Chapter 1

Bella Shaw was reborn. Staring at her own young, smooth face in the mirror and the slender, pale fingers at her side, she froze for a moment before snatching up her phone to check the date. June 26, 2024. It was right after the college entrance exam, the time when she was supposed to submit her college applications. It was also the period when her two childhood friends, Sebastian Gale and Ronald Lowe, had begun chasing after her relentlessly in her previous life. A flicker of excitement lit up her eyes. Without another thought, she grabbed her phone and dashed straight to the office. "Ms. Scott, I want to change my application from Eastbridge College to Northfield College." Hearing that, Ophelia Scott's face lit up. "So you finally figured it out? You're the top scorer in the entire city. Eastbridge College is great, but Northfield College is the top school. It'd be a shame not to go there." Bella gave a bitter smile. "I was being stubborn before. I'm sorry, Ms. Scott. I'd like to switch back now." Switching her application didn't take much time. By the time she got home, she found a few unexpected visitors waiting for her. Her two childhood friends, Sebastian and Ronald, were there—along with her best friend, Tessa Moore. "What are you guys doing here?" When she walked in, the usually aloof Sebastian greeted her with an unusually warm smile. "Did you forget? We said we'd have dinner at your place tonight to celebrate all four of us getting into the same college." Ronald, carefree as always, walked up to her and tapped her lightly on the head. "Little scatterbrain. We knew you've been swamped these past few days preparing your honor graduate speech, so we've been setting everything up here for a while. All you have to do is show up and eat." Just as Bella was about to speak, her phone rang. It was Ophelia. "Bella, you left in a hurry just now, and I forgot to tell you something. You were originally scheduled to give the speech as our top-performing student in three days, but two major board members suddenly spoke up and had the spot changed to Tessa." Ophelia sounded regretful. No matter how she looked at it, Bella, the top scorer, was clearly the more suitable choice. She had no idea what kind of connection Tessa had with those two board members that would prompt them to personally intervene. But while Ophelia was confused, Bella glanced at Sebastian and Ronald and immediately understood. Their fathers just happened to be board members of the school. "I got it. Thank you, Ms. Scott." She nodded calmly, accepting it without a fuss. Ophelia was surprised by how well she took it, and her voice showed it. "You're the top scorer. Having you give the speech makes far more sense. It's an honor, you know. Are you really going to give it up to Tessa?" Bella remained calm and even managed a smile. "Yeah." Not just this. She was giving Sebastian and Ronald to Tessa, too, as she refused to relive the misery of her past life. In her previous life, Sebastian and Ronald had chased her just as fiercely, acting as if they couldn't wait to hand her their hearts. The first time around, she married Sebastian. But in their third year of marriage, he died in a car accident while protecting Tessa. That was when she learned he had never loved her. The person he loved all along was Tessa. Buried in grief, she completely fell apart. And then, Ronald reappeared in her life. He stayed by her side, helped her out of the darkness, encouraged her to start over, and told her she still had him. So the second time, she married Ronald. After marriage, he treated her just as gently as before, but there was always a polite distance, as if they were respectful roommates. At first, she assumed their romance had simply mellowed into something like family, until years later, when the elderly Tessa was diagnosed with heart disease. He ignored her pleas and donated his heart to Tessa without hesitation. It was only then did she realize he had loved Tessa too. She couldn't understand. If both Sebastian and Ronald loved Tessa, why did they marry her at all? It wasn't until the funeral that Tessa, drenched in self-satisfaction, revealed the truth. "Why did they marry you? Because I planned everything. I told them if they didn't listen to me and chase after you, I'd disappear from their lives forever. They panicked, so they fought each other to win you over. "Oh, and do you know why you never had children? Because they both got vasectomies for me. They told me that even if they married you, their hearts belonged to me alone, and they'd never have kids with you!" Tessa laughed hysterically. Bella's mind went blank, and she screamed at Tessa, asking why she did this. The answer was just as ridiculous. "Why? Because I was jealous. You were born rich and never lacked anything. I had to fight for everything, while you got it all without trying. "Of course, I wasn't okay with that. I wanted to watch you suffer and make sure you knew your happiness was nothing but a lie I allowed you to have." With that, Tessa strutted away, proud of her cruelty. Overwhelmed, Bella coughed up blood and died on the spot. But now, the heavens had shown her mercy, giving her another chance. And this time, she would never let herself be tangled up with any of them again.