Chapter 1

After time-traveling back together, my boyfriend, Ethan Shaw, and I made a tacit decision. Neither of us mentioned continuing our relationship.

He left to follow his first love to another city, throwing himself into the grind, while I stayed back home.

Five years later, armed with the knowledge from his previous life, he quickly became an up-and-coming figure in the industry, and married the girl he'd always wanted.

As for me, I found peace living near my parents, building a comfortable life for myself in our hometown.

When we met again, he had his arm around the campus belle with a cigar dangling from his lips. He sized me up with a mocking grin. "Five years gone, and this is what you've amounted to?"

I ignored him.

But later, when the business mogul gently held me close, showing me real affection, Ethan, who was usually so calm and collected, finally lost his cool.

"Chloe, how could you marry someone else?" he blurted out.

*****

I ran into Ethan again at our five-year class reunion.

By the time I dragged my tired self into the private room, I could already hear people teasing inside.

"Ethan, man, you really are something. Even the campus belle is yours now."

"Come on. Mr. Shaw is living it up in the big city. We're small-town nobodies compared to him."

"But I heard you and Chloe had something going on back in the day..."

My hand froze on the doorknob.

"You two were always studying together. The whole class thought you were a couple. Mr. Shaw, aren't you worried the campus belle might get jealous?" someone teased.

Then I heard Ethan's voice, with that laid-back tone. "We were just classmates. Don't joke about it."

I smiled indifferently. Yeah, it had been five years since we time-traveled back.

I wasn't bothered by these words anymore, so I calmly pushed the door open.

Even after ten years apart, I recognized Ethan the moment I walked in.

He was lounging on the sofa, with a cigar between his lips, holding Madison Lane, the campus belle from back then, in his arms.

All our classmates were gathered around them, treating the pair like celebrities.

As soon as I opened the door, every eye in the room turned to me.

The class president, Ben, greeted me with his usual enthusiasm. "Hey, isn't that Chloe?"

When Ethan heard my name, he looked up. Our eyes met, and with Madison still in his arms, he gave me a flirtatious look.

When he saw how I was dressed, a flicker of disdain flashed in his eyes.

I'd rushed out this morning, and with the pregnancy on my mind, I didn't bother with makeup or dressing up. I just grabbed whatever was closest, and honestly, I looked a bit haggard.

Compared to me, Madison looked absolutely flawless.

She was dressed in Chanel, carrying a Hermès bag, and her makeup was perfectly done.

She looked like someone who'd always been well taken care of.

But I didn't think much of it.

I greeted them confidently, "It's been a long time."

Ethan gave a slight nod, totally indifferent, while Madison only offered a faint smile. She didn't even spare me a glance.

I wasn't about to embarrass myself trying to be friendly when they clearly weren't interested.

I turned and made my way over to some familiar classmates I actually felt comfortable with.

"Looks like we're only waiting on Ryan," Ben said suddenly. "He just texted. He told us not to wait for him."

Everyone took their seats around the table, and nearly every single person was raising a glass to Ethan and Madison, hyping them up like they were stars.

After a few rounds of drinks, I got up to use the restroom.

As soon as I stepped out, I ran into Ethan, whose face flushed from the alcohol.

He looked at me, sarcasm dripping from his gaze. "Chloe, five years without me, and this is what you've turned into?"

His sarcasm didn't bother me at all. Instead, my mind drifted back to the days before our second chance at life.

Before we time-traveled back, Ethan and I had a massive fight.

It all started after college. I followed Ethan to the big city, and we worked our asses off together for five years.

Once our careers finally started to take off, I wanted to head back to our hometown and build something for myself there.

I was an only child, and that year, my dad died from a heart attack. He didn't make it to the hospital in time. Mom was all alone now, and I couldn't stop worrying about her.

When we first started out, Ethan promised me that once we made enough money, we'd go back home.

But he kept putting it off, always saying there was no future back home, that it wasn't worth going back for.

He even told me straight up that he was never going back, and if I really wanted, he'd have my mom move in with us here.

But my mom had already visited, and she couldn't get used to life in the big city.

Honestly, even after all these years, I never really felt like I belonged here either.

That was the reason for our fight. I finally lost my temper with Ethan. "If you're not going back, then I'm leaving on my own."

"Do you really have to push me like this?" Ethan shot back. "What's so bad about staying in the big city? Do you really want to be stuck in a small town forever, playing the country bumpkin?

"Do you want our kid to be behind from the very start?"

I was already five months pregnant at the time. And because of that, I wanted to go back home even more.

I knew that once the baby was born, it would be even harder to leave this city.

Besides, my hometown was actually pretty decent.

Sure, it wasn't a global metropolis, but it was basically a top-tier city. It was not nearly as bad as Ethan made it out to be.

"So, according to your logic, anyone who stays in a small town is worthless?" I shot back.

Ethan said, "Only losers would be content to spend their whole lives in a small town, muddling through with no drive or ambition."

He gave a look with pure contempt. "Those are the people I despise the most."

"So that's what you think of me? That I'm some small-town loser?" I shot him a cold look.

"I don't want you to end up like that," Ethan replied, sounding righteous.

Then he suddenly added, "If I'd known back then, I never would've gone to college with you in our hometown. I wasted four years of my life.

"I should've come here with Madison and started hustling way earlier."