Chapter 6
Before leaving, I submitted all the evidence to the police]
The police quickly opened an investigation.
But because the Parker family pulled every string they had, in the end the two of them just got slapped with a fine.[]
And since Jonas was so determined about Rachel, Mr. and Mrs. Parker eventually gave up after all the back and forth.[]
They turned a blind eye to their relationship.]
They even sent both of them to the same for–profit college together.]
When I heard this news, I felt pretty indifferent about it.]]
I knew the Parker family would do everything to protect their heir.]]
But I had to file that police report – I needed to cut all ties with the Parkers completely.[]
Even though they barely got punished, I had my own life to focus on and couldn’t waste any more energy on this mess.[]
During my sophomore year, I came home just in time for a class reunion.]
My best friend excitedly shared the gossip:[]
“Ruby, Ruby! Did you know Jonas and Rachel got engaged!
“Can you believe it? They just turned eighteen!“]]
I turned to look in Jonas’s direction]
Rachel was leaning against him, her hair dyed pink, wearing a super short skirt so high you could see half her ass hanging out.]
Jonas, who used to have such great style, was now wearing an oversized shirt and skinny jeans that totally didn’t suit him, with a new tattoo on his neck.] It was Rachel’s initials.]
Compared to my past life, he was like a completely different person.[]
Thanks for all the congratulations! You’re all definitely invited to the wedding!”
Jonas stood up to toast everyone, chugging straight from the bottle.[]
Watching him drink so expertly, I felt disoriented for a moment.
In my past life, Jonas would be hitting up academic conferences with me right now, fine–tuning equipment in research labs.]
Even when he drank, he was refined and controlled, never overdoing it.]
But who was this loud, rude guy downing drinks in front of me?
Just two years – could someone change this much?]
Seeing me stare, a classmate nudged Jonas and nodded toward me:
“Hey, Ruby’s looking at you. Is she upset about your engagement?“]
A female classmate quickly jumped in:
“Oh my God, remember how everyone back in high school totally thought you two would be endgame? Like, nobody saw you and Rachel coming.
“Did you hear? Ruby’s been getting the national scholarship at Harvard two years in a row–bet someone’s feeling a little regret now?” My heart skipped a beat.]
Chapter 6
- er.
Being put on the spot like this, I found myself actually curious about his answer.
Jonas’s eyes briefly swept over me.]
I was still dressed in the same academic style as my past life, or as he used to say, like some boring old librarian.
But when he looked at me, I caught a flash of what seemed like envy in his eyes.]]
Then he let out a cold laugh:[]
“Why would I regret anything? Meeting Rachel showed me there’s so much more to life than just being a bookworm.
“If I’d picked her, would I even be here drinking with you guys right now?“]
Rachel smirked, shooting me a sideways glance with a dismissive eyebrow raise.
The clear winner.
I just smiled and turned back to share the fruit platter with my friend.[]
Music started playing from the speakers.
Jonas grabbed the mic and passionately sang some cheesy love song that was trending on TikTok lately.[]
I wasn’t into it, so my friend and I headed out early.[]
While waiting for our ride outside, I heard a familiar voice behind me:
“Ruby, long time no see.”
I turned around to find Jonas with that trademark smirk plastered on his face.]]
“What’s up?”
“Nothing much, just… we haven’t talked in forever. You free? Wanna grab a drink, just the two of us?“]
A black car pulled up in front of me, and I smiled at him:
“Sorry, I’ve got projects to work on. If you want to meet with me one–on–one, you’ll need to make an appointment.“[]
He froze.
I’d been a workaholic in my past life too.
But in this life, building on that foundation, I’d achieved even more – at Harvard I was involved in some major defense research projects.
1
Jonas seemed to finally realize how much of an advantage those past–life memories were for my current career.
But that flash of envy disappeared quickly, and he rubbed the back of his neck:
“Uh, it wasn’t anything important anyway.”
Then he quickly turned and walked away, like he was afraid I’d see through him or something.
