Chapter 1I Let Them Have Their Romance And Claim The Scholarship Myself

In my previous life, the school's notorious bad boy made a bet that he could conquer the untouchable ice-queen of our high school within a month. He asked me to pass a love letter to her, my childhood best friend.

Back then, I had her bright future in mind. I hid the letter, and as a result, they missed out on each other for five whole years.

By the time she returned from studying abroad, the bad boy was already married to someone else. She firmly believed my jealousy had ruined her epic romance and torn them apart. She used her newfound power to destroy my family, and I was tortured to death in the freezing snow, my eyes wide open in unmerited agony.

In this life, facing the bad boy's request once again, I simply made a hundred photocopies of his love letter and stuffed every single one into her locker. Then, I happily took the elite overseas scholarship for myself.

Fine by me. You get your epic, world-shattering romance, and I get the bright, limitless future!

* * *

Staring at the obnoxious pink envelope Jaxon handed me, a dizzying wave of realization washed over my mind. I had been reborn.

The familiar scent of chalk in the classroom, the mundane chatter of teenagers, and the face of the guy standing right in front of me. It all felt like a waking nightmare looping endlessly in my head.

I died in the dead of a bitter, unforgiving winter. A group of thugs had laughed like hyenas while stomping my bloodied body into the frozen pavement. My white shirt was stained beyond recognition. Someone had mercilessly dumped a bucket of freezing saltwater over my battered body.

The salt seeped into my open wounds, bringing a violent, burning agony that shot through every nerve like high-voltage electricity. The bone-deep pain literally suffocated me. I lay on the ground, groaning in pure torment as crimson blood slowly trickled from the corner of my mouth.

That was the exact moment the girl I had always placed on a pedestal walked toward me, her chin raised in absolute arrogance.

Her eyes were clouded with a toxic, concentrated hatred, looking at me as if I had slaughtered her entire bloodline.

"Arthur, you make me sick! You tore Jaxon and me apart just to satisfy your own twisted, selfish desires. If it weren't for you, we would have been together years ago!"

"Didn't you claim to love me? How does it feel to be destroyed by the very person you supposedly loved?"

"Do you think your death will earn my forgiveness? No! I will never forgive you!"

After venting her twisted fury, Lily turned on her designer heels and walked away without a single backward glance.

Watching her retreating figure, my heart had shattered into unrecognizable pieces. I never imagined that a girl so fiercely proud could push me into the abyss all for a piece of trash like Jaxon.

Even worse, she genuinely believed I was the villain who ruined her life.

Lily and I grew up on the same suburban street. We were childhood friends who constantly competed yet pushed each other to be better. Over time, a quiet, tender affection had bloomed in my chest.

In high school, Lily was gorgeous, top of her class, and had an endless line of suitors. I was right there with her, always scoring just a fraction of a point lower, forever trapped in second place.

Then Jaxon transferred in.

He was the school's rebellious heartthrob, the guy every girl whispered about, while Lily was the untouchable, brilliant ice-queen. One was wild and charismatic, the other cold and beautiful. To everyone else, they were a match made in heaven.

That was when Jaxon asked me to pass a love letter to her.

Even though I had feelings for Lily, I never actually wanted to sabotage her happiness. But I had personally overheard Jaxon bragging in the locker room, laughing about how he just wanted to mess around with her and see what it felt like to corrupt the perfect straight-A student.

Plus, Lily was on the verge of accepting a prestigious scholarship to study in Europe. To protect her, I chose to hide Jaxon's letter.

I never expected them to miss each other for five years. When she finally returned, Jaxon was already married. Lily decided my possessive jealousy was the culprit. Utilizing the wealth and connections she built overseas, she hired people to humiliate and beat me, watching coldly as I froze to death.

Even my parents, the kind neighbors who had watched her grow up and invited her over for the holidays, were killed in a staged car accident orchestrated by her.

Thinking of all this, the blood in my veins ran ice cold. Since they were so madly in love, why shouldn't I play the perfect wingman?

I carefully took the letter from Jaxon. Just to be absolutely certain it wouldn't get lost, I went to the library, printed a hundred copies, and crammed every single one into Lily's locker.

This time, there was no way they could miss each other. Let's see if their true love could actually survive reality.

After doing my good deed for the day, I sat down and furiously powered through two advanced placement mock exams. The affection I held for Lily in my past life wasn't even pure love. It was just the natural admiration you feel for someone brilliant, mixed with a healthy dose of teenage rivalry.

Yet my innocent crush became her definitive proof of my "toxic jealousy" and ultimately signed my death warrant.

Now, I was totally done with that fruitless, one-sided infatuation. I was going to focus entirely on myself. I would never let blind emotion dictate my choices again, nor would I ever beg for someone's affection.

I finally understood a universal truth. You only get to dictate your own life when you are strong enough to stand alone.