**CHAPTER TWO — THE REALITY CHECK**
The ride to work was bumpy enough to shake loose what little composure she had left. The rusty sedan rattled down uneven streets, past peeling shop signs and narrow alleys lined with market stalls. This wasn't the city skyline she knew; there were no glass towers, no glittering billboards, and no familiar luxury boutiques.
She pressed her palm to her forehead. "This… isn't my home."
"Still half-asleep, huh?" The man in the driver's seat—Mr. Li, apparently—shot her a sideways glance. He was thickset, balding, and smelled faintly of tobacco. "Better wake up before the boss sees you. He's not the forgiving type."
She forced a nod. "Right."
Her mind was spinning. She had gone to bed in silk pajamas in her penthouse apartment and woken up here. She still didn't know whose body this was or why she was being called "Brother."
But the girl from earlier—his sister?—had said they couldn't afford to lose this job. Which meant walking away wasn't an option.
The car jolted to a stop in front of a squat, grey building that looked nothing like the glass-fronted headquarters she imagined CEOs worked in. Still, the brass plate above the door bore a company name she didn't recognize, written in bold block letters.
Mr. Li killed the engine. "You've got ten minutes before the morning meeting. Don't be late this time."
"This time?" she echoed.
He gave her a look. "You know what I mean. Last month, you were on probation. The boss nearly fired you."
She swallowed hard. Great. So she wasn't just stepping into someone else's life—she was stepping into someone else's mess.
Inside, the air was cooler but smelled faintly of instant coffee. A cramped reception desk sat near the entrance, behind which a young woman was typing furiously. She glanced up and offered a quick smile.
"Morning, Lin," she said.
Lin. So that was his name. Her name now.
"Morning," she muttered, hoping her deeper voice didn't crack.
The receptionist frowned slightly. "You okay? You sound… off."
"Didn't sleep much," she said quickly, moving past her toward a narrow hallway lined with cubicles.
The office was alive with the low murmur of voices, the clacking of keyboards, and the occasional phone ring. A few heads turned as she passed, some offering polite nods, while others gave her smirks she didn't quite like.
Before she could take more than a few steps, a tall, wiry man in a navy shirt appeared in front of her, blocking her way.
"Well, well. If it isn't the miracle worker," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You actually showed up on time today."
She blinked. "Uh—"
He leaned closer. "Try not to screw up. The boss is in a bad mood."
Without waiting for a response, he brushed past her. She exhaled slowly. Whoever Lin was, he clearly hadn't been winning any popularity contests.
She found an empty desk near the back and sat down, taking in the unfamiliar computer setup and stack of files. Her fingers hovered uncertainly over the keyboard. She had no idea what she was supposed to be doing.
Think. Back in her world, she'd managed charity events, coordinated with fashion designers, and planned galas. Surely office work couldn't be harder than that… right?
A shadow fell across her desk.
"Lin," a clipped female voice said.
She looked up to see a woman in a fitted black skirt and glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
"You're on filing duty this morning. Then you'll be taking minutes at the meeting."
"Minutes?"
The woman's brow furrowed. "Are you seriously asking me what minutes are? Stop playing dumb. You're lucky the boss hasn't replaced you already."
With that, she dropped a stack of documents on the desk and walked away.
Her jaw tightened. In her real life, no one spoke to her like that. But here, she had no power, no money, and no name.
Fine. She could play along. For now.
She started flipping through the files, scanning the unfamiliar language and names. Her mind was still struggling to process the fact that she could understand the words at all—they weren't in her native tongue, yet somehow they made sense.
Half an hour later, she had sorted most of the papers into labeled folders when a loud chime rang through the office.
"Meeting time!" someone called.
People began filing toward a set of glass doors at the far end.
She grabbed a notepad from the desk and followed, trying to blend in.
The conference room was brighter than the rest of the office, with long windows letting in streams of sunlight. Employees took their seats around a large table, murmuring to each other. The chair at the head of the table was empty.
She slid into a seat near the middle, keeping her head down.
A moment later, the room fell silent.
The sound of footsteps echoed against the polished floor—steady, unhurried, confident.
She didn't need to look up to know the boss had arrived. There was a palpable shift in the air, the kind of authority that made people sit up straighter.
Still, curiosity got the better of her. She glanced up—and her breath caught.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dark hair neatly combed back. A perfectly tailored suit that screamed expensive. His eyes were sharp, scanning the room as he took his place at the head of the table.