Chapter 1

"Sienna, are you deaf? I told you to hand over the TS Medical Algorithm Suite to Nessa. Did you hear me or not?"

An impatient roar exploded from directly in front of her.

Sienna Stone's eyes snapped open.

A second ago, her heart had been carved out of her chest while she was still alive. The agony still seemed to linger in her ribcage.

But now she could feel her heartbeat. She wasn't dead?

Sienna looked up and saw three people sitting on the Italian custom leather sofa ahead.

Her biological father, Andrew Stone.

Her older brother, Marcus Stone.

And the cuckoo who'd stolen her nest for nineteen years, the adopted daughter who'd ultimately ripped out her heart and left her to die in that underground operating room—Vanessa Stone.

Right now, Vanessa was nestled against Andrew's side, her eyes rimmed red as if she'd suffered some unbearable injustice.

"Sisi, be reasonable."

Marcus tried, for once, to sound patient.

"Nessa already got the offer from the Research Institute. With your algorithm suite, she'll be able to establish herself there. This is about the Stone family's future business expansion. Don't be selfish."

Sienna froze for a second.

Hadn't they already taken the TS Medical Algorithm Suite from her?

Suddenly, she realized something and looked at the wall clock.

March 1, 2026.

Sienna's pupils contracted sharply. She'd been reborn.

Back to three years ago, before the TS Medical Algorithm Suite was stolen, before her heart was carved out.

"Marcus, stop pressuring Sienna." Vanessa lowered her eyes, biting her lip lightly. "The TS Algorithm is her life's work. I can't take it. I can work my way up slowly at the Research Institute. Don't let something this small damage your relationship."

Seeing her distress, Marcus turned and glared daggers at Sienna.

"Why are you so selfish? Ever since you came home, Nessa's been bending over backward to accommodate you. She even canceled her birthday party. She's always told everyone you're the sister who loves her most. Now she's just asking for one project—she's not asking for your life. Why can't you give it to her?"

Andrew's face darkened too. "Sienna, you have no one to blame but yourself. You have no degree, no social skills. That program is wasted in your hands. In Nessa's hands, it can actually create value."

He pulled out a contract he'd prepared beforehand and set it on the coffee table.

"We're not going to let you lose out. Sign this agreement, and I'll have Finance transfer a million dollars to you."

A million dollars to buy out the TS Medical Algorithm Suite, worth billions?

Sienna stared at that piece of paper and found it laughable.

In her past life, desperate for their cheap affection, she'd signed without a second thought. She'd not only handed over the entire algorithm suite but had helped Vanessa with maintenance and upgrades over and over, single-handedly pushing that waste of space to the position of a world-class algorithm genius.

The Stone family had leveraged her work to become medical industry titans, raking in billions.

And how had they repaid her?

They'd thrown a celebration banquet with the money she'd earned, then forged psychiatric records and locked her in an asylum.

In the end, they'd let Vanessa use a heart condition as an excuse to carve out her heart while she was still breathing.

"What are you smiling about?"

Andrew frowned. He had the distinct feeling that Sienna had changed.

She wasn't as easy to control as before.

"I'm smiling at how stupid you all are." Sienna looked down at the three of them.

Marcus shot to his feet. "Say that again!"

"The core logic of my TS Algorithm is multidimensional neural network reconstruction. It requires an extremely high-performance underlying architecture to support it. Vanessa's only skimmed through a few theory books from start to finish. She's never actually run a single line of code. You want her to use it? Aren't you afraid she'll crash the Research Institute's entire system?"

Sienna's mockery struck a nerve with Vanessa.

Her face went pale, and tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"Sienna, why would you say that about me? I just want to do something for the family."

"If you want to contribute, write your own code. Why should you take my work to make yourself look good and climb the ladder?" Sienna shot back mercilessly.

Vanessa was at a loss for words. She turned and threw herself into Marcus's arms, sobbing. "Marcus, is it really so wrong that I want to help the family?"

Marcus comforted her while staring coldly at Sienna.

"It's just an algorithm suite. Is it really more important than Nessa's future?"

"Of course." Sienna's answer was ice-cold.

"Enough!" Andrew exploded to his feet, pointing at her furiously. "You're handing over the TS Medical Algorithm Suite today, or the Stone family will disown you as a daughter!"

"Disown me?" Sienna looked at this man who was her biological father and pulled her lips into a sneer. "You said it."

They thought so little of her.

She wanted to see how, in this life, without her, the third-rate Stone family would become medical industry giants.

Andrew froze. He hadn't expected Sienna, who'd always been so meek and compliant, to actually talk back.

Marcus's brow furrowed, his face full of displeasure as he looked at Sienna.

"Dad's just asking you to hand over the algorithm for Nessa to use. Do you really have to escalate this to cutting ties?"

Sienna ignored him. She walked to the office desk in the living room and printed out a family severance agreement.

"I'm not giving it to you. So I choose severance."

She signed her name cleanly and decisively, then turned the agreement around and held it out to Andrew.

"Your turn."

Seeing how decisively she'd signed, Marcus felt a surge of anger at being slighted.

"Sienna, who are you trying to scare? You have nothing. Once you leave this house, you'll be sleeping on the street tonight. Then you'll come crawling back begging us!"

Andrew, who'd been hesitating, suddenly understood after hearing this.

Sienna, that useless girl, was trying to manipulate him by playing hard to get.

Once she'd suffered enough out there, she'd come back begging, and then he could control her completely.

So Andrew signed his name with a flourish.

"Fine. Since you have no regard for family at all, then if you die out there, it has nothing to do with the Stone family!"

Sienna laughed coldly and collected her copy of the agreement.

"Even if you get on your knees and beg me, I'm not coming back."

She turned and went upstairs, grabbed her backpack containing her laptop and old clothes, came back down, and walked out of the villa without looking back.

The moment Sienna stepped out the front door, the phantom pain in her chest completely vanished.

From today on, she would live only for herself.

An hour later, she rented a studio apartment with utilities included in the old part of town through a rental agency.

After paying three months' rent plus a one-month security deposit, her bank account had less than three thousand dollars left.

She needed to finish the node reconstruction of the TS Algorithm as soon as possible and get it onto a trading platform to monetize it.

Sienna pulled the curtains closed and opened her laptop.

Just as she was about to set up a local firewall, her phone on the desk suddenly vibrated.

A virtual number with no area code flashed on the screen.

Sienna hit the answer button, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Sienna, right?"

A rough, impatient male voice came through the speaker. "Where are you hiding? Don't think I can't find you just because you're not answering your phone!"

Sienna didn't stop typing, her voice flat. "Who is this?"

"Still playing dumb with me? Fine!"

The man gave a cold laugh. "CF Building Materials Inc. Legal representative, Sienna."

"The company declared bankruptcy last month. You owe Sunstar Microfinance eight million in principal plus interest, twelve million dollars total. When exactly do you plan to pay it back?"

Sienna's fingers froze on the keyboard.