Semua Bab Wealth, Cheating, and Prison: Bab 1 - Bab 10

My father was lying on an extra bed in the corridor of the emergency room, his face ashen pale.The doctor handed me the surgical consent form, the tip of his pen tapping on the number."Nina, more than 90 % of your father's aorta is blocked. Imported covered stents has better biocompatibility than domestic ones, but at least two would be required. Emergency treatment, surgery, and postoperative care will cost over 60 thousand dollars. You needed to prepay 10 thousand dollars first."10 thousand dollars, for me—a chief architectural designer with an annual salary of 600 thousand dollars—had been no more than the price of a luxury brand bag.I took out my bank card and handed it to the nurse."Beep—insufficient balance."The nurse frowned. "Ma'am, you’ve only got 60 dollars in this card."I froze and dialed Cameron's number."Cameron." My voice trembled. "Dad suddenly had a heart attack and needs a stent urgently. The hospital is asking for a 10 thousand dollars deposit. Where’s

He pulled a card out of his wallet and tossed it onto the table as if giving alms.The door slammed shut with a bang, and Cameron drove away.I stood in the empty living room, staring at the shopping card with a spending limit of only 100 dollars.I did not understand how things had come to this.I had once been a renowned genius architectural designer in the industry, yet at some point I had ended up living like a parasitic vine that could only survive by clinging to him.I was even subjected to his strict control when it came to spending the money I had earned through my own hard work.I turned and walked into the study.Cameron had been an extremely cautious person, and he had a safe at home where he kept the company's core secrets for the past few years.He thought I didn’t know the password.Because to him, I had been a foolish woman who only knew how to draw plans and understood nothing about numbers or corporate operations.But he had forgotten that I was an architect.

Cameron slapped my phone out of my hand. "Enough, Nina! What’s up with the sarcasm?"The phone hit the carpet with a dull thud.Wendy suddenly laughed. She peeked out from Cameron's embrace, her gaze turning contemptuous. "Nina, actually, you shouldn't blame Cameron. Men always like something new. Your figure, and those outdated design drawings of yours—Cameron got tired of them long ago. My art exhibition can bring customer traffic to the company. What can you bring? All you know how to do is reach out for money to save your damned father, right?"Boom—A string in my mind snapped.I absolutely could not tolerate such provocation.I stood up and picked up a cup of hot coffee."Stop—" Cameron realized something was wrong and tried to intervene.Splash!An entire cup of hot coffee was already splashed accurately over both of them.Wendy screamed and jumped up, instantly turning into a drenched mess, with coffee all over her.Cameron's shirt was soaked as well, leaving him utt

That single sentence was the real killing blow.Cameron's eyes widened in shock. "What did you say?""I said the Summit Project is finished.""Impossible! The contract was already signed!""There was a 'no intellectual property dispute' clause in the contract." I stood up and straightened my collar. "Cameron, did you really think that by signing my name in the legal representative column, I'd be left with no way out? That was the fruit of my own labor."Cameron's body swayed, his face turning deathly pale.The Summit Project had tied up all of his liquid capital, and once it stalled, the Lister Group's cash flow would be in immediate crisis.Wendy supported him and shrieked, "You bitch! Are you trying to kill Cameron?""Kill him?" I stepped closer to Wendy and whispered by their ears. "Compared to you trying to send me to prison, this only counted as self-defense."With that, I picked up my bag and strode away under everyone's shocked gazes.When I stepped out of the cafe, th

Mr. Fisher had been frowning as he watched the entire farce unfold.I stepped down from the stage and walked straight up to Mr. Fisher, pulling a USB drive out of my clutch."Mr. Fisher, this contains the original data for the Summit Project, and..." I paused, then raised my voice slightly. "And evidence that the Lister Group secretly altered the building materials list, replacing the originally specified high-strength steel with cheap, substandard steel in their cost quotation."Boom!That statement was even more explosive than the earlier dispute over authorship.In the construction world, nothing was more taboo than cutting corners—this was a matter of human lives.The color drained instantly from Cameron's face as he charged down like a madman. "Nina! You're slandering me!"He tried to snatch the USB drive.But James appeared out of nowhere. Tall and imposing, he stepped in front of me and grabbed Cameron's wrist."Mr. Lister, please conduct yourself in public," James said