"Thud—" I hit the ground hard after falling from the rooftop. Falling right alongside me was the husband who tricked me, ruined me, and wanted me dead. I thought dying together was the end for us. I never expected that when I opened my eyes again, I'd been reborn. And so had he! 01 I was standing on the edge of the rooftop. The wind whipped around me. Below me, a dizzying drop. Behind me, Mark’s hand rested on my shoulder. He said, "Piper, didn't you say you loved me? If you love me, you should just jump. Save me the trouble, right?" Every word out of his mouth made me sicker. God, I was so stupid. Fooled by the sweet nothings whispered by the devil behind me. He stole my family's company, got my parents killed, and still, it wasn't enough. He wanted my life too! I wouldn't stand for it— Absolutely not!!! I turned my head, my smile dripping with sarcasm. "Mark, can't even bring yourself to do the killing? I finally see it. You're just a coward, pathetic as dirt!" Instantly, his eyes blazed with hatred. The second he lost his cool, unable to think straight, I grabbed the hand he used to push me. And dragged him down to hell with me! As Mark screamed, a triumphant smile spread across my face. I felt my body plummet, the wind slicing past my cheeks like knives. "CRUNCH—" In the last moment of my life, I even heard the sound of my own bones shattering. Damn, that hurt! But thinking about the bastard lying dead next to me? That felt good. If only… 02 "Piper!" Someone tapped sharply on the desk. I jolted awake. My deskmate, Jessica, whispered, "The professor's asking you a question!" A question? I was practically pavement pizza, how could anyone ask me a question? I looked up, confused, right into the professor's scowling face. "Ms. Sterling, I was talking about advertising design. How do you say 'poster' and 'advertisement' in, well, English?" This felt familiar… Wasn't this a required course from my senior year? I was reborn!! I remembered my answer back then: "I love my country, I refuse to learn some foreign devil's language!" It had made the old professor absolutely livid. As I drifted in memory, a note slid across the desk. The first thing I noticed were the long, slender fingers holding it, then the messy scrawl on the paper – a couple of English words. The handwriting was atrocious. I couldn't even make it out. But that didn't stop me from answering fluently. After all, I'd been working at Sterling Corp, the family business, practically running the place as CEO eventually. A few basic words weren't going to trip me up. The professor seemed stunned. Did he honestly think I wouldn't know? "Sit down!" Though clearly annoyed, he waved me down, sticking to his word. "You actually knew that?" Jessica stared at me, bewildered. I smirked. "Why shouldn't I?" "What's the point of learning this stuff?" Jessica scoffed. "You're just going to inherit the family business anyway…" I ignored her. I hadn't forgotten how badly Mark wanted me dead in my past life, and this friend here was egging him on the whole time. Besides, in my past life, she was the one constantly feeding me that whole "rich kids don't need to try" garbage. That's why I ended up so useless, letting Mark dictate everything. Thinking about how stupid I'd been made my blood boil. Jessica asked if I wanted to grab dinner. I shut her down flat. I'd paid for enough of her meals last time around. This life, I wasn't playing the sucker. 03 After class, a tall figure blocked my path. His handsome face made me do a double-take before I realized – it was him, the one who passed me the note in class: Ethan Graystone! That hadn't happened in my past life. And wasn't he a Finance major? What was he doing in an Art major's required English course? Still, seeing him again made me ridiculously happy. "Dinner tonight?" he asked. "Sure!" He seemed surprised I agreed so quickly. "Really? You'll come?" "Yeah, really!" Why wouldn't I? The Graystone Group was just as big as Sterling Corp. Ethan and I had known each other since we were kids. If something were to happen to my dad's company in the future, Graystone could at least help out. "Okay, I'll call The Willow Creek Inn, get us a table." Ethan's eyes lit up. The Willow Creek Inn? In my past life, the car crash that killed Ethan happened right near there. "Wait!" I grabbed his arm suddenly, blurting out, "What's today's date?" "May 18th. Thesis defense is next week. You asked me to look over your paper, remember?" Ethan answered automatically. My head spun. Memories flooded back. Ethan died in that car crash today in my past life! My hand gripping his started to shake. "Don't go there." "What?" Ethan looked completely lost. "But you just said yes." "Don't go!" I insisted through gritted teeth. You'll die! "So… reschedule?" Ethan asked, still confused. "No rescheduling either." "Piper Sterling, what do you want?" Ethan actually had incredible patience. How had I never noticed before? I was being totally flaky, and he didn't even seem mad. "How about… my place? I can cook for you," I suggested after a moment. Going to my apartment felt like the safest bet. 04 My parents bought me a huge penthouse apartment in the city, with its own private elevator entrance, right after I got into N.U. What can I say? My family's loaded. And yeah, they spoiled me rotten growing up. That's probably why I was so clueless about how nasty people could be. As I was thinking, Ethan suddenly asked, "Piper, you're not planning to poison me, are you?" I looked up. He was squinting at me suspiciously. "We've known each other for twenty years. I've never heard about you knowing how to cook." I gave an awkward laugh. "Learned from our housekeeper. You coming or not? Your loss if you don't." Ethan quickly nodded. "I'm coming!" Just then, Jessica ran over. "Piper, aren't you coming clubbing tonight?" Ha. So she couldn't freeload dinner off me, now she's trying something else. Annoyed, I put on a sweet smile. "Jess, I'd love to, but you're such a good student, you don't need to study. I'm different. If I don't hit the books, I might not even graduate." I laid it on thick, playing the innocent card perfectly. Jessica seemed thrown off. She stammered, "It's okay, Piper, I can help you study." Before I could reply, Ethan cut in coldly, "Help her study? Please. You're top of the class, and Piper, who hangs out with you all the time, is barely passing? Sounds more like someone's using 'studying' as an excuse to make Piper look bad by comparison." I always knew Ethan had a sharp tongue. We went to the same elementary and middle schools; he made me cry more times than I could count. And just like that, Jessica's eyes welled up. She looked genuinely hurt. "Hey, don't cry, makes it look like I'm bullying you," Ethan continued, relentless. "Everything I said was true. Aren't you number one? Isn't Piper near the bottom?!" Me: "..." I kind of felt like I was being manipulated here! Because of Ethan's words, the people gathering around started giving Jessica weird looks. Ethan grabbed my hand. "If you need tutoring, ask me," he said with a grin. "You don't need Miss Innocent here. Let's go, time for that home-cooked meal." Seeing Ethan grab my hand, Jessica, red-eyed, forgot her damsel-in-distress act. She leaned close to my ear, whispering just loud enough for Ethan to hear, "Are you really going to get with Graystone? Didn't you say you'd never marry for connections?" I scoffed internally. Last time, I listened to way too much of her crap like that. That's why I always turned Ethan down. And while I was out partying, he died in that crash. Since I got a do-over, I wasn't letting that happen again. Besides, Ethan's face was visibly darkening. I squeezed his hand tighter and smiled up at him. "Actually, I think Ethan and I are equals, both well-off. Better to join forces, a power couple, than marry some charity case, right?" Jessica froze, speechless, unable to reply. I was already pulling Ethan away. Once we were in the car, I heard the man beside me say cheerfully, "About time you ditched her. Glad you're finally wising up!" Huh? I glanced at him, but his eyes were closed, like he hadn't said anything. A thought suddenly popped into my head: If he hadn't died so young last time, would my future have been different?
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