Chapter 3

That night, I pulled Richard out onto the balcony.

He had just finished grading a mountain of tests. His glasses were still resting on the bridge of his nose, and he looked exhausted.

"What's wrong, babe?"

I looked at him, my throat tightening.

The last time he stood on a podium in my past life, he looked exactly like this.

A crisp white shirt, black-rimmed glasses, and chalk dust on his cuffs.

But later, he would flinch every time his phone buzzed.

The vile comments online had acted like razor blades, slicing away his dignity piece by piece.

He had done absolutely nothing wrong, yet he was forced to explain himself over and over again to a mob that didn't care.

"There's no smoke without fire," they had said.

I took a deep breath. "Starting tomorrow, you are never to be in a room alone with Chloe. Not even for a second."

Richard blinked in confusion.

"Chloe? The girl who came by today?"

"Yes."

"Is something wrong with her?"

I wanted to tell him everything about the past life.

But the words got stuck in my throat, coming out as, "I had a really terrible nightmare."

He didn't laugh at me.

Richard was always like that. Even when things sounded ridiculous, he would listen to me seriously.

I described what Chloe might do, framing it as a "dream."

He said he would be careful.

I shook my head. "Being careful isn't enough."

I slid a piece of paper across the table to him.

It was a list of ten rules I had drafted.

As Richard read through them, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

"Sophia, do you know something I don't?"

I stared into his eyes.

"I just know that human nature is sometimes much harder to solve than any math equation."

He fell silent for a long time, then folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket.

"I trust you. I'll do it."

The next day, Chloe officially joined the six-person AP Calculus prep group.

I personally moved the class to the third-floor AV room.

When Chloe signed the attendance sheet, her fingers hesitated.

I stood beside her. "Any questions?"

She looked up, offering a sweet, innocent smile. "No, Sophia. You've thought of everything."

I smiled back. "We have to protect our students. And our teachers."

The voice recorders were standard school equipment.

Serial numbers, check-out times, and return logs—everything was strictly documented.

They were meant for resolving classroom disputes, but in my past life, nobody had thought to use them.

This time, I wasn't letting a single detail slip through the cracks.

For the next two weeks, Chloe was on her best behavior.

She was so quiet that I almost thought I had successfully rewritten our destiny.

But by the third week, she started testing the waters.

When the bell rang and the other students packed up and left, Chloe stayed behind, holding her workbook.

"Mr. Richard, could you explain this problem to me one more time?"

Richard glanced at the door. The female teaching assistant I had assigned immediately stepped into the room.

"I'll stay and listen too," the assistant said with a polite smile.

Chloe’s expression stiffened.

"Never mind. I'll just figure it out at home."

Another time, she collapsed in the hallway, clutching her stomach right as Richard was walking by.

"Mr. Richard, I feel so dizzy..."

Before Richard could even speak, I stepped out from around the corner, with the school nurse right behind me.

"What's wrong? Let's get you to the clinic."

Chloe gasped when she saw me, panic flitting across her face.

"I... I think my blood sugar is just low. I'll be fine if I sit down."

Then, she started sending late-night messages to Richard on Snapchat.

[Mr. Richard, I really can't take this pressure anymore.]

[I don't want to live.]

[Can we please just talk? Just between us. Please don't tell anyone.]

In my past life, these exact screenshots were leaked and edited into a viral video.

“If their relationship was totally innocent, why did she only reach out to him?” the internet had screamed.

This time, Richard didn't reply.

Instead, he took screenshots and posted them directly into the school administration's group chat, tagging the school counselor and Chloe’s homeroom teacher.

Within ten minutes, the school counselor contacted Chloe’s parents.

When Chloe came to school the next day, her eyes were red and swollen.

She marched up to my desk, her voice dropping to a cold whisper.

"Sophia, I trusted Mr. Richard. Why did you have to turn this into such a massive deal?"

I looked up. "Because your life is more important than your secrets."

She stared at me.

At that moment, the fragile, victimized mask she wore slipped, just for a second.

"You really know how to play the saint, don't you?"

I closed my file folder. "And you really know how to act."

Her expression shifted, but then she quickly lowered her head and let out a soft, mocking laugh.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I ignored her.

But I knew she wouldn't be able to hold back much longer.