Lahat ng Kabanata ng He Lied About Bankruptcy, I Make It Real: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

"Melanie, the company's been struggling lately. At this rate, we might go bankrupt."In the office, my husband, Robert Schmidt, handed me the financial statements. His face was a picture of misery."Let's get a divorce, Melanie. As the legal representative, I should take the fall. I can't let you go down with the ship."With that, he pulled a pre-prepared divorce agreement from his drawer and slid it across the desk.He sounded incredibly sincere and looked entirely heartbroken. I should have felt touched.Instead, I clenched my fists, a cold dread washing over me.What Robert didn't know was that I had been reborn.In my last life, when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, he offered a divorce to avoid dragging me down.I refused. Desperate to help him weather the storm, I worked during the day and took side jobs at night, juggling eight jobs a day.To save every penny, I survived on stale bread and water. I fainted from low blood sugar so often that I became a regular

Since Robert liked to pretend he was broke, I'd make it a reality.After sending the message, I was just about to rest when a few coworkers marched over, dumped a stack of unfinished work onto my desk, and spoke as if it were my civic duty."Melanie, write up this proposal for me.""Melanie, go print these files."Someone else ordered me to go downstairs and grab him a cup of coffee.Because Robert treated me like garbage, they had all learned to follow his lead.When I didn't immediately jump to it, one colleague whispered, "Melanie seemed pretty pissed earlier. Do you think she'll actually help us?"Another scoffed. "What are you worried about? She's all talk. You know what she's like."In my last life, I had complained plenty of times about them dumping their workloads on me. But every time, Robert told me to be the bigger person, and every time, I brainwashed myself into accepting it.After all, it was my company too. I didn't want to watch the business I had poured years

Before long, the audio was filled with the sound of their giggling and flirting.I took off my headphones with a cold smile, pulled out my phone, and immediately reported Robert's company to the authorities for patent infringement.The agent informed me that processing the claim would take a bit of time.I locked my phone."Just you wait, Robert. I'm taking back everything you owed me in my last life in this one," I thought to myself.By the time I walked back to my desk, Robert and Ellie had already left for the day.Instead of throwing myself into my work like I usually did, I spent the rest of the afternoon slacking off.After work, I caught a cab back home and started packing my things. It was time to move out and cut ties with Robert for good.I didn't have much, so it went quickly. Despite living there for seven years, my clothes didn't even fill a single suitcase.After I finished packing up, I was about to rest when my phone buzzed.I unlocked it to see that Ellie had

Ellie looked from Zayn to me and back again, finally arriving at a wild conclusion. "Robert, I bet Melanie has bought off Mr. Eaton. That's the only reason he's taking her side!"Upon hearing that, Robert shot Zayne a murderous glare.Finding his integrity suddenly called into question, Zayne lost his temper too. "Mr. Schmidt, Ms. Gordon, you're not only questioning my professional competence. You're also insulting my character!"But in Ellie's eyes, his defensiveness was just a sign of guilt. Emboldened, she pressed further, "If she didn't buy you off, why are you defending her? Oh, I get it! What Melanie showed you just now was the receipt for your bribe, wasn't it?"Zayne's face turned beet red with rage. He had intended to spare Robert and Schmidt Corp any embarrassment, but now he marched right up to the cameras."I'm sorry to disappoint you," he said coldly. "But what Ms. Reid showed me wasn't a receipt. It was a confirmation screenshot of her approved patent registration.

"Melanie, why do you have to blow this out of proportion? What will you gain from this?" Robert hissed. "Don't forget, you're in charge of the project. If the company goes down, you go down with it."I responded with a detached smile, saying, "Did you forget, Robert? You had me hand all my accounts over to Ellie yesterday. The only one going down with you now is her. Not me."Realizing he had lost the argument, Robert grabbed Ellie and retreated into the building.The moment they stepped inside, the shareholders swarmed Robert, tearing into him without mercy."Look at the disaster you've caused, Robert Schmidt!""We never should have made you CEO. What a massive mistake!""Our investment is completely down the drain, and you're going to take full responsibility for this!"Once the shareholders left, Robert unleashed his fury straight onto Ellie. He raised his hand and delivered a sharp backhand across her face. "This is all your fault! Who told you to go bragging in front of Mel