No Parole for You in This Life Chapter 2

I let it ring.

I knew exactly why he was calling. He was rushing me back to the office, eager for the lamb to walk into the slaughter.

With a cold smirk, I hailed a cab. But I wasn't going to the office. I was heading to the State Lottery Commission.

“Hello, I’m the winner of this morning’s eight-million-dollar prize. I need to have my win officially certified.”

In my previous life, I was in such a rush to pay for my son's surgery that I never bothered to get the win authenticated.

Later, after I was framed, I tried to get proof, but Jenna and Mike had already bribed someone at the commission.

They had altered the winner's information, making it impossible for me to prove the eight million was legitimate lottery winnings.

After getting the official certification, I also had the staff print out a detailed statement showing the eight-million-dollar deposit into my account.

This time, I would leave Jenna and Mike no loopholes, no openings, no chance to succeed.

My phone rang again. Mike.

I swiped to answer.

“Alex, where are you? Don’t you know something huge has happened at the office? It’s… it’s about you. The general manager wants you back here, now!”

Mike’s voice was urgent, but he was deliberately vague, trying to keep me in the dark about the details.

I knew his game. He wanted me confused and anxious, to walk into his trap completely unprepared.

“Alright,” I said, my voice deliberately slow. “I’m on my way.”

I arrived at the office at my own pace. Mike greeted me with a look of profound disappointment, his brow furrowed.

“Alex, how could you do something like this? What were you thinking?”

I met his gaze evenly.

“Stop playing games, Mike. Just say what you have to say.”

He fought to suppress a triumphant grin, raising his voice for the benefit of the entire office.

“There’s no use pretending, Alex. The company knows you’ve been embezzling tens of millions of dollars!”

His words dropped like a bomb. Heads popped up over cubicle walls. The office, once humming with work, fell silent, then erupted in shocked whispers.

“Oh my god, Alex? He always seemed so quiet and hardworking. He has that kind of nerve!?”

“The company found discrepancies last week, didn't they? I can’t believe it was him!”

“Goes to show you never really know someone. He looks so honest on the outside, but he's a greedy bastard in secret!”

“What would he even do with that much money? Is he supporting a second family behind his wife’s back?”

“Who knows? I heard his son is really sick, needs an expensive surgery. Maybe he got desperate.”

“A surgery doesn’t cost tens of millions. This is pure greed, plain and simple.”

“Whatever the reason, embezzling company funds is a crime. People like him deserve to rot in jail. We’ll just wait and see him get what’s coming to him.”

The scornful glances of my colleagues felt like needles. Their whispers buzzed in my ears.

Mike’s lips curled into a subtle, smug smile.

My expression remained unchanged. “It wasn't me,” I said calmly. “I didn't do it.”

“The evidence is right here, Alex, and you still have the nerve to lie!”

The general manager, Mr. Henderson, stormed out of his office, his face purple with rage. He slammed a thick file onto my desk.

“I trusted you! I was going to promote you next week! Is this how you repay the company!?”

I picked up the papers. They were records from the company’s financial system, showing a series of abnormal fund transfers. The operator was listed under my name and employee ID.

And the most recent entry, dated just ten minutes ago, showed a transfer of eight million dollars from the company’s system to a bank account in my name.

I pulled out my phone and logged into my banking app. Sure enough, one of my accounts had received an eight-million-dollar deposit ten minutes prior.