Chapter 3Rebirth: Dropping the Bad Boy for the Valedictorian

Hunter took two days off for his ankle.

When my mom found out, she insisted I take a pot of her homemade chicken stew over to his house.

Our families were close friends, and she had watched Hunter grow up. In the eyes of the adults, checking on him was basic etiquette.

Despite my repeated refusals, I couldn't win against my mom's threats, and she even had our driver make sure I walked through the Kingstons' front gates.

Reluctantly, I carried the thermos into that familiar, sprawling white mansion.

The setting sun cast a warm, yet incredibly irritating orange glow over the manicured lawn.

I knew this place too well.

In my past life, I had lived here with him for two years.

Every corner was filled with my humiliation—

Crying silently over his cold shoulder, yet forcing a smile to deal with his family.

My chest tightened as if it were being ripped apart.

I forced myself to calm down, opened the thermos, and poured the delicious stew into a dog bowl on the porch for the neighborhood stray.

Such good food was wasted on him.

Once the dog licked the bowl clean, I turned to leave.

Just then, a deep voice called out from behind me.

"Avery."

Hunter hobbled out on his crutches, looking a bit ridiculous, fine sweat beading on his forehead.

He gritted his teeth. "What kind of tantrum are you throwing now?"

I looked back at this boy—still young, yet full of arrogance.

I curled my lips into a cold smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He blocked my path, breathing heavily, his face alarmingly pale. It was obvious those few steps had cost him a lot of effort.

"Why are you ignoring me?" He stared at me intensely, trying to find a trace of my former obsession on my face.

He pointed at the empty thermos. "That was for me, wasn't it? Why did you feed it to a dog? In the past, when I told you to leave me alone, you'd cry and force your way in. Now I'm actually hurt, and you don't say a single word. What exactly are you..."

"Isn't this better?" I cut him off coldly. "You always thought I was annoying anyway."

Hunter choked on his words, taking a long moment before snapping back. "Yeah! I don't like you clinging to me! I'm thrilled you're staying away!"

He let out a mocking laugh. "Avery, you better not be playing hard to get. You know I hate that crap!"

Playing hard to get?

In my past life, to get his attention, I had done plenty of childish, stupid things.

Even though I eventually married him, I never had his heart, and I ended up dying a miserable death.

In this lifetime, I wouldn't waste another second on him.

"You think way too highly of yourself. I don't have time to play games with you."

I turned around, my voice completely flat.

"My mom forced the driver to bring me here with that soup. Just pretend you drank it, and don't cause trouble for me."

Hunter’s eyes filled with disbelief. "Did you just compare me to a dog?!"

I shrugged. "If that's how you want to interpret it, be my guest."

I carried the empty thermos back to the car, leaving him yelling furiously behind me. "I didn't want your garbage soup anyway!"