Last Life I Saved His Company, This Life I'm Watching It Burn

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!"