Chapter 1

I time-traveled back to my senior year of high school. Stella Crane, who had always been timid, completely shed her usual meekness and suddenly cornered me in a restroom stall.

She pulled out the latest iPhone and flipped through one jaw-dropping transfer after another, warning me to stay away from Dash Hollis. "Margot, open your eyes and see. Love follows money. Dash loves me, not you."

I remembered the betrayal from my previous life.

After Dash had risen to fame and success with my help, he didn't hesitate to sell out my company's secrets, leaving my family ruined and broken. And then he had the nerve to tell me outright that he hated me.

He hated me for insulting him with money, for forcing him to be with me, for making Stella suffer all those years.

Now, when I remained silent, Stella's eyes reddened with panic.

She pulled a fruit knife to her neck. "You've already stolen everything from me. Dash is the only light left in my life. You are not allowed to hitch a ride home with him. Do you hear me?"

Watching her spiral like this, I simply nodded and quietly unlinked the secondary card I had given Dash.

This time, I wanted to see what a maid's son could possibly use to redeem a poor soul.

*****

When I nodded, Stella let out a sigh of relief, and the knife she had pressed against her neck dropped to the floor with a loud clatter.

Stella was gasping for breath, staring at the blade glinting on the floor. She was clearly terrified. She never intended to die. Besides, she was after everything I had.

Outside, Dash Hollis just saw Stella and me walk into the restroom, one after the other.

He shouted anxiously, "Stella? What's wrong? Say something."

When he heard the knife hit the floor, he didn't care that it was the girls' restroom and rushed right in.

When Dash saw the tiny beads of blood on Stella's neck, he suddenly grabbed me by the collar.

"Margot, I've told you a hundred times. We're not together. Why do you keep messing with her?" he shouted.

Let her go?

In my previous life, no matter how much I liked Dash, I never tried to compete with Stella.

What he meant by not letting her go was that I took the number one rank in the grade away from Stella.

To get into this elite high school, one either had to be loaded or be a straight-up genius. Obviously, I was the rich kid, and Stella was the brainiac.

Stella aced the exam with the top score in the whole school and scored herself a fat scholarship.

But for the past two years, Stella was so caught up trying to win Dash over that she totally let her studies slide, and her grades crashed hard. She lost her scholarship a year ago.

Meanwhile, thanks to a whole army of private tutors, my scores skyrocketed, and I'd already taken the top spot in the grade ages ago.

Even Dash was pulling solid grades lately, probably thanks to all those study sessions he had with me.

It wasn't until after Dash got me killed that I realized he blamed me for Stella losing her scholarship. That was why he kept spending my money, trying to pay her back a hundredfold.

But he knew that if he left me, he'd have nothing. So he acted like he was done with Stella, but deep down, he resented me to his core.

He blamed me for everything he couldn't help, just so he could betray and hurt me without a second thought.

It wasn't until today, when I saw with my own eyes every single transfer Dash sent from my account to Stella, that I finally realized just how clueless I'd been all along.

I yanked my collar free from Dash's grip.

Stella started crying and rushed into Dash's arms, shakily pointing at the knife on the floor. "Dash, Margot tried to kill me," she wailed.

"Margot, are you out of your mind?" With that, Dash picked Stella up in his arms, shoved past me, and bolted out of the girls' restroom.

He didn't care about the stares from teachers and students as he rushed Stella straight to the school infirmary.

Just like that, rumors spread all over campus. Margot was so jealous of Stella over Dash that she nearly pushed Stella over the edge.

Half an hour later, it was lunch break.

Dash helped Stella limp into the classroom, holding her hand.

As soon as our eyes met, Stella's face turned pale with terror. Tears welled up and spilled over as she gripped Dash's arm, shrinking behind him. It was like I was a demon about to hurt her.

Seeing this, a classmate slammed their desk and jumped to their feet, pointing at me in fury. "Margot, you're just the maid's daughter in Dash's house.

"Do you really think Dash is your property? Are you trying to get rid of every girl who comes near him?

"If Dash hadn't paid your tuition and arranged for tutors, you wouldn't be anywhere near the top of the class.

"Not only are you ungrateful, but you actually went after the girl he likes? You're the kind of person who bites the hand that feeds you. Hurry up and apologize to Stella."

He turned to Dash, "Dash, you're way too patient. If I were you, I'd fire Margot's mom and cut off her tuition. Let's see how she keeps strutting around then."

As everyone called me the maid's daughter, Dash just stayed silent, never denying it, letting everyone see him as the privileged heir he was. This had always been his way these past two years.

Whenever classmates saw us heading home together, he'd only get in the car after I pleaded with him over and over.

There was the driver, the luxury car, and his aloof, aristocratic air, all set against my desperate, humble pleas.

Everyone saw him as the golden boy, and me as just the maid's daughter.

I honestly didn't care. To protect his reputation, I never bothered to explain myself.

As everyone piled on me, Dash finally spoke up. "Stella's kind. She said she won't report it to the teachers as long as you apologize."

When Dash caught the smug grin on my face, he totally lost it.

He snapped, "Stella's got a big heart. Even after you hurt her, she doesn't want you to get punished. Margot, what's with that look? Do you even have a heart? You really think you run this place?

"Listen up. If Stella doesn't forgive you, they'll call it attempted murder. You'll get kicked out and thrown in jail. Got it?"

Just then, two uniformed police officers knocked on the classroom door. "Who's Margot Ellington?" one of them asked.

When he saw the cops, Dash's presence grew even more intimidating, his jaw clenched as he warned me. "Apologize. This is your last chance."

But he didn't notice that behind him, Stella, usually so proud and delicate, was trembling, her lips pale with fear.