Chapter 3

Once high school started, I left early every morning and came home late every night.

After evening study sessions, I'd often stay even later before finally heading back.

One time, the Andres family driver dropped me off at the school gate and a classmate saw.

After that, I turned down the rides and started taking the bus to school instead.

Mr. and Mrs. Andres didn't fully understand, but they respected my decision.

At first, being separated from Claire every day felt a little strange.

But I was quickly buried under the weight of the coursework, and there wasn't much time to think about anything else.

One evening after study hall, I stayed behind to work through a problem that had been giving me trouble. By the time the security guard came to check the building, it was almost eleven.

I rushed to the bus stop, but the last bus had already gone.

Fortunately, in this life, the Andres family had always taken care of me. Even though I tried to spend as little of their money as possible, I never let my account drop below a healthy amount.

I pulled up a rideshare app on my phone and booked a car.

The moment I got in, I noticed something off about the way the driver was looking at me.

"Still in school, huh, sweetheart?"

His voice had a greasy quality to it.

Our school had a strict uniform policy, so the question wasn't exactly innocent.

I gave a flat "mm-hm" and set an alarm on my phone. One minute from now.

Then my phone rang.

I thought it was the alarm, but when I looked at the screen, it was Cooper.

I hesitated, then answered.

"Where are you?" His voice was low on the other end.

I was quiet for a second.

"You're just heading home now? You took a rideshare?"

I said yes.

"Send me the license plate. Where are you right now?"

I glanced out the window and gave him a street address. It happened to be near the entrance to a night market, so there were still plenty of people around.

"Get out of the car now and wait. I'm coming to get you."

"No, no, it's fine, I can get home on my own."

I kept refusing.

There was a pause on his end, and then the line went dead.

Right away, a message came through from Cooper.

"License plate."

I had no choice but to send it to him.

The rest of the ride was dead quiet.

When we arrived, I saw someone standing at the intersection a little way off.

When Cooper saw me step out, he turned and walked without a word.

I followed silently behind him.

Then, out of nowhere, his voice came back.

"Are you scared of me?"

My steps faltered.

In my past life, it was around this same time that the truth came out — that Claire had been at the orphanage the day I was adopted.

Back then, I had faced Mr. and Mrs. Andres's cold looks and Cooper's burning resentment.

Overnight, I went from being their cherished daughter to an unwanted stray.

Even though I was still enrolled at the private school, those classmates had a talent for reading the room.

The moment they sensed that the Andres family had turned on me, the trouble started.

Snakes showing up in my backpack.

Glue on my chair.

Prank after prank.

At first they were cautious, wary of the Andres name, wary of Cooper.

But once they realized no one was going to step in on my behalf, it escalated fast.

It all came to a head at a classmate's birthday party, when someone slipped something into my drink.

By the time I realized what had happened, it was already too late.

In a panic, I stumbled into Cooper's room.

That only made things worse. Cooper, who had already despised me, looked at me with a hatred so cold and absolute that it felt like being thrown into a frozen lake.

Mrs. Andres said I was vicious. That I couldn't let go of the family's wealth, that I had lost my mind trying to become Cooper's wife.

She said the Andres family must have wronged me in a past life, and that I had come back to collect.

Every word cut into me like a blade, slow and deliberate.

I wanted to leave. I wanted to run. I wanted to disappear.

But I had nowhere to go, and no money of my own.

Eventually I found the courage to walk away from the Andres family.

But without a degree or any real skills, all I could do was scrape by with a job at a coffee shop.

And then everything stopped when they found out I was pregnant.

Cooper forced me onto the operating table.

He said he would not allow me to have his child.

It disgusted him.

I had begged him. A cut I had gotten once wouldn't stop bleeding, and a doctor had told me that my blood didn't clot properly. Even a small wound, if left untreated, could kill me. And I genuinely was not in any condition to go through that procedure.

But Cooper went ahead anyway.

I didn't make it.

Though, in those last moments of my past life, I wasn't afraid.

I almost felt like leaving this world that way was... fine.

"Oof!"

Lost in those memories, I hadn't noticed Cooper had stopped walking.

I walked right into him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

I stepped back quickly and apologized, eyes down.

He was wearing a camel-colored trench coat. Behind his gold-framed glasses, his eyes were dark and unreadable.

After a long moment, he turned and walked away without saying a word.

That night was nothing more than a small interruption.

What followed was an even heavier load of schoolwork.

Unlike my past life, the curriculum at a public school moved fast. By junior year, we had already covered most of what was usually left for senior year.

After that, it was all practice tests and SAT prep.