Chapter 212

Marc steadied himself, feigning anger, “Ms. Smith, bringing in an outsider for verification? Are you saying you don’t trust me? Then why did you hire me in the first place?”

With that, he slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, turning to leave.

Inwardly, he was counting the seconds, expecting Isabella to call him back at any moment.

As he walked away, Isabella suddenly said, “Mr. King.”

Marc frowned and turned back to Isabella, “What? Ms. Smith, what are you talking about?”

Isabella’s heart skipped a beat, but she managed to force a smile, “Marc, there’s no need to hide your identity anymore. I already know everything about you.”

Marc’s heart sank.

Did Isabella discover that he was a fraud?

As he looked at Isabella’s twisted smile, he grew more convinced that she had seen through him.

Growing fearful, Marc contemplated the substantial amount of money he had received during this time.

If Isabella decided to sue him, he could end up in jail.

“Marc, just be honest with me,” Isabella urged, hinting wildly, “I know all about your identities.”

Sweat broke out on Marc’s forehead.

Overwhelmed by Isabella’s confident demeanor, his legs began to tremble.

1 In a shaky voice, he pleaded, “Ms. Smith, you… you can’t sue me. I never intended to deceive anyone.

It was you who suddenly offered to hire me with an annual salary of four million dollars. At most, I just went along with it. It wasn’t deliberate fraud.”

Isabella was confused.

“You… you’re not King?”

“King?” Marc was stunned. “Who is King?”

The next moment, he came to his senses and asked, “Who do you think you are? You mean that century’s most talented programmer? If I were him, would I be working in a small company?”

“You…” Isabella, trembling and pointing at Marc, suddenly lowered her head and spat out a mouthful of blood in A shock and disbelief.

Marcl He wasn’t King at all!

So what was all her scheming for the past six months?

Thinking she was smart?

A fool with more money than sense?

“Ms. Smith, please don’t scare me. Why are you suddenly coughing up blood? Let me make it clear, I didn’t do anything. Your bleeding is your own issue, don’t try to pin it on me,” Marc said, a hint of panic in his voice.

Isabella looked up at him, her mind almost breaking, “Marc! You’re not King, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Marc was was stunned, “I didn’t know either. How could you possibly think I was King? Anyone with a bit of sense would never link me to King.”

What did that mean?

Was he implying that Isabella had no brains?

Isabella clutched her chest, nearly spitting out another mouthful of blood.

Seeing things were going south, Marc cautiously stepped back, “I didn’t even touch you, don’t try to frame me. I’ll… I’ll return half my salary to you, and we’ll act like this collaboration never happened.”

As he tried to slip away, Isabella rushed over and grabbed his clothes, gritting her teeth, “Marc, you’ve deceived me so badly, and you think you can just walk away?”

Marc got irritated, “What else do you want? You were the ones who approached me for the contract.

I’m being reasonable by offering half back.”

Isabella sneered, “Don’t forget, Marc. In these six months, you’ve redirected nearly ten million dollars from the company. That’s enough to land you in jail for life!”

Marc was dumbfounded, “Ms. Smith, you asked me to do it.”

Isabella looked at him coldly, “Do you have any proof? You handled the money. I never even touched it.

What makes you think you can pin this on me?”

Marc became desperate, “But most of the money was transferred to you.”

Isabella laughed, “The account you transferred to isn’t mine. Even if you claim that, nobody can trace it back to me! Marc, you’re definitely carrying the blame for this.”

Α Marc looked at Isabella’s crazed demeanor, feeling overwhelmed, “Then what do you want?”

Isabella, with gritted teeth, said, “Storm Group’s phones are starting pre–sales now. They will officially launch in a week. I want you to launch that dating game ahead of schedule, within this week.”

Marc was taken aback, “That dating game is almost ready, but I’m still clueless about the most crucial part, the Intelligent NPC.”

“I don’t care if you have a clue or not. You either produce the game within five days, or I’ll send you to jail.”

Isabella said sternly, fixing Marc with a fierce glare. “The choice is yours.”

Marc’s lips trembled slightly. Finally, with a hard resolve, he gritted his teeth and said, “Five days is tight… but I’ll try,”

Isabella then smiled, patting Marc on the shoulder lightly, ‘Don’t be too nervous. Even if you can’t create a real intelligent NPC, just make something passable that can fool the average player. I believe in you.”

With that, Isabella left.

Marc collapsed onto the ground, overwhelmed.

Five days…

Even making something passable seemed impossible to him.

But compared to prison, he felt he had to give it his all.

Five days later, Marc presented the final product to Isabella.

She opened the game, recalling her past life when she had played it.

Back then, due to her jealousy of Susan, she had only played it briefly before discarding it.

Despite not playing much herself, the game had been incredibly popular, and the discussions about it were inescapable. She had inadvertently picked up some of the storyline.

The game featured four male leads, each with their unique personality and a dedicated fanbase.

Influenced by their enthusiastic recommendations, Isabella, even without much personal experience, had a rough idea of the plot.

So, this time, she took the initiative to copy the character settings and the main storyline from the game produced by Susan in her previous life.

In essence, her game was a complete copy of Susan’s creation from her past life..

A But now, it was a different time.

Susan’s game was likely still the same.

But she would release a similar game first.

Then, when Susan released hers, it would look like Susan was the one copying.

Isabella was curious to see how Susan would manage to maintain her reputation and profits with the label of a copycat hanging over her.

With this thought in mind, Isabella eagerly started the game.

She hadn’t played much in her past life and didn’t intend to dive deep this time either.

She briefly went through the storyline.

Marc, watching by her side, was a bundle of nerves.

He had no idea what an intelligent NPC should be like. His approach was simply to add more options to create the illusion of complex branching paths.

He was unsure if the game would pass muster.

Isabella played the game for a short while and showed a satisfied expression.

The male leads‘ personalities and some specific plot points were exactly like those in her past life.

If the game was a hit then, it could be a hit now too.

Only this time, it would be Isabella, not Susan, who would be credited for its success.

“You did well,” Isabella said. “We’ll launch the game tonight.”

The game… passed just like that?

Marc was slightly dazed, but he wouldn’t undermine his own work, so he quickly nodded in agreement.

Isabella looked at the game and smiled subtly.

Susan, this time, I’m curious to see how you’ll turn things around.

The game you’ve made can’t be changed. If you insist on releasing it, you’ll be labeled as copying me.

If you don’t release it, you’ll disappoint your audience.

I I really want to see what you’ll choose!

A