Chapter 4

Isabella seemed a bit down. After a few drinks, she came over, linked arms with me, and started complaining.

She said, "Amelia, Gerald gave me a custom necklace today. It's way too expensive. I tried to refuse, but he just brushed it off and said it was just an ordinary gift.

"Seriously, what can you do with a guy like him? Was he always this 'casual' with his expensive birthday gifts before?"

I paused, and with seven more years of life under my belt, I finally realized what Isabella was hinting at.

She was testing whether Gerald treated her any differently than he treated me.

I replied with a smile, "No."

"Really?" Isabella's eyes sparkled with a bit of joy, but there was still a hint of doubt lingering there.

"Amelia, you seem a little upset today. Is it because Gerald gave the necklace to me and not you?" Isabella asked, her voice soft.

I froze for a moment, suddenly realizing that maybe all those feelings I thought I'd kept hidden in the previous timeline had actually been obvious to Isabella all along.

"No," I replied quickly.

I squeezed Isabella's hand and said from the heart, "Isabella, I'm honestly happy that Gerald treats you so well. I really hope you two stay happy together."

Amid the noise, Gerald suddenly glanced over at us.

Isabella was ready to pour her heart out some more, but I just wanted to get out of there, away from both her and Gerald. So I faked a nasty stomachache and made a quick escape from the club.

Once I was finally away from Gerald, I felt a wave of relief wash over me, and my steps instantly felt lighter.

I was standing by the curb, trying to flag down a cab, when Gerald just popped up behind me without a sound.

"Amelia, didn't you just say you weren't feeling well?" Gerald asked.

I flinched, suddenly flustered and stammering, "I... I felt a bit better after I came out."

Gerald loomed over me, his presence suffocating, his gaze intense and probing.

"But Amelia, if I remember right, you always call her Bella. You only started calling her Isabella after she passed away," he said.

A sudden pain gripped my chest.

I stared blankly at Gerald, who stood there, calm and collected, cold and unfamiliar.

He wasn't the naive eighteen-year-old Gerald anymore. He was the same Gerald who'd made my life hell for three long years.

My eyes stung with tears as I shot him a guarded look, edging away from him.

But Gerald just smiled and started walking toward me, one step at a time.

"Amelia, care to tell me why you're so scared of me now?" he asked.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!" I yelled. My whole body shook, not just from fear, but from anger too.

It came from the resentment and grievances buried in the old, timid Amelia's heart from the previous timeline.

I shouted, "Because I hate you! I never want to see you again! I've already done everything you wanted. I've stayed as far away from you two as I possibly could.

"So why? Why do you keep dragging me back into this? Gerald! What will it take for you to finally let me go?"

Gerald stopped in his tracks, a knowing look slowly spreading across his face.

He said, "Just like I thought, Amelia. I know you too well. You ask me what it'll take for me to let you go, but what about you? In this life, are you really going to let Bella go?"

"It wasn't me!" I suddenly lost it, yelling at Gerald.

I continued, "I didn't do it! Why do you keep insisting I was the one who made Isabella kill herself? And what makes you think I wouldn't let her go in this life either? Why would I ever want to hurt her?"

Gerald's expression turned cold, a trace of mockery curling at the corners of his mouth.

He said coldly, "Why? Didn't you write in your diary that if Isabella Rivera wasn't around, I'd only care about you, just like I used to?"

I froze in the darkness, my whole body stiffening.

My diary? How could Gerald know what I wrote in there? I burned that entry not long after I wrote it.

So Gerald knew I liked him all along. That was why he was so sure I was the one who hurt Isabella.

All those secret midnight confessions I scribbled onto paper, my longing, my bitterness, my jealousy, ended up becoming the motive Gerald pinned on me.

I let out a bitter laugh.

I said, "Yes, I've liked you ever since we were kids. I really did write that in my diary.

"Back then, I was just sad that the brother who used to only care about me was paying less and less attention to me."

I continued, "If you think my feelings for you were the reason I hurt Isabella, then let me make it clear. In this life, that motive doesn't exist.

"Because right now, I don't have even the slightest bit of affection for you."

I finally lifted my head and stared Gerald down, every word sharp and deliberate.

I added, "Because now, I'm afraid of you. I hate you. I just want to get as far away from you as I can."

"Hate me?" Gerald echoed. His face suddenly darkened, his expression unreadable in the shadows.

"Amelia, what right do you have to hate me?" Gerald shot back, his voice cold and cutting.