Chapter 2

My heart sank like a block of ice, my fingertips slightly numb.

Sure enough, he said the same thing as in my previous life.

But I wasn't ready to give up. I tried to find an excuse not to go.

"But I have something..."

Before I could finish, Ethan frowned, his tone filled with dissatisfaction, immediately bringing up our friendship of over ten years.

"Aria Walker, what do you mean? Have I ever missed any of your birthdays?"

"Are we friends or not?"

My face remained calm, but my heart was in turmoil.

In my previous life, I was deceived by his sweet words into going to a VIP room, where my legs were broken.

Suppressing the surging pain, I pretended not to notice the harshness in his tone and continued probing.

"I must be there?"

Ethan's tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Whether you want me as a friend of over ten years is up to you!"

I would never forget that in my previous life, after learning my legs were broken, he cut off contact unilaterally.

He even walked away decisively when I was mocked and pushed down by Vivian's group of friends, just like today.

I didn't understand why over ten years of growing up together resulted in such calculated betrayal.

Fortunately, I was reborn.

In my previous life, I swallowed my losses. In this life, I will never repeat the same mistakes.

But plans can't keep up with changes. I had just reached the intersection when a car came speeding toward me like crazy, too fast to dodge.

I instinctively closed my eyes, thinking I couldn't escape this disaster, that rebirth was just a cruel joke from fate.

The next moment, a force pulled me backward.

Stumbling to steady myself, still shaken, I looked up and met a pair of dark, deep eyes.

It was Adrian.

The physiological disgust made me feel sick enough to vomit.

In my previous life, after my legs were broken and I became an outcast, he was the one who protected me.

But he was also the one who, when I was accused of academic fraud, didn't hesitate to give false testimony and personally destroyed my future.

"Are you okay?"

His gentle voice made Adrian seem kind.

But this time, no longer deceived, I could clearly see the coldness in his eyes.

I didn't understand why Adrian was willing to set up this trap in my previous life, but I remembered that when I was accused of academic fraud and tried to clear my name with evidence.

He claimed responsibility for the accusation as my boyfriend and even publicly apologized.

Online, there were many stories about how good Adrian was to me. Netizens firmly believed the academic fraud was real.

Otherwise, why would Adrian, who loved me so much, take the blame for me?

The betrayal from someone close left me with a reputation I could never clear.

After that, I became disheartened and resigned to my fate, but then someone cut my tendons and Adrian imprisoned me in a villa.

I had completely become a useless person who could only depend on him.

In this new life, I would not only get rid of these two scumbags but also get revenge.