Chapter 2

Emily handed him a Coke, her tone playful and slightly defiant. "You guys have mentioned Vanderly University in our squad chat a million times! There's only one Vanderly University in the whole country—how could I possibly get it wrong?"

Ethan grinned. "That's Emily for you—she actually pays attention. Say it once and she never forgets."

Emily glanced at Michael and scooted even closer. "Yeah, but the one I care about most is naturally Michael."

Michael found himself staring at her heavily purple-shadowed eyes, her purple crop top showing off her figure. As she leaned in, he caught a glimpse of her cleavage, the cross necklace nestled in the hollow.

Something flickered in Michael's eyes—he almost wished he could be that necklace, pressed against her skin.

Emily giggled, her perfume wafting under his nose. She hooked her arm around his neck, her voice teasing and seductive. "Hurry up! No winning, no logging off tonight!"

Michael felt a jolt in his chest. Emily then walked over to Brian and launched PUBG for him.

Brian's eyes lingered on her tight crop top. He was thinking the exact same thing as Michael.

The three of them forgot about everything else and jumped straight into the game.

I shot a look in their direction, then shut down my computer.

Before leaving, I found the staff member, slipped him 30 bucks, and used my phone to record Emily messing with their college applications.

I had to be careful—if she ever tried to pin it on me, the security footage only lasted seven days, and I'd have no way to clear my name.

Honestly, with how low those four could sink, I wanted nothing to do with them ever again.

I just went straight home without saying goodbye.

When I saw my parents waiting for me at home, my eyes stung a bit. The guilt hit hard.

In my previous life, I'd asked Michael to pick them up from the airport when they came to visit.

There was a crucial press conference that day, and since I knew the core technology inside and out, I had to be there.

But on their way from the airport, the brakes failed, and they died on the spot.

Michael got hurt in the crash, too.

His whole sob story was just manipulation that cost my parents their lives. That so-called concussion? Just another excuse to make me care for him even more—I'd even signed over my patents to him.

He hugged me and whispered, "Olivia, you still have me."

Looking back now, it was absurd.

I walked inside and hugged my mom, who was knitting. "Mom, I missed you so much."

Mom set down her needles and tapped my head affectionately. "You were only gone an hour. Since when are you this clingy?"

"Even an hour's too long without you, Mom," I said, grinning as I leaned against her shoulder.

"What about me? Don't you miss your old man?" Dad emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of sliced watermelon.

"Of course I do!" I grinned at them both. "I've decided to use my scholarship money to take you two on a trip. Pack your bags—we're leaving tomorrow!"

My parents stared at me in shock. They knew I'd been saving that scholarship fund for seven years, and now I was finally spending it.

I beamed at them. "Come on, chop-chop! Go pack!"

Dad sounded excited. "It's been forever since we took a family trip."

I hugged Mom. "Yeah, it's summer break and you both finally have time off. Let your daughter treat you to an adventure!"

Dad ran an elementary school, and Mom was a middle school principal, so growing up, I basically had to be a model student.

Couldn't have other parents gossiping, like, "Even the principal's kid can't get good grades. Is this school even worth it?"

So to protect their schools' reputations and enrollment, I always stayed at the top of my class.

"Alright, alright!" Mom put away her knitting. "Let's go have some fun."

While they packed, I booked our tickets and hotel.

Wasn't getting a second chance all about fixing your regrets?

For me, my biggest regret was about my family.

In my past life, I'd spent every summer break trying to please Michael, Brian, and Ethan, always doing whatever they said to take care of Emily. I'd even used my scholarship money to pay her medical bills.

They constantly blamed me for everything. Back then, at 18, I was so naive and kind—I actually believed it was all my fault.

My parents were kind too. When they heard about Emily's situation, they went out of their way to find her the best doctors.

When treatment in the country wasn't enough, my parents depleted their entire savings to send her overseas for care.

And what did we get for it?

A one-way ticket to the grave.

Lesson learned: mind your own business, or karma will bite you.

She wasn't messing with my college plans—so why should I care?

The next day, the three of us headed straight to the airport.

Since it was summer break, every tourist spot was packed with students and parents. Everywhere we went was wall-to-wall people.

But none of that mattered—just being together as a family made us genuinely happy.

We explored Lunbrough, enjoyed the park, saw the world's third-largest waterfall, visited the largest religious temple on the planet, and climbed the mountain.

We were having such a blast that we extended our adventure and headed to Fayham.

We only got back home right before the new semester started.

When we returned to our apartment building with all our souvenirs, the security guard at the gate handed me a package.

"Olivia, this must be your acceptance letter. Just arrived today," he said enviously. "How come Michael, Brian, and Ethan's haven't shown up yet? Their families have been throwing graduation parties lately. I figured you all aced your exams and applied to Vanderly University together, right?

"Why'd your letter arrive but not theirs? Does Vanderly send out girls' acceptance letters before guys' or something?

"Lily was saying Michael did amazing in school, and those other two were top of the class, too. You kids are seriously incredible!"

Mom handed him a bag of snacks from Lunbrough, cutting him off. "We brought these back from Lunbrough—they're delicious. Have some, Jared. We're heading upstairs now."

As we entered the building, we ran into Michael's mom.

I remembered how, in my past life, once our research gained national recognition, wealthy heiresses and daughters of high-ranking officials started pursuing Michael, the rising star.

That was when she stopped mentioning Michael and me together. I was just an orphan, and in her eyes, I was no longer good enough for him.