Chapter 284 - 282: Who the Hell Are You Kidding?

"Nope. I set my profile to male and wrote ’Got a little money, like looking at pretty girls’ in my bio."

Estelle Goodman raised an eyebrow smugly. "I’ve disguised myself as a rich, middle-aged man. It’s flawless!"

Cecilia Sterling heard this and shook her head, speechless. Only Estelle could come up with such a crazy idea.

’She has some brains, but not a lot.’

Just then, her phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw it was an unknown number from Lorcain.

She swiped to answer, and a polite voice came from the other end. "Hello, may I ask if this is Miss Sterling?"

But the moment that voice reached her ears, it was like a switch flipped inside her. Her scalp tingled, and she was instantly pulled back to a specific moment from her past life.

It was a familiar voice. A voice she remembered.

’Eugene Jacobs!’

Cecilia’s gaze darkened for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. "This is she," she answered naturally. "Who is this?"

"Miss Sterling, my apologies for the unsolicited call. My name is Jacobs. I’m calling to discuss a potential collaboration regarding the Genesis Park you own. I was wondering if you had any plans to sell the property?"

’Hearing this, Cecilia’s delicate eyebrows rose slightly. It had been some time since her identity was made public. Looks like the Lane Group is the quickest to make a move.’

’She had no intention of selling this land. She hadn’t bought the industrial park to flip it for a quick profit.’

’She was waiting for the key development plan for Sunstone District to be approved. Once that happened, the value of her industrial park would skyrocket, possibly even double!’

’This was an investment based on her knowledge from her past life—something no one else could have predicted.’

’So, for now, the industrial park was languishing, but Cecilia wasn’t the least bit worried.’

However, a slight smile touched Cecilia’s lips as she replied into the phone, "Of course. Is Mr. Jacobs interested in buying the land?"

The man on the other end paused for a moment before replying calmly, "We have some thoughts and are leaning that way. If Miss Sterling would be willing to give us a chance to sit down and discuss it in person, we would be extremely grateful."

"Of course!" Cecilia agreed without hesitation. "Today at noon. Twelve o’clock at The Sparrow Coffee, right across from the west gate of the Lorcain Institute of Technology."

"You’re refreshingly direct, Miss Sterling. I’ll see you at noon, then."

"See you at noon."

After she hung up, a terrifyingly dark expression fell over Cecilia’s face.

’Walter Lane, even in this new life, your methods are completely uninspired. Still using Eugene Jacobs.’

’In her past life, Shawn Lane had plagiarized her thesis. She had exhausted every option to appeal and gather evidence in her fight against the Lane Group. All she wanted was to reclaim the credit for her own work.’

’But Walter Lane, for the sake of his son and the Lane Group’s reputation, had used every trick in the book to silence her. And the man who finally plunged her into complete despair was this Eugene Jacobs.’

’Back then, Eugene Jacobs had approached her on behalf of the Lane Family with a settlement agreement. It was an incredibly tempting offer. The Cecilia of that time knew its terms were far better than anything she could have ever hoped to win from the Lane Group on her own.’

"Shawn Lane still has some lingering feelings for you, which is why he’s offering you this agreement. It allows both of you to end this farce with some dignity."

Those were Eugene Jacobs’s exact words at the time.

And back then, she had naively believed that Shawn Lane really did still care about her—that stealing the thesis had been a momentary lapse in judgment, and that things had simply progressed to a point of no return, leaving him no choice but to hurt her.

The agreement stated that Shawn Lane was willing to add her name to the thesis and pay her two million dollars in compensation for emotional distress. In return, she had to agree to never again make any statements detrimental to Shawn Lane regarding the thesis incident, and the matter would be closed.

Cecilia had been utterly exhausted. That single sheet of paper was like the last rainfall during a long trek through a barren desert. She had no strength left. If she didn’t seize this chance, she felt she would wither and die right there.

So, she signed it!

But later, the settlement agreement she had signed was transformed into an apology agreement with entirely different terms.

An agreement in which *she* was apologizing to Shawn Lane!

Eugene Jacobs had successfully tricked her into signing the settlement agreement, then used a sleight-of-hand trick to perfectly transfer her signature onto a different document. The forgery was so convincing that even she was stunned into a daze when she saw it.

"Miss Sterling, you have no way of turning this around now. This apology agreement is enough to crucify you in the court of public opinion. Making a bigger fuss won’t get you a better result. But I can guarantee you that what you’re looking at right now is not the worst thing that can happen. For you, fighting the Lane Group is like an ant trying to shake a tree. The Lane Group has ways to make things much, much worse—ways you can’t even begin to imagine. And I don’t think you want to find out what those are, do you?"

’He had a handsome face and a refined way of speaking, but underneath he was just a piece of scum hiding behind a hypocritical mask!’

Cecilia would never forget his vile expression.

"Honey, where are you going? I thought we didn’t have class this morning?"

Seeing Cecilia get out of bed, Estelle quickly sat up and asked.

Cecilia casually threw on a jacket and replied, "Going to get some breakfast. I’m afraid I’ll be too disgusted to eat anything at noon."

Estelle blinked, confused. Then, snapping out of it, she scrambled out of bed too. "I’m coming with you!"

「Noon. The Sparrow Coffee, outside the west gate of Lorcain Tech.」

As Cecilia walked past the coffee shop’s glass window, she recognized Eugene Jacobs sitting in a corner inside. But after entering, she pretended she hadn’t seen him and took out her phone to call him.

As his phone rang, Eugene Jacobs looked toward the entrance, saw Cecilia holding her phone, and raised a hand before getting to his feet.

Cecilia put on a false, warm smile and walked toward him.

"Mr. Jacobs?"

"That’s me. I didn’t expect Miss Sterling to be so young!" Eugene Jacobs was dressed in a light khaki suit, his hair combed immaculately. He had a fair complexion and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, exuding the refined air of a cultured yuppie.

Hearing this, Cecilia could only sneer inwardly.

’Who the fuck are you trying to fool?’

’Walter Lane sent you; he obviously had me thoroughly investigated.’

’Trying to pull the same old trick as last time? Sending a supposedly complete stranger to lure me into a trap?’

On the surface, however, she just smiled and said, "You’re quite distinguished yourself, Mr. Jacobs. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Not yet." The pupils behind Eugene Jacobs’s lenses flickered. As Cecilia took off her coat, he discreetly sized up her perfect figure, then adjusted his glasses and gestured for her to sit. "Please sit, Miss Sterling. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I took the liberty of ordering you a hot Americano."

’Cecilia rolled her eyes inwardly. What’s the difference between a hot Americano and Chinese medicine, anyway?’

"You’re so thoughtful, Mr. Jacobs. A hot Americano is my absolute favorite," Cecilia said, her lips curving into a seductive smile.

"Oh, really? I was just being considerate, in case you were on your period. I guess I got lucky."