Reborn as a Tycoon

Cliffside, a black car slanted on the slope near the edge, with the occupants inside dangerously close to death.

"You lunatic!"

Ann struggled to utter a sentence from her throat.

Injected with a paralyzing drug, her body was now beyond control.

"Ann, don't blame Uncle Tom. It's because you became the last stumbling block I swallowed from YS. I'm sending you to reunite with your dear dad."

The man sitting in the passenger seat was around fifty, wearing a suit, polished shoes, and gold-rimmed glasses, appearing quite sophisticated.

"You will... definitely face retribution!" Ann regretted deeply. It was her blinded by hatred that allowed herself to be easily manipulated. The proverbial tale of the snipe and the clam fighting, while the fisherman profits.

"Hahaha! Ann, you are still so naive. There is no retribution in this world. Look, now you're going to meet your dear dad, and I will continue to live well in this world. Do you really believe in retribution?" Tom adjusted his collar and opened the car door.

"Ann, Chairman and CEO of YS Group, unable to bear the company's bankruptcy, dies by suicide." Tom finished, released the handbrake, and stepped aside with a smile.

The black box slid slowly forward, eventually plummeting into the turbulent sea.

Water seeped in gradually, but the occupants inside could only await their fate until the icy seawater submerged them.

Ann hadn't shed tears for a long time. In the last moments of her life, a tear rolled down her cheek. She had trusted the wrong people, retaliated against the wrong person. Keeping a tiger as a pet had led to regrets.

If there was another life, Ann would like to ask Bob, on the day her father died, what did they say when they met? Why, knowing he considered her an enemy, did he not offer any explanation?

How good it would be to start over.

***

"Miss! Miss, how are you feeling?"

Hearing a voice that seemed both near and distant, Ann's fingertip twitched, and she squinted her eyes open.

"Thank goodness!" A woman in a black professional suit sighed in relief.

From the TV, an emotionless voice of a female anchor came, "This is the national financial channel. We now bring you a financial news update: the death of Mr. Ann, former Chairman of YS Group, has had a significant impact on the stock market. Recently, YS Group has been caught in the HS Fund acquisition storm, and its stock price has dropped by twenty percent."

Adjusting to the glaring light, Ann licked her dry lips and hoarsely asked, "Where am I?"

"Miss, you..." The woman grabbed Ann's shoulder and shook it, "Miss, have you lost your memory?"

Speaking was Ella, Ann's special assistant and someone she had nurtured personally.

"No, just..." Ann couldn't comprehend what was happening now. Didn't she fall into the sea? It seemed her fate wasn't sealed; she had been rescued.

"Who am I?" Ann let go of Ella, rubbing her temples.

"Ella." Ann pointed at herself.

"Ella, sister." Ann used her hand to rub her head, suddenly recalling something important. She grabbed Ella's hand in panic, "Where's Tom? Call the police! Call the police quickly!"

"Miss, what are you talking about?" Ella checked Ann's forehead, "You're not running a fever. Don't scare me; you suddenly fainted, and now you're talking nonsense."

Ann's peripheral vision caught the TV, and she looked somewhat dazed.

"Miss, are you okay? Can you hold on? HS Fund has acquired ten percent of our stocks. Their head in China, Bob, passed the vote at the special shareholders' meeting. Today, he will enter the board of directors." Ella glanced at her watch, "Today's meeting is crucial. You can't miss it; we need to go out."

"Bob, Bob." Ann repeated the name twice.

Wasn't he in a car accident? She even attended his funeral.

She pinched her forehead, "What's today's date?"

Ella lit up her phone screen, "Here, see for yourself."

Ann glanced at the bright screen, displaying a date from five years ago.

Could it be she had returned to five years ago?

The suffocating feeling of being engulfed by seawater still lingered, but was everything happening now real?

Or was it a false hope, just a dream?

"Miss? Madam? Ann?" Ella waved her hand in front of Ann's eyes.

After a while.

"You talk too much." Ann grabbed Ella's hand, her eyebrows forming a curved line, eyes moist at the corners, "Anyway, it's good to see you, Ella."

"You didn't develop feelings for me, did you?" Ella tightened her collar with her other hand, "I'm a professional special assistant!"

Ann chuckled, "You're already this old; how can you still be so childish!"

Ella said, "Alright, Madam Chairman, let me help you up and get ready. We need to go out."

Ann nodded, getting up to wash her face in the bathroom.

Looking at herself in the mirror, with youthful eyebrows and eyes, skin full of collagen, she indeed looked like she was in her early twenties.

"Have I really returned to five years ago?" Ann muttered to herself, "Can people really... be reborn?"

Ann's hand gripped the tap, tightening it bit by bit until the veins on her hand popped.

If it was indeed a second chance from the heavens, she wouldn't trust others wrongly in this life, nor let those around her die one by one.

She believed that in this world, there was karma and retribution.

YS Tower, top-floor meeting room.

Ann watched the woman who entered with a slight daze. Although she considered Bob an enemy in her previous life, she felt a vague sense of loss upon hearing about his death. Now being able to see her again brought a somewhat inexplicable joy.

Tom patted her shoulder from the side, comforting, "Ann, don't worry. With Uncle Tom here, we won't let the likes of Bob threaten your position."

"Thank you, Uncle Tom." Ann gratefully smiled at Tom, appearing like a naive young girl unfamiliar with the ways of the world.

Bob, wearing a well-fitted black and white striped designer suit, with dark hair flowing down to his waist, and a face of a delicate beauty but exuding a powerful aura that warned people not to approach.

As he took his seat under Ann's gaze, even the air around him seemed to cool down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Bob. I hope for pleasant cooperation in the future."

Ann raised her eyes slightly, casting a sideways glance at Tom, then stared at Bob with a cold gaze, saying, "I advise HS to give up on this idea. I won't let my father's lifelong efforts fall into your hands!"

Bob's gaze lightly landed on Ann's face, "Well, let's wait and see."

Ann's throat rolled as she thought, "It must be because I attended Bob's funeral. Seeing a living person staring at me like this makes my heart beat faster."

"As for me, I don't really care who runs the company, as long as it makes money, right?" spoke Will, one of the directors of YS Group.

"Absolutely, we'll listen to whoever can make money for the company," another director echoed.

Tom cleared his throat and said, "You two are not right. When Brother Sheng was alive, he made everyone earn a lot. Now that he's gone, us uncles should still lend a hand to Ann."

Ann coldly chuckled in her mind but maintained a gentle appearance, whispering, "Thank you, Uncle Tom."

At the same time, her watery eyes blinked a few times, captivating some of the directors present.

"Let's move on to the main agenda of this meeting, Chairman, please." Bob glanced at his lady's watch, "I'm in a hurry, I have to go to the airport in half an hour."

Ann sneered inwardly, this time it wasn't an act. She genuinely found Bob's robotic demeanor annoying.

Bob tapped the tabletop with his fingertips, "Mr. Ann, didn't Mr. Sheng teach Miss Ann how to keep emotions in check as the chairman of YS Group? Even if you don't like me, you should keep it to yourself, right?"

"Director Bob, you really know how to make jokes. How could I not like you?" Ann's lips curled up, forming a smile, as she opened the folder in front of her.

"Now, let's start today's agenda. Currently, our group's most important project is to dominate the mobile payment market. As we all know, our social platform already covers eighty percent of young users..."

After the meeting, Tom patted Ann's shoulder, comforting, "Don't take the uncles' challenges to heart. You can trust Uncle Tom; he'll always stand by your side."

"Thank goodness for Uncle Tom!" Ann clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

Watching Tom leave, Ann's eyes darkened. She then hurried a few steps to catch up with Bob, blocking his way. With a seemingly arrogant and challenging demeanor, she asked, "Chairman Bob, in such a hurry to catch your flight?"

"Not in a hurry," Bob brushed past Ann, "I just didn't want to waste time."

Ann, instead of getting angry, burst into laughter, and it was a laughter full of mockery.

Bob frowned slightly, realizing that Miss Ann from the Ann family seemed to have something wrong with her head.

After Ann had her fill of laughter, she patted Bob's shoulder and walked past him, leaving him behind.

Everything was the same as the previous life, even the nonsense this person spoke was identical. She had truly been reborn five years ago.

One hour later, at the Lake City International Airport.

"Miss, slow down!" Ella, wearing high heels and dragging a suitcase, struggled to keep up with the sprinting Ann.

That old fox, Bob, was a director at YS but still wanted to compete with them for business. Luckily, Ann had learned her lesson in the previous life, and this time she had to act fast.

Breathing heavily, Ann collided with the VIP check-in counter and slammed her ID on the table, "Choose, choose a seat!"

"Lake City Airlines is delighted to serve you. Would you like—"

"8L!" Ann gasped, "No, the seat next to 8L!"

The ground staff in the red uniform raised an eyebrow, wondering if there was some treasure under that seat, as everyone seemed to want it.

She smiled and said, "I'm sorry, the passenger for that seat has already checked in. Can I assign you another seat?"

"Then, the window seat at the back." Ann felt annoyed. Despite her efforts, she was still late in this age without the ability to select seats on a phone.

The staff operated on the screen and smiled, "Here is your ticket. Have a pleasant journey!"

At that moment, Ella finally caught up, almost out of breath. She said, panting, "Miss, I watched you grow up. How come I didn't know you were into track and field!"

"You're only a few years older than me!" Ann made a face at Ella, "I'm going in now. Take care of the company for the next two days, Ella."

"Go ahead." Ella's gaze softened, "Don't worry."

Ann said, "Goodbye," and then, dragging her suitcase, entered the security checkpoint.

Just after passing through security, she heard the airport announcement, "Passenger Ann on flight KN9696, your flight is about to take off. Please proceed to gate 32 for boarding."

Ann took a deep breath and, wearing high heels, sprinted to the gate just in time to board.

Bob, who had been chatting with a man nearby on the plane, raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Ann rushing in.

As Ann's chest heaved, she calmed her breath, handed her suitcase to the flight attendant, and walked straight to Bob, looking at him with a shy and reproachful expression, "Amo, why didn't you wait for me? You just boarded the plane by yourself. It was just a little argument last night. As the saying goes, don't go to bed angry. Don't be mad at me, okay?"

Bob's forehead furrowed slightly. In his mind, he wondered what Ann from the Ann family was up to.

Ann turned her gaze to the refined-looking man on Bob's right, clasped her hands together, and pleaded, "Sir, may I exchange seats with you? I had a quarrel with my girlfriend yesterday, and she's still not talking to me!"

Girlfriend?

Bob's usually quick-thinking mind suddenly couldn't keep up.

The man by the window looked at Bob and then at Ann, answering cheerfully, "No problem."

Ann took her seat by the window, looked outside, and smiled slightly. Humph, try to compete with me, and I'll take away your people!

"I heard I'm your girlfriend?"

Bob's voice suddenly echoed behind her, and Ann, startled, threw her head back, accidentally hitting his nose with the back of her head.

"Hiss~" Bob took a sharp breath, covering his nose and unable to speak for a while.

Ann hurriedly patted Bob's shoulder, "Don't cry! I didn't mean it!"

Bob closed his eyes and ignored Ann.

Anxiously, Ann swallowed and called the flight attendant, getting a tissue pack. "Let me wipe away your tears?"

Bob glanced at her, gracefully took the tissue, dabbed at the corners of his eyes, then handed it back to Ann, as if nothing had happened, and closed his eyes again.

Ann rolled her eyes, thinking, "What a person!"

"The plane is about to take off. Cabin crew will now conduct safety checks. Please fasten your seat belts..."

Against the backdrop of the airplane announcement, they each fastened their seat belts and ignored each other.

Two hours later.

"Dear passengers, we will be landing in half an hour. Ple