Chapter 1

My cousin, Daisy Barker, planned to give up her chance at a top-ranked university after SATs—just to be with Jordyn Roberson by enrolling in a community college instead.

I fought hard to stop her, and in the end, she chose to attend a prestigious university.

But ten years later, Jordyn became a billionaire and married someone else.

Daisy blamed me for ruining her shot at becoming a wealthy wife. In a fit of rage, she ran me over with her car, killing me.

Given a second chance, I'd watch coldly as Daisy, obsessed with Jordyn, decided to drop her prestigious university plans and settle for community college—without me interfering this time.

This time, I wanted to see if, without my meddling, she'd actually end up living the billionaire wife dream.

"Mariana, Jordyn said that if I really love him, I should just go with him to a community college." Daisy Barker's arm wrapped around mine as she spoke, her voice sweet and almost childlike.

"Mariana, do you think I should do what he says? I really want to be with him, but..." she hesitated, her words laced with uncertainty.

I snapped back to my senses and stared at Daisy, her face still so young and naïve. The way she looked up at me, eyes full of questions, made it hit me all over again—I really had travelled through time.

I was back at the exact moment when the SAT results had just come out, and Daisy was telling me she wanted to change her college plans, all for Jordyn.

Daisy was my uncle's daughter.

We were both girls, but my mom doted on her brother so much that she ended up spoiling Daisy way more than me—Daisy was always the golden child in her eyes.

I was just three months older than Daisy, but somehow, I was always stuck being the one taking care of her ever since we were little.

"Since you're older, it's your job to look after Daisy. What's so hard about that?"

"You know how it is. You're older, and you gotta keep an eye on Daisy at school."

"Daisy's your responsibility, got that? If anything happens to her, you'll be the one answering for it."

I grew up with those words in my ears, over and over.

My grandparents hammered it in, my uncle and aunt, Nasir and Nancy, repeated it, and even my own mom wouldn't let it go.

Whenever Daisy forgot her homework, she'd come running to me.

If she bombed a test, I was the one she turned to.

When she skipped out on her assigned chores, she'd show up at my side.

And if someone picked on her at school, I was always the one she came to for help.

After a while, looking out for her and giving her advice just became second nature to me.

In my previous life, Daisy fell in love during our senior year of high school.

She totally fell for this guy in our class—Jordyn Roberson.

Jordyn was a total slacker—always at the bottom of the class when it came to grades.

No one really knew when he started working his charm on Daisy, but before I knew it, she was head over heels for him and couldn't even think straight.

Daisy didn't dare let her parents know she was dating, so she came to me and made me promise to keep it a secret.

I told her, "Just focus on your grades for now. After the SATs, you can do whatever you want."

Daisy pretty much took my advice. So for our last year of high school, she stayed out of trouble and kept up with her schoolwork—all while secretly seeing Jordyn on the side.

When the SATs scores came out, Daisy scored a good grade, which was enough to clear the cutoff for the elite universities.

Jordyn, though, was trailing her by a lot of points. The best he could hope for was getting into a community college.

Back in my previous life, I never figured out what Jordyn said to Daisy, but somehow, he convinced her to throw away her chance at a top university and follow him to a community school instead.

I pulled out all the stops trying to talk her out of it.

Seriously, who would be crazy enough to give up an elite uni just to follow some guy into a community college?

I kept pounding into Daisy's head just how much her major and her school would shape her life—over and over, I hammered home what was at stake.

In the end, my persistence paid off. She stuck with her original choice and applied to a top university.

That was the dealbreaker—she broke it off with Jordyn. I kept telling her, "Your future's worth way more than chasing after some guy. Trust me."

After graduation, Daisy landed a job at a local up-and-coming company, thanks to picking the right major.

In less than two years, she was making over 10,000 dollars a month. Nasir and Nancy couldn't have been prouder, as if she were the star of the whole family.

Later, she started seeing one of her coworkers, and they were already planning for a wedding—just about ready to walk down the aisle.

Just before she was about to tie the knot, Daisy discovered that Jordyn had transformed into a billionaire, making headlines everywhere.

Who could've imagined a guy from such an ordinary family would blow up like that? Jordyn was the last person anyone expected to reach those heights.

Not even sure what she was hoping for herself, Daisy ended up heading all the way to the capital just to seek out Jordyn.

But Jordyn acted like she didn't even exist.

"Oh, so you looked down on me back then for only getting into community college, dumped me to chase your big dreams—and now you want something from me?" Jordyn smirked.

"Thinking about me now? Too late. Trust me, I've seen women like you—only around for the good times, never sticking it out when things go south.

"Get out. If you don't leave, I'll have security drag you out," Jordyn shouted.

He didn't just mock her—he threw her out, with zero sympathy.

Not long after, Jordyn held an extravagant wedding at a five-star hotel, making it the talk of the town.

The whole ceremony was live-streamed, packed with a star-studded lineup of celebrities, and even hosted by a famous TV personality.

Daisy was glued to the livestream—and ended up breaking down the moment she saw it.

In the end, after hashing it over and over in her head, Daisy convinced herself that I was the one who ruined everything for her.