Lady Virelia Nightbane

After an hour...

Inside Ava Carter's office.

She sat motionless, eyes fixed on the towering stack of resignation letters piled on her desk. The weight of the papers felt like the weight of betrayal.

"You mean to tell me," Ava pointed at the bundle in disbelief, "that every single employee in the group has resigned?"

Zhulan, clearly nervous but still composed, nodded slowly. "Yes, Miss. They said they didn't want to continue and submitted their resignations."

She paused, then added quietly, "The group is now completely empty."

Smack!

Ava slammed her palm against her face, eyes wide with a mixture of horror and helplessness.

No! Are all of you just dogs wagging your tails for Sophia? she screamed inwardly. What kind of benefits did Sophia offer you that you'd all turn against me like this?!

What about your mortgages? Your car loans? Your families to feed?

You just walk out like that? With no hesitation?!

Tears welled in her eyes. This is hell.

She leaned back, staring at the ceiling as if it would offer a miracle. This had to be the worst possible start to her career.

The whole company, abandoned. Left as the lone commander of a shipwrecked vessel. Even if this scenario were in a novel, readers would dismiss it as too unrealistic.

What am I going to do now?

One thing was certain—she couldn't go crying to her parents.

Otherwise...

She could already imagine the sneering words:

> "Oh? Having trouble already, so you come running to Daddy and Mommy?"

> "It's rare for our Ava to admit she's wrong," her mother would chime in, trying to be sweet. "But if even this is too much for you, how will you ever lead the family in the future?"

> "If Ava can't do it, let's bring in Sophia to help instead!"

No! Ava sat up straight, shaking her head violently. It can't go down like that!

She had studied endlessly in her past life. Read countless rebirth and time-travel novels. And yet...

Why did she feel like the most pitiful reborn protagonist of all time?

You're supposed to turn your life around when you're reborn. But here I am—knowing what will happen and still powerless to stop it.

Zhulan, meanwhile, had more bad news. She looked at the files in her hands with discomfort before speaking up. "Miss, there's something else. The group is facing serious financial losses. There's still a hole of about two billion dollars that hasn't been filled."

Her voice rose in anger. "These people… They've been sucking the Ava family dry like leeches!"

Stop. Ava closed her eyes tightly. Just stop.

In her last life, that financial hole only grew larger and larger until she was buried in twenty billion in debt.

I can't let that happen again!

But is it too late to recruit new people now?

More importantly, construction must continue. If the project is abandoned halfway, then the Tang family's mother and daughter would be left homeless!

What the hell do I do now?

In her past life, nothing had been this hard. And just then, someone observed her silent despair.

Leo watched her quietly, a small amused smile curling on his lips.

Sophia really did it. She had the entire Su Group staff on her side.

No wonder she was Ava's greatest rival in the original timeline. But...

She wouldn't succeed this time.

Leo had already made up his mind.

Time to earn those loyalty points.

Raising his brows and wearing a confident smirk, he looked directly at Ava, who was still lost in thought.

"Miss, I can solve this situation for you."

Those words shattered the suffocating silence like a hammer to glass.

"Really?!"

Ava's head shot up, surprise and hope flashing in her eyes. But just as quickly, she schooled her expression back to her usual cold elegance. She coughed and leaned back.

"Leo, are you aware of what will happen if you lie to me?" she asked, raising a brow with feigned indifference.

Leo met her gaze without flinching. "I may lie to the world, but never to you."

Then, with a sincerity that shook the air, he added, "Because I, Leo… am your most loyal and trusted follower."

Thump!

[Loyalty value +10]

Ava's heart fluttered. Damn it, that was touching!

Her shoulders trembled slightly. Her eyes—usually so composed—wavered with emotion.

She quickly covered her mouth and then glared at him: "Glib talker. Since when were you my favorite follower?"

But inside, her heart screamed: You're getting too good at this!

Leo bowed slightly. "Forgive my presumption. I thought that being loyal meant being trusted. Since I've sworn my loyalty to you, I believed you trusted me above all."

Ava was silent for a moment.

Then she chuckled softly. "Maybe not now, but… who's to say it won't be the case in the future?"

With a bold flick of her finger, she lifted Leo's chin. The gesture was graceful, but also assertive, drawing his face into the light.

She stared at him for a second longer, smiled mysteriously, and said:

"Leo, strive to become my most trusted follower. I'm counting on you to fix this."

Right then, a system alert echoed in Leo's mind:

> [Main Mission Activated: Help Ava Carter stabilize and relaunch the Su Group]

[Use 100 loyalty points to instantly clear this mission? Current points: 75]

[Mission Reward: Command of the Entire Army – All who join your camp will have their loyalty set to 100% and will never betray you.]

But Leo ignored it for now. His gaze remained locked on Ava, who was still inches away from him.

His heart beat a little faster.

Huh? This strange charm of hers actually made my heart skip a beat.

Ava truly had the aura of a powerful female villain. A few words, a subtle touch, and you'd fall without knowing it.

If I didn't know her real character from the future, I might've been fooled like everyone else.

But no.

Ava, you're beautiful, sure. But if you think I'll be swayed by a few honeyed words… you're mistaken.

Then, Ava stepped back slightly and handed him a sleek black credit card.

"Use this for any expenses related to this task. I won't interfere. There's still more than ninety million on it."

Leo froze for a moment. Then he took the card respectfully, eyes flashing with determination.

"I swear to complete the task successfully, Miss Ava."

You really do know how to pick your people.

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