16
Coming out of the restroom, I ran into Scarlett.
She had clearly been crying, her eyes shot through with red veins. “Luna, I’m going to tell you a secret. Your rebirth… I traded ten years of my life to a system to make it happen. I just want-
ed you to see, with your own eyes, how I would take back everything that belongs to me in this new life.”
I froze. That, I truly didn’t know.
Her gaze shifted from resentment to a deep, desolate sorrow. “I wanted you to watch yourself fall from paradise to hell, to taste the same pain I suffered in my last life. But why? Why, after starting over, are you still doing better than me? Why does Shaffer still notice you?! Why do you get to be the main character, while I’m doomed to be the supporting role?! I was raised like a princess, given everything I ever wanted. Zane was the first boy to ever play hard–to–get, and I thought I had found true love. I pushed Shaffer away with my own two hands, only to find out all Zane wanted was my family’s fortune. Do you have any idea how much despair I felt when I heard you and Shaffer were getting married, right after I’d had an abortion?!”
The long–dormant chat suddenly reappeared.
[Chat: HOLY SHIT, a plot twist of epic proportions? Luna was reborn too? And Scarlett did it on purpose!]
[Chat: This is insane! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.]
[Chat: I’m speechless. I rooted for Scarlett for so long, only to realize that all she does is complain and wallow in self–pity. She hasn’t done a single productive thing! I thought this was a revenge story, but even with a second chance, the main character is still the main character!]
[Chat: There’s a reason the main character is who she is. She knows what she wants, from start to finish. She doesn’t have time for petty romance drama. I admit, I was wrong about her
before.]
I looked at her and said, my voice serious, “Even with a second chance, you still don’t get it.”
She looked at me, confused. “Don’t get what?”
“You don’t know how to live in the present. You’re forever trapped in the past. You forget that you are the heiress to the Vance Corporation, a student with a guaranteed spot at Harvard, and Shaffer Astor’s childhood sweetheart. His feelings for you are irreplaceable. More importantly, you don’t understand that the role of ‘main character‘ is something you give to yourself.
Not the readers, not anyone else. You become the protagonist of your own story. With a mindset like yours, no matter how many times you’re reborn, you’ll only ever be a supporting char-
acter in someone else’s life.”
As she stood there, stunned into silence, I felt a genuine sense of gratitude toward her for the first time.
“Scarlett, thank you for giving me the chance to become me. I much prefer the main character I’ve made for myself over the one others labeled me in my past life.”
17
