10
The moment I graduated from high school, I didn’t just use my knowledge of the past to play the stock market and earn my first nest egg; I also founded a company in what I knew would be the most promising industry of the next five years, recruiting a team of young but brilliant founding partners.
These were all people! had known in my past life. They had the talent, but not the capital.
As soon as college started, orientation was canceled, giving me even more time to prepare a proposal and bid for an upcoming project at the Astor Corporation.
It was this very project that would elevate the Astor Corporation to a new level, cementing their status as the wealthiest family in the city.
One day, while working on the proposal at the university library, I heard the news: Shaffer and Scarlett were officially together.
Scarlett’s public displays of their relationship were breathtakingly ostentatious. Her social media was updated at least once a day, and the two of them were inseparable.
The first time I ran into them on campus, they seemed to be arguing.
Shaffer was pinching the bridge of his nose, a headache clearly blooming. “Scarlett, the company is in the middle of a massive project right now. Can I please spend time with you after it’s
done?”
Scarlett had changed, and for him, this new, attentive version of her was a welcome development. After all, she was the girl he had promised to protect for a lifetime. But her behavior was becoming erratic, almost too much. Even though he was growing weary, Shaffer’s innate politeness and gentlemanly upbringing made it impossible for him to refuse her.
But Scarlett’s face darkened on the spot. “What do you mean? Are you just like Zane? You get what you want and then you stop caring? You promised you’d take care of me forever! Are you going back on your word? Is this how you repay my parents?”
[Chat: Ugh, I don’t know why, but this is getting really cringey… She’s lived this life once before, why is she still playing these childish games?]
[Chat: Shaffer’s being more than patient here. Scarlett tracks his every move 24/7, except when he’s sleeping, just to keep him away from the original MC. If my girlfriend did that, I’d suffo- cate]
[Chat Compare that to Luna, who never checked his phone and always gave him space. The male lead actually started wondering if Luna even loved him.]
Scarlett’s eyes lifted and found me. Her expression soured even more. She glared at me, her eyes red–rimmed as she yelled, “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from us?”
I raised an eyebrow “Get your head checked. You think you own this hallway?”
She gritted her teeth, but then she saw it: Shaffer’s gaze, which had been fixed on her, was now drifting, lost in thought, as he looked at me.
Scarlett let out a shriek. “Shaffer, has she bewitched you? Why? We’re living it all over again, and you’re still looking at her?!”
Linwardly sighed
Scarlett let out a shriek. “Shaffer, has she bewitched you? Why? We’re living it all over again, and you’re still looking at her?!”
1 inwardly sighed.
I couldn’t understand it. Scarlett had so much: her parents‘ love, immense wealth, and a sharp mind. Yet she was always so hopelessly lost.
For the eighteen–year–old Shaffer, Scarlett didn’t have to do a single thing. He would have gravitated toward her on his own. And even if she didn’t have Shaffer, so what? What she already possessed was more than most people could ever dream of.
Shaffer looked apologetic as he watched Scarlett run off. “I’m sorry. My girlfriend… she hasn’t been herself lately. I apologize on her behalf.”
Girlfriend…
I drifted for a moment. In my last life, I was Shaffer’s first real relationship.
But the person who taught him how to love was, and always had been, Scarlett.
I knew that even after we were married, even while he loved me, he could never truly let Scarlett go. He loved me openly, for the world to see, but he protected Scarlett with a quiet, careful
devotion.
Fine. Let it be. In this second life, we were all walking different paths.
And I no longer needed him.
