Chapter 4

Finally, she squeezed two words through clenched teeth.

"I forgot."

I had thought that returning to this life, my heart had already died.

I didn't expect that at this moment, those two words would still stab with sharp pain.

I forcibly suppressed the dull ache in my chest and began removing the watch from my wrist.

Old Mr. Collins suddenly stood up.

"Oren!"

"Don't do this!"

"Old Mr. Collins."

I interrupted him, placing the watch on the desk.

"Rules are rules."

The car keys, apartment keys—I took them out one by one and placed them next to the watch.

Finally, I took off the expensive suit jacket I was wearing, folded it neatly, and placed it on the desk.

Only a thin white shirt remained.

Perry's face showed vengeful satisfaction.

Sarah finally couldn't stand it and called out to me.

"Enough! Stop taking things off!"

I looked at her calmly.

"From now on, I'm just me."

"I, Oren, am no longer your fiancé."

As I walked out of the office with my backpack, the hallway outside was packed with employees watching the spectacle.

On the company's internal forum, news of my removal had been pinned to the top.

My colleagues' pointing and whispering felt like needles stabbing into me.

"Look, that's him—the guy who tried to climb into the Collins family is finally being kicked out!"

"He actually thought he could live like royalty. Should've known his place from the start!"

"Without the Collins family, he's nothing!"

I dragged my heavy steps through the crowd.

Just as I walked out of the group's main entrance, a black Rolls-Royce stopped in front of me.

The window lowered, revealing a serious middle-aged man's face.

"Are you Mr. Oren?"

"We're from the National Automotive R&D Center."

"Our director would like to invite you over for a conversation."

I got into the black Rolls-Royce with my backpack.

The car drove smoothly toward the outskirts of the city and stopped in front of a heavily guarded building.

A weighty sign hung at the entrance: National Automotive Research and Development Center.

The middle-aged man led me through the corridors to a spacious office.

An elderly man with graying hair sat behind the desk.

When he saw me, he immediately stood up and extended his hand warmly.

"Mr. Oren, hello. I'm Dr. Thomas, the director here."

I was somewhat flattered and quickly shook his hand.

"Dr. Thomas, hello."

"Please sit. Don't be nervous."

Dr. Thomas gestured for me to sit.

He personally poured me a cup of hot tea and got straight to the point:

"We've been following you for quite some time."

"We've heard about every project you've done at the Collins family."

"Especially your several patents in battery safety—they're very forward-thinking."

My heart trembled slightly.

Dr. Thomas looked at me with eyes full of appreciation.

"So when the Collins family announced Perry as the project leader, we were surprised."

He sighed.

"Perry's design—our institute evaluated it too."

"To pursue extreme performance and range, he sacrificed the most basic safety redundancies."

"To put it bluntly, that's not an electric car—it's a bomb on wheels."

"We can't understand why the Collins family would make such a foolish decision."

I remained silent, not explaining the grudges with the Collins family.

"The Germans aren't fools either."

Dr. Thomas continued.

He took out a document from the drawer and pushed it in front of me.

"This is an internal email the Germans sent us. They've already commissioned us to conduct a final safety assessment of Perry's design."

"Once the assessment fails, they'll immediately terminate the partnership and demand substantial breach-of-contract penalties."

I opened the document. The Germans had long since developed doubts about Perry's abilities.

The only reason they hadn't immediately withdrawn their investment was that they were waiting for an official, convincing justification.

And the research institute's assessment report would be the final straw that broke the camel's back.

"The Collins family is in for a major fall this time."

Dr. Thomas shook his head.

"But that's not what we want to see."

"Our automotive industry needs steady progress, not this kind of suicidal recklessness."

He looked at me with burning intensity.

"Mr. Oren, the nation needs you."

"On behalf of the research institute, I formally invite you to join us."

"We're preparing an entirely new project."

"The goal is to develop the world's safest and highest-performing next-generation power battery."

"I hope you'll serve as chief engineer for this project."

Dr. Thomas stood up, his tone solemn.

"As for compensation, we can offer you triple your current salary."

"And provide you with an independent research lab and expert apartment."

"Whatever resources you need, the nation will fully support you."

I barely hesitated.

"Dr. Thomas, I'm willing."

In my past life, I exhausted myself for the Collins family, only to be rewarded with ruin.

In this life, being able to serve my country was more than I could ask for.