All Chapters of Born to Be Erased: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Today, a resume landed on my desk.I stared at the name, Sam Thompson, and tapped a fingertip once against the solid wood desk.It had been seven years.The man across from me wore a sharp suit, with a practiced, confident smile fixed on his face. "Miss Selwyn, hello. I'm Sam Thompson, a Tarcona University graduate in computer science. Before this—""Sam Thompson?" I cut him off, my voice flat."Yes."I picked up the resume.In the photo, he wore a graduation gown. His face still looked young, almost exactly like mine had seven years ago.As I stared at the photo, my thoughts drifted back to that time.Seven years ago, in that dark, damp cellar…My mother wiped away her tears and pleaded with me, "Sam, what's the point of a girl studying so much? You'll only end up getting married, having children, and raising them as part of someone else's family."Your brother is different. He's the future of the Thompson family. Let him go to college. Besides, your birth certificate has l

Chapter 2

The air froze.I rose slowly and met his eyes across the desk.Seven years had passed, yet the look in his eyes had not changed one bit. He still wore the same arrogance, with the same cowardice lurking beneath it.I smiled faintly. "That's right. It's me. The one whose college spot you stole. The one your parents nearly sold off. That cheap bitch."Cam's face went pale. His bluster vanished in an instant.Panic flashed in his eyes as he took half a step back. "You... You're talking nonsense! What do you mean I stole your spot? I'm Sam Thompson! I got into college on my own merit!""Oh?" I leaned forward and lowered my voice. "Then how do you explain the solution to the last question on the 1993 science paper? The one that went beyond the syllabus? I worked out that solution myself from an old textbook. No one else in the county knew how to solve it but me."Cam's lips trembled. Panic robbed him of words. "I... I..."I straightened and gave him his marching orders. "Cam Thompso

Chapter 3

"Why, you!" My father's furious voice crackled through the receiver, but for a long moment, he could not form a coherent sentence. He was clearly beside himself with rage.I listened to his labored breathing on the other end, then hung up without hesitation and blocked the number.…Sure enough, Cam was thriving at Daybreak.His team targeted us on every project. He stole our clients, undercut our prices, poached our staff, and openly mocked us as a "small-time outfit."At an industry mixer, he loudly held court. The moment he spotted me, he raised his voice even further. "Women are nothing more than appendages to a family in the end. A woman's proper place is at the stove and beside a man."Working yourself to death for a career gets you nowhere. You're better off finding someone to lean on and cashing in on your worth while you're still young."The people around him laughed along.I didn't say a word.Misha's eyes reddened with anger. "Miss Selwyn, he's walking all over us!"

Chapter 4

I walked out of the venue into the harsh sunlight.My phone showed several missed calls from unfamiliar numbers back home, along with a text from my mother.[Sam, your brother won the bid! It's a huge project! He knows he was wrong. Family should support each other. He said once the project is finished, he'll buy a house and bring us all over so we can live comfortably. It's not easy being on your own. Why don't you come work at your brother's company instead? A family business is always better than working for someone else.]I read the message, smiled faintly, and deleted it.Then I called our legal and PR departments."It's time. Follow the original plan. Release the material."…A few days later, Daybreak's winning bid came under fire after investigators exposed falsified core data. The key technology could not actually be implemented, and the proposed timeline violated regulations. The evidence was comprehensive, and public outrage erupted.Immediately afterward, a whistleb

Chapter 5

The office fell dead silent. The line of text on the screen was there for everyone to see.My father stared at it, his lips trembling. He tried to speak, but no sound came out.All the color drained from Cam's face. His lips trembled as he shook his head. "No. It's fake. All of it's fake. You forged this!"I ignored his shouting and turned my gaze to my mother.She sat crumpled on the floor, tears and snot streaking her dust-covered face. She stared up at the screen, then at me, utterly wretched."Sam... how could you..." she murmured.I couldn't tell whether she meant how I could have discovered the truth or how I could be so cruel."Why couldn't I?" I looked steadily at her, at the mother whose blood I shared. My heart had long since gone numb, yet a faint ache still stirred within it.I closed my eyes, exhaled, and said quietly, "From the day you decided to trade away my life, you should have known the truth couldn't stay buried forever."I walked over and crouched in front

Chapter 6

Cam swayed, nearly losing his footing.Misha turned to my parents. "There's more. According to the police in Cam's hometown, the people involved in illegally altering his registration and school records have already been taken into custody."Since the two of you were primarily responsible and benefited the most, you'll likely need to cooperate with the investigation and give statements as well."My father's legs buckled. If he hadn't caught himself on the desk, he would have collapsed.My mother sat on the floor in stunned silence, too shocked even to wail."No... it can't be... My son is a college graduate... a manager..." she murmured, her eyes unfocused.I didn't spare them another glance. Instead, I signaled to the security guard at the door. "Please see them out. From now on, no one gets in without an appointment."The guard stepped forward and politely but firmly "escorted" the three of them out before they could recover from their shock.From the hallway, I could still f

Chapter 7

A fair number of local media outlets showed up. Their reports mentioned the earlier stolen-life scandal, but most of the coverage focused on how our team had overcome the toughest challenges and delivered real, tangible results.I looked at the newspaper and felt little.I simply took a photo of the article and sent it to the junior high teacher who had secretly slipped me bus fare and study materials when I fled the village with nothing to my name.I added one line. [Mrs. Kelly, I didn't embarrass you.]The reply came quickly. Just two words: [Good girl.]My eyes stung. I blinked a few times and closed the chat window.…Before the second round of bidding, a small incident occurred.The engineer Cam had poached earlier came back. He showed up outside our building, worn down and defeated, and asked to see me.I had Misha bring him up.He stood before me with his head bowed nearly to his chest and turned a hat over and over in his hands as he stammered out an apology.He clai

Chapter 8

Not long after we moved into the new office building, I received an unexpected invitation.It came from a joint research institute affiliated with a top university in Pellington. They invited our company to participate in an industry-academia-research collaboration on a national-level frontier artificial intelligence project. The project was led by Arnold Chambers, a towering figure in the field.The email specifically mentioned that they had been following our earlier Smart Park project and were particularly impressed by our team's original work in complex systems integration and algorithm optimization. They also seemed to know something about my background.The email read: [Academia values real ability and character above all else. Miss Selwyn's story is admirable, and it only strengthens our confidence in what your team stands for.]This was an enormous opportunity, a chance to step onto a much bigger stage.I immediately assembled our core technical staff and began preparing o

Chapter 9

It was absurd, and yet it was real."Understood," I said.The truth had come out. The guilty had been punished. Justice, in its own way, had arrived late and only partially.Unfortunately, nothing could ever make up for the lost years, the life knocked off course, or the fear and despair of those nights in the cellar.I did not need to forgive, and I did not need to forget. I only needed to keep moving forward, toward a place so far beyond them that they could never look up and see me again.The terrace door opened, and a few young women from the team spilled out with laughter, calling everyone over for a group photo. Their cheeks were flushed, their eyes bright with unguarded hope and excitement for the future.They pulled me over and placed me in the middle. "Miss Selwyn, look at the camera! Smile!"The shutter clicked. Behind us, the city glittered in the night.In the photo, a faint smile touched my face. My eyes were calm as I looked at the camera and beyond it, toward som

Chapter 10

[Miss Selwyn, hello. Our city recently resolved a serious case involving unlawful confinement and intentional assault.One of the injured parties, a man named Cam Thompson, claims to be your brother. The case involves illegal debt collection by loan sharks and is serious in nature.Cam is currently hospitalized with severe injuries, though his condition is not life-threatening.His parents are also in this city. Due to the needs of the investigation and possible civil compensation proceedings, we hope you can make time to assist us by providing some information.If this is inconvenient, we will contact you through your local police department instead.Contact: Officer Daniel Wattson, phone number...]I read the message through, then deleted it.Severely injured, hospitalized, not life-threatening, and under investigation were the phrases that stood out. Together, they told me how everything had finally ended for him in that mire of his own making.In the end, his greed, vanity, and

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