Chapter 2

"Your family's beach house in the Hamptons is worth plenty, right? We'll use the current bank loan interest rate. Sign the papers and it's yours," I said.

Diana blinked. "What?"

"You want a loan, don't you? Then we do it properly. Contract, collateral, the whole deal."

Lily lost it. "If we wanted a damn contract, we wouldn't have come to you!"

"Oh, so it's 'borrowing' when there's no paperwork and no collateral?" I shot back.

Diana jumped in fast. "No, no, I'm fine with it. I just didn't expect… I mean, yes, I'll sign."

She really thought I'd just hand over a million no strings attached.

"But the house won't work. My parents have no idea about any of this. Can't we use something else?" Diana added.

She stepped closer, moonlight hitting her face just right, making her look like every guy's dream.

All I felt was my stomach turning.

So she was already this good at weaponizing her looks.

In my old life, I actually bought the innocent-actress routine. Thought she only offered herself because she was desperate.

I felt bile rise again.

"Apart from that house, I don't see a single thing you own that's worth a million dollars," I said.

Her face twisted with humiliation.

I turned to Lily and said slowly, "But if you co-sign as guarantor, we might have a deal."

In my previous life, Lily helped Diana and Isaac sneak around behind my back for years.

When Diana and I finally divorced, Lily straight-up lied under oath, claiming I'd abused Diana during the marriage.

If she was such a ride-or-die friend, signing a little guarantor clause should be no big deal.

Lily's face went every shade of panicked.

Diana turned to her desperately. "Lil, you'll do this for me, right?"

Lily awkwardly looked away, but her eyes locked right onto my smirking ones. "Back you up? Duh, of course I will!"

As soon as the million dollars hit their account, Diana and Lily bolted out of my house like they were fleeing a fire.

I held the signed contract in my hand and glanced up at the security camera overhead.

If they were planning to dodge repayment later or try to claim the contract was fake, they were in for a rude awakening.

I scrolled through my contacts, found the name I needed, and dialed. "Judge Fitzgerald, I believe the Moon Villas case falls under your jurisdiction..."

In my previous life, Diana took that million dollars and went straight to the judge handling Isaac's case.

She never expected that he wouldn't just take the bribe; he'd also force himself on her.

That same day was when the college acceptance decisions dropped. Diana vanished. Lily came running to me in a panic.

I searched for her through pouring rain for days until I finally found her, completely shattered.

We had run out of time to thoughtfully choose schools, so we both hastily committed to the same mid-tier university.

Later, my guidance counselor Marcus Monroe pulled me aside and sighed. He told me that with my grades and scores, I absolutely could have gotten into Harvard.

This time around, I had already given Judge Owen Fitzgerald a heads-up. Knowing his personality, he would keep his staff on a much shorter leash.

The same tragedy shouldn't happen again.

I wasn't doing it to protect Diana. I just wanted Isaac's case to proceed without any judicial tampering. I wanted him locked away for life with no chance of ever getting out.

The next day, the college decisions came in.

I calmly logged in, checked my acceptances, snapped a screenshot, and sent it to the family group chat.

Dad immediately Venmoed me a massive bonus.

Mom called seconds later. "Baby, with those scores you could've easily gotten into Aribe University!

"I was already planning that if you didn't crush it, we'd send you abroad. I had the whole thing lined up. But look at you—my kid is a total rockstar!"

I gripped the phone, my throat tight. "Mom, where are you right now?"

"I'm in Northland. In about two months this place is gonna have the most incredible Northern Lights. You should come see them."

"I'll be there."

She must have heard the crack in my voice because her tone softened. "Sweetheart, your dad and I have been so wrapped up in our careers. We weren't there for you the way we should have been growing up. But you have always been our greatest pride.

"No matter what happens between your dad and me, you need to know we will always be your rock."

Tears hit my desk one by one. I forced my voice to stay steady and told her goodbye.

My parents divorced when I was three.

They genuinely loved each other, but they wanted completely different lives.

Dad ran Harrington Group. He needed a wife who could stand beside him and command half the boardroom.

Mom, on the other hand, was a marine biologist. She was out at sea most of the year and barely had time for me, let alone the perfect corporate-wife role.

After the divorce, neither of them ever remarried.

It wasn't until I graduated college and took over the company that Dad finally went out to sea to find her.

In my previous life, I resented Mom for years. I thought she had abandoned us.

Only after I had my own kids did I start to understand and forgive her.

I still wonder what it felt like for them to rush home after I fell from that building and find nothing but my body.

Before I could pull myself together, my phone rang again. This time it was Lily.

"Andrew, Diana's missing!" she blurted out.