Alistair Kingsley's secretary, Nerina Larson, calls herself a lucky charm with a dream that she wants to achieve.

Apparently, she has used the 500 thousand dollars in the company's account, which is set aside for the employees' year-end bonuses, on lottery tickets.

Excitedly, she sends a voice message on the company's group chat.

"This lucky charm shall win prizes for everyone! Call me the lucky charm who knows how to manage finances the best!"

Alistair claims that Nerina is a very high-spirited and interesting young woman. He even criticizes me for being a stick in the mud.

During the final compulsory meeting before the New Year holidays, thousands of employees are waiting for their bonuses so that they can celebrate the holidays happily. But Nerina has the nerve to tear the back-up check I've prepared into pieces in front of everyone.

She claims that she has never lost when it comes to luck, so she wants to live stream the process of her scratching the lottery tickets.

In my previous life, I called the security guards and had her removed from the stage. Then, I quickly used my authority to send everyone their salaries.

That was how I managed to calm everyone down and helped the company avoid going into bankruptcy.

With tears streaming down her eyes, Nerina rushed out of the company.

"All of my fans call me the lucky queen, and that I'll definitely score the grand prize today! But now, my live streaming gig is all ruined!"

On the same night, Nerina dies from hypothermia after drinking herself to a stupor on the streets.

With bloodshot eyes, Alistair ran over me with his car repeatedly.

"Why can't you just believe her just this once? What if she can strike the jackpot and lead everyone down the path of wealth?"

When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Nerina carries a few sacks of lottery tickets onto the stage.

This time, I'm the first one to applaud for her.

I want Alistair to witness how his beloved lucky charm can bring ruination upon the entire company!

"Nerina Larson, have you lost your mind? That's everyone's year-end bonus!" Mr. Wellington, the finance manager, slammed his fist on the table and roared. His voice rang through the entire hall.

Nerina stood in the center of the stage, clutching three burlap sacks of scratch-off tickets. Leaning into the microphone, her voice was so sweet it was almost sickening when she said, "Everyone, quiet down and listen to me. I'm a lucky charm. This 500 thousand is just the seed money.

"Once I scratch out 5 million dollars, won't everyone get a bigger share? You have to have dreams in life; you can't just keep your eyes on your measly salary!"

The employees below the stage looked grim, and a few of them had already gotten to their feet, ready to storm the stage.

My fiance, Alistair Kingsley, sat in the front row. He turned around and glared at Mr. Wellington. "Why are you yelling? What if you scare Nerina? She's doing this for the company's benefit! Do any of you even understand her innovative mindset?"

I sat at the side. My stomach churned as I watched how protective Alistair was of Nerina. It was almost as if she were the woman he loved.

In my previous life, I had rushed up at this exact moment and had slapped Nerina across the face. I had snatched the microphone from her and announced that this was Nerina's personal decision. I'd promised that I would pay out of my own pocket to make up everyone's bonuses.

Consequently, she'd become the victim, sobbing that I had crushed her dreams and had ruined her future in live-streaming. Alistair had also accused me of being narrow-minded, saying I couldn't stand seeing others succeed.

In the end, Nerina had died in the snow, and Alistair had driven his car over my chest, over and over again. Even now, I could still hear the sound of my ribcage shattering.

Noticing that no one had spoken up, Nerina turned to me with a goading look in her eyes. "Ms. Carlisle, you always say you care about your employees. Now that there's a chance for everyone to double their money… You're not going to stop us, are you? If you do, you'll be cutting off everyone's chance to get rich quick!"

Alistair looked at me and warned, "Don't be a buzzkill, Zoe. Nerina has our employees' best intentions in mind."

I smiled, rose to my feet, and clapped my hands vigorously. The crisp sound of my applause felt exceptionally piercing in the silent auditorium.

"Nerina has a point. It really does take guts to pull something like this. Since everyone has a dream of striking it rich, then by all means, go ahead and scratch them! I'd also like to see just how many surprises our lucky charm can bring us."

Nerina froze for a moment. Clearly, she hadn't expected me to agree so easily.

Alistair smiled in satisfaction and nodded at me. "That's more like it, Zoe! For once, you're being generous."

The employees below the stage immediately exploded.

"Ms. Carlisle, that's our hard-earned money!"

"What if we blow all 500 thousand dollars on scratch-offs and lose everything?"

I sat back down on my seat and responded calmly, "All of you should trust Mr. Kingsley's judgement and Nerina's luck."

Nerina jumped up excitedly, waving at the camera beneath the stage. "Everyone in the livestream, look! Ms. Carlisle supports me, too! Get ready. We're about to witness a miracle!"

She grabbed a handful of scratch-off tickets from the sack and spread them across the table. "Alistair, come up here and scratch them with me!"

Alistair rose from his seat and strode onto the stage. Then, he stroked her head dotingly. "Alright, I'll witness this miracle with you."

Nerina fished out a coin and scratched the first ticket. "This one's a dud."

She casually tossed it aside and picked up the second one. "Oh, we won five dollars. We're off to a great start!"

More and more employees gathered around the stage, and their expressions were dark and grim. Five hundred thousand dollars had turned into tens of thousands of useless pieces of paper.

Nerina scraped away until she was dripping with sweat, mumbling incessantly under her breath. "I'm a lucky charm. Come to me, good fortune. The next one is definitely 100 thousand dollars. I can feel it!"

Alistair stood beside her, offering her water and wiping away her sweat. "Take it easy, Nerina. Slow down. We have all the time in the world."

Two hours passed, and the floor was covered in a mountain of debris. There were only a few winning tickets in the cardboard box in front of Nerina. Most of them were for five or ten dollars.

Mr. Wellington rose to his feet once again. His voice was shaky as he said, "Mr. Kingsley, you've already scratched through half of them, and the total winnings don't even add up to three thousand dollars. At this rate, everyone won't even have enough money for a bus ticket home!"

Without looking up, Alistair snorted. "What's the rush? The grand prize is always at the end. Nerina hasn't even gotten serious yet. Stop jinxing it!"

Nerina was getting a little antsy as well. So, she shouted at the livestream camera, "Guys, hurry up and tap the like button for me! Help me gather more luck. I'm a lucky charm with big aspirations. God won't let me down!"

I sat below the stage, leisurely sipping my coffee. In my previous life, she had said the exact same thing. She had claimed she'd dream of winning the jackpot, and that was the reason she'd dared to use our company funds.

Alistair had believed her without a shadow of a doubt. He'd thought it was fate. Now, that fate was being chipped away, one useless ticket at a time.

Just then, a longtime employee snapped and rushed onto the stage to grab the remaining scratch cards. "Refund the rest of them! We can still get some of the money back if we refund them now! This is for my son's medical treatment; you can't just squander it on scratch cards!"

Alistair shoved him away. "Get lost! This is our company's decision; you don't get a say in this! Who are you to question Nerina's luck?"

The longtime employee tumbled to the floor and couldn't get back up. The crowd below grew even more restless, and curses broke out one after another.

Far from being intimidated, Nerina felt aggrieved instead. Tears welled up in her eyes as she demanded, "Why are you all being so mean to me? I'm doing this for your own good! If I hit the jackpot, won't you all be rich? People like you don't understand the value of dreams at all."

Then, she turned to me for help. "Hurry up and say something, Ms. Carlisle. These people are going to hit me!"

I set down my coffee mug and slowly stood up. "Calm down, everyone. Since she claims she's a lucky charm, I'm sure she has her reasons.

"However, it's going to take ages to scratch them one by one, Nerina. Why don't we spice things up? Let's distribute all the remaining tickets to the employees here.

"Whoever scratches a winning ticket keeps the prize. As for the losses, you and Mr. Kingsley can cover them. How does that sound?"

Nerina's eyes lit up as she thought this idea would help take the pressure off her.

Alistair, on the other hand, frowned. "What's the meaning of this, Zoe? Are you attempting to split up Nerina's luck?"

I smiled and waved my hand. "You've got the wrong idea, Mr. Kingsley. I'm helping her share the risk. What if she really doesn't scratch off a grand prize? How are you going to answer our employees? Do you really want everyone to show up at your doorstep on New Year's Eve to demand their unpaid wages?"

Alistair hesitated for a moment and looked at Nerina, who immediately nodded. "Fine, let's do it! I'll bless all of you with my luck. However, just so we're clear, if anyone wins the grand prize, I'm getting a cut!"

The remaining two burlap sacks of scratch cards were distributed to all employees.

Soon, the sharp scrape of coins against tickets echoed through the hall.

Nerina stood on the stage with a smug look on her face. "Hurry up and scratch them! Let's find out who luck is smiling on!"

Yet, gradually, the auditorium fell silent, and the atmosphere grew increasingly heavy.

"I didn't win anything."

"Me neither."

"I won ten dollars, but my year-end bonus was 500 dollars!"

More than three thousand employees were involved, yet the total winnings were less than 20 thousand dollars. 500 thousand dollars had been reduced to 20 thousand dollars. The remaining 480 thousand dollars had gone down the drain.

Looking at the useless tickets all over the floor, Nerina's face became ghastly pale, and her lips quivered. "T-This is impossible. I'm a lucky charm. You must have scratched them the wrong way, or you weren't sincere enough. So, you ruined my luck!"

Right after that, she pointed at the employees below the stage and yelled, "That's right. It must be your fault. You were all badmouthing me earlier, so you drove my luck away!"

The employees completely lost it.

"Nerina, give me back my hard-earned money!"

"Alistair, you dim-witted tyrant. I can't believe you actually let this madwoman pull this stunt!"

Alistair shielded Nerina with his body and yelled at the crowd, "Silence! It's just 500 thousand dollars. We can afford it! Anyone who keeps causing a scene won't have to bother showing up for work next year!"

As soon as his words fell, the crowd grew even more agitated.

"Fine, I'm out! This shithole of a company is going to crash and burn because of you!"

"We're going to report you to the Department of Labor! You misused company funds!"

Nerina shrieked and threw herself into Alistair's arms before breaking down into soft sobs. "I'm so scared, Alistair. They're so frightening. I was just trying to help everyone. Why are they so ungrateful?"

Alistair drew her into his arms and turned around to look at me. "Zoe, why didn't you intervene earlier? Had you stepped in and taken charge of the situation, things wouldn't have turned out this way!"

I sneered, "Mr. Kingsley, you were the one who said Nerina had guts and told me not to be so inflexible. Now that you've lost the money, you finally remember me?"

Gritting his teeth, he lowered his voice and ordered, "I want you to withdraw 500 thousand dollars to plug this hole and calm them down. Nerina's still young; she can't handle this."

I met his gaze and spat out, "My money didn't fall from the sky either. Since she wanted to play this game, she has to face the consequences herself."

After hearing that, Nerina sobbed, "How could you be so heartless, Ms. Carlisle? To secure more benefits for everyone, I scratched those cards until my hands were swollen, and you're actually going to stand there and do nothing?

"I knew it. You're just jealous of me. You're jealous that Alistair treats me well!"

Pointing at my nose, Alistair yelled, "I'm ordering you to transfer the money right now, Zoe! If you don't, I'm calling off our engagement!"

I took in his contorted face and found it laughable. In my previous life, I'd paid the ultimate price to preserve our engagement, all for that ridiculous sense of responsibility. Now, I just couldn't wait for him to get out of my life.

"You want to call off our engagement? That's fine by me." I pulled out my phone and called the cops and labor officials. "Hello, I'd like to make a report. Someone has used a significant amount of company funds to gamble. The amount involved is 500 thousand dollars."

Nerina and Alistair were both dumbfounded.

"Have you lost your mind, Zoe? You actually called the cops?" Alistair rushed over to snatch my phone.

I took a step back, and my bodyguards immediately stopped him. "Mr. Kingsley, Nerina depleted all our employees' year-end bonuses. This isn't a family matter; this is a criminal offense!"

Nerina sank to the ground. Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked at me. "No… I'm not a criminal. I'm a lucky charm. I just wanted to help everyone strike it rich…"