Chapter 2

Chloe looked flustered, her face instantly flushing crimson. Colleagues around us, loving the drama, started to hoot.

"Dylan's new to the company, Chloe, don't crush his confidence!"

"Yeah, just dance with him!"

Chloe found it hard to refuse and reached out, letting her hand rest on Dylan's.

Dylan took Chloe's hand, and they walked onto the dance floor. The crowd cheered.

I sat there, stunned. No matter how loud the music was, I couldn't hear a thing.

Dylan hadn't even spared me a glance; his steps had marched directly to Chloe.

In that first life, was it Chloe he wanted to ask to dance?

I scrambled out of there. The sky opened up, pouring rain, and memories from my previous life flooded my mind.

In my past life, Chloe had invited me to that singles dance. She'd picked out my entire outfit, from head to toe.

Her favorite red polka-dot dress, her signature 80s perm.

We were similar in height and build. Dressed up, we looked almost like twins.

I didn't know how to dance, so I just sat in a corner.

Dylan came straight up to me, head bowed, and asked me in front of everyone,

"Hello, miss, may I have this dance with you?"

The stage lights were dim. He didn't dare to look up. When I didn't move, he bravely spoke again,

"I've liked you for a long time. Please, dance with me!"

That was the first time I truly heard my own heartbeat. I'd secretly liked Dylan for ages, and being suddenly confessed to by the man I adored left me flustered.

I mechanically reached out my hand, my mind a blank, and replied,

"I like you too."

My colleagues around us started to cheer.

Only then did Dylan finally look up and meet my eyes.

Back then, I couldn't read the shock in Dylan's eyes; I thought it was surprise.

After that dance, I became more proactive in pursuing Dylan, and he never refused me.

It seemed everyone at the company assumed we were a couple.

Marriage and children followed naturally, a course of least resistance.

Even though he was always distant, I just figured that was his personality.

But then I thought of the fervent look in his eyes just now on the dance floor.

Turns out, Dylan had wanted to ask Chloe to dance from the very beginning.

I remembered Chloe once saying she had a weakness for guys in uniform.

So, the first thing Dylan did after being reborn was to join the military. What he called his "regret" actually pointed to Chloe.

Dylan, like me, had a clear purpose in being reborn.

Only, the objects of our affections had changed.

I went home in the rain, caught a fever, and my parents worried outside my door for days.

Once I recovered, I calmly announced,

"Mom and Dad, I'm ready for blind dates."

Dylan in this life seemed like a completely different person. In our previous life, he was always cautious.

He'd think everything through before acting. But in this life, he practically moved his desk next to Chloe's.

As if he wanted to tell everyone at the company that he liked Chloe.

His forwardness and intensity were something I'd never witnessed. In our previous life, if I even walked a little too close to him at the company, he'd try to keep his distance.

"We work at the same place. People will talk."

I didn't know what kind of "talk" he meant, but now, he'd already been warned several times by the supervisor.

Yet, he didn't reduce his closeness to Chloe.

Chloe was my best friend, and she couldn't help but complain to me about Dylan.

"He's so annoying! Dylan, he's stuck to me like glue, he's everywhere!"

"You don't like him? I saw you accept his gifts and go to the movies with him."

"Accepting gifts means we're together? Plenty of guys send me stuff."

Chloe had many suitors. Even though Dylan had returned from two years in the military, his other prospects weren't exactly stellar.

Chloe shared the imported chocolate Dylan had bought her with everyone. As I held a piece in my hand, a pang of envy struck me.

Back then, when I was pregnant and craved a sweet chocolate, he'd say that when starting a business, every penny counted. And with a baby on the way, money would be tight everywhere. No matter what I wanted, he always had a thousand reasons not to give it to me.

But now, if Chloe simply said she wanted some, he'd buy her so many boxes, more than she could ever eat.

Turns out, whether there was love or not had always been crystal clear. It was just my love-struck self, blinded and deluded, who chose to ignore it all.