses entirely on his own.

Every line he wrote was a desperate plea for Laurel to show him mercy, but her reply made my vision go momentarily dark with rage.

"If you don't have the financial ability to sponsor students, that's your own problem. People only end up childless because they've done immoral things in life. Are you just trying to build up good karma now?

"If you want to play the saint, stop asking for money, or it won't just stop at being childless."

Dave fell into a long silence after that, before replying with a single line. "Don't push me."

I locked the screen and shoved the phone back into Laurel's hand. She was dead asleep with a faint smile hanging on her lips.

The anger I had been suppressing exploded. The strawberries averaged about 20 dollars per carton, which meant the total bill was 200 dollars.

I had sent Laurel the money, yet not only did she refuse to pay, but she also used my name to humiliate Dave relentlessly. No wonder he had been driven to his breaking point.

In the end, she dumped all the blame on me and had me killed.

The truth behind the trap Laurel had set up for me was likely uglier than I had imagined.

My expression turned cold as I lunged forward and slapped her right across her face. But to my surprise, the slap immediately woke her up.

Her eyes weren't fully open yet, and she looked utterly dazed.

"What the hell are you doing?" she snapped.

Before she could say another word, the doorbell rang.

Judging by the timeline, this was the time Dave had broken in and stabbed me to death in my past life.

Laurel went rigid all over, and all traces of sleepiness vanished from her face.

As the doorbell rang with increasing frantic urgency, she leaped off the couch and raced to the door before I could, forcing her usual soft whine into her voice.

"Coming! Coming! Stop buzzing!"

When the door opened, a man in his forties stood outside. Pure rage was written all over his face, and he clenched a fruit knife in his hands.

"You bought my strawberries and stiffed me on the bill. I think you know why I'm here, don't you?"

Colors completely drained from Laurel's face when she saw the knife in his hand. Just like in my past life, she scurried behind me and immediately shifted all the blame to me.

"Dave, it was Laurel! She was the one who wanted to make strawberry mousse glacee and refused to pay you!"

Then, she turned on and roared, "Laurel! I told you not to make things difficult for him, but you just had to use AI to fake photos of rotten fruit to force a refund from the app's customer service!

"Now that he's right here at our door, deal with your own mess and don't you dare blame me! I know absolutely nothing!"

With a sudden, violent shove, she pushed me toward Dave's knife. What she didn't realize, however, was that she was the one who should panic right now.