Chapter 3: Like A Piece of Paper

One might assume that, given the absence of any memories from the original owner, Christina had been handed a clean slate, a blank canvas upon which she could paint her own story. However, only she knew the overwhelming challenge of pretending to be someone about whom she had no knowledge. As a professional actress, she was accustomed to immersing herself into roles, but here, there was no script, no direction, no impression of who the real Christina Richardson was. She was utterly lost, carrying the burden of not knowing whose life she had unintentionally usurped, and why. All she knew was that she wanted to do justice for the departed soul. Even after five years, she hadn’t managed to uncover even a fragment of a memory that belonged to the real Christina Richardson. The bus ride was long, an hour of staring out the window, lost in thought. When she finally reached the towering Spark International Group building, she paused to take it all in. The glass structure loomed above, intimidating in its grandeur, yet it didn’t faze Christina. She was a girl who had experienced death and somehow survived it, emerging from the other side with a new life. The idea of "rebirth" amused her—it seemed foolish, even to herself, despite having lived through it firsthand. For her, such supernatural phenomena belonged in fictional stories, and yet, here she was, living one. Before stepping into the building, she made a detour into a nearby café. The line was long, and she found herself half-listening to the news playing on the TV. "The Nominations for the Golden Phoenix Awards have been uploaded. It is reported that the voting lines will be open till the..." The voice on the TV faded into the background as Christina's thoughts wandered. Once upon a time, she had won the Best Actress Award at the Golden Phoenix Awards for four consecutive years. Her achievements had been enviable, a fairytale success story. But that was all in the past. Today, Christina was nothing like the goddess who had once been either admired or despised by the public. She had no desire to return to that life. Perhaps that’s why she had never looked back, never sought out news from the Capital. After her rebirth, she had completely let go of the past that belonged to the woman who had once been known Anna Baker. She was content being an ordinary girl in An City, where no one pointed fingers at her. The peace here was a welcome change. It’s easy for people to judge, to point fingers, but they could never understand the weight of the accusations Christina had borne. People said Anna Baker had committed suicide. She wanted to scream, "You all killed me. How could a coward like me even dare to jump? It was your accusations that pushed me down that balcony." But she couldn’t change the past. And she no longer wanted to. This body wasn’t hers, and she had no right to settle old scores when she couldn’t even resolve the unfinished business of the original soul. "Miss?" The cashier’s voice snapped Christina out of her thoughts. "One black coffee to go," she ordered, paying quickly before heading into the busy lobby of Spark International. Inside the elevator, Christina stood at the back as others filed in. "Hey, are you a new intern as well?" A perky girl asked the bespectacled guy next to her. He nodded shyly in response, and she continued, "I knew it. I could tell. I’m Wendy. And you are?" The guy hesitated before replying softly, "Jason." "Nice to meet you, Jason." Wendy turned to introduce him to the other interns. "Jason, since I like you, let me give you a heads-up. My cousin works in the Design Department, and she told me we need to be very careful around the intern supervisor." "Why?" a petite girl asked, curiosity piqued. "My cousin said our training supervisor is known as the Heartless Witch in the Planning Department, but she’s revered in the Finance Department for her IQ." Wendy continued, oblivious to the fact that other employees were listening. "Her real name is Christina Richardson, and she’s only twenty-three years old." "Huh? She’s so young? How can she be our training supervisor?" Another intern chimed in. "Aiyo! Didn’t I just tell you she has a high IQ? She topped the college entrance exam and finished her bachelor’s degree in Economics in a year and a half. She started as an intern while she was still in college and later got a permanent position. She’s been here for over three years and has even received double promotions." Wendy kept rattling off Christina's history, unaware that the subject of her discussion was standing right behind her. Christina was quietly amused by the conversation but kept her expression neutral. *Aye, I didn’t know I was famous again. Seems like I wasn’t born to lay low-key,* she thought. "She seems like an amazing person," Jason commented, his voice tinged with nervousness. "Aiya, our Jason is so pure-hearted. Don’t be fooled. She has the name ‘Heartless Witch’ for a reason. She loves wearing her colleagues down. Get on her bad side, and she’ll crush you like a piece of paper." Wendy’s words instilled fear in the other interns. Meanwhile, Christina was thinking, *When did I ever crush someone like a piece of paper? I’m not a shredding machine!* With a cardboard box in hand, Christina entered the meeting room where the interns had gathered for their briefing. Without saying a word, she placed business cards on the table for distribution. "Let’s skip the introductions since you’ve probably heard enough about me already," she said, her gaze lingering on Wendy, who shrank back in her seat. "I’m Christina Richardson. That’s all you need to know about me. As for the rules, I’ll say them once. Don’t make me repeat myself." She paced around the room, her presence looming like a dark cloud over the interns. "The first rule, I hate tardiness. Don’t let me catch you ditching work." She paused briefly before continuing, "The second rule, I hate excuses. Unless you’re dying, don’t even think about asking for a day off." She dropped a thick file on the table with a loud thud, making the interns flinch. "And the most important rule: mind your own business. The Planning Department hates gossip. Don’t even think about testing my patience." She turned to leave but stopped mid-step. "Oh, and let me enlighten you. I might not crumble interns like a piece of paper, but I do enjoy making their lives hell." Her voice hardened at the end, sending a shiver down everyone’s spine, especially Wendy, who was silently cursing her luck. Christina exited the room, leaving behind a group of pale-faced interns who had just been introduced to their supervisor—a woman who, despite her young age, carried the weight of a life lived twice, once as a shattered actress and now as a formidable force in the corporate world. She had been reborn, not just into a new body, but into a new life entirely, and she was determined to make this one count, no matter the cost.