Chapter 1

1.

In my past life, Zayden Wade’s first love took a bullet for me.

From that moment on, he hated me to his very core.

He locked me away, torturing me day after day for four long years.

It wasn’t until my twenty-second birthday that I finally broke.

I sliced my wrist and watched my blood stain the pure white sheets crimson.

Before I died, I saw Zayden’s bloodshot eyes.

His voice was cold as ice. "In your next life, don't love me anymore. And don't ever stand between Luna and me again."

As you wish.

When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting in my senior year classroom. Cheers from a football game drifted in through the window, and sunlight flooded the room.

Zayden pushed the door open and casually tossed his leather jacket onto my desk. "Hold this for me. Luna’s coming to watch the game."

This time, I didn’t rush up to him with joy like I always used to.

Zayden didn't know yet―

In this life, I was going to stay far, far away from him.

Forever.

...

The leather jacket landed lightly on my desk.

I subconsciously moved my wrist.

There was no bone-deep pain.

In my past life, Zayden had tied these wrists to a bed frame with a leather belt for seven days and seven nights.

All because on the anniversary of Luna’s death, I refused to admit I was wrong.

But what was I supposed to apologize for?

Luna was my sister, the real daughter of this family.

The moment she was found and brought home, she received everyone's love.

I admit, I used to be jealous of her.

For a long time, I was resentful.

I hated that the moment she appeared, she took away my parents.

She took away my Zayden.

But she was so thin, so fragile.

When she first came back, her face was as pale as a porcelain doll.

She always called me gently, "Soph."

In that moment, my heart softened.

Maybe having a sister wasn't so bad.

Mom said Luna was in poor health and I needed to yield to her in everything.

So when she wanted my room, I gave it to her.

She wanted my teddy bear, I gave it to her too.

She liked the pretty dresses I picked out, and I gave them all up.

But in middle school, I found out Luna liked Zayden too.

That time, I didn't give in.

That was my Zayden, the boy I grew up with.

I couldn't let him go.

But I never expected that just because I fought for him against Luna this one time―

Just once―

The price would be a human life.

And four years of living hell for me.

The day Luna took the bullet for me, it all happened too fast.

She fell into a pool of blood, leaving one last sentence: "Soph... I give Zayden back to you... Don't hate me anymore, okay?"

When Zayden arrived, that was the scene he saw.

Luna took a shot meant for me.

She lost too much blood, and she had a clotting disorder.

She died on the spot before the ambulance could even arrive.

And her ambiguous last words made Zayden hate me completely.

That day, my Zayden asked me with a blank expression, "Why are you the one still alive?"

Why are you the one still alive?

It was only then I learned that Luna had asked Zayden to meet that afternoon to confess her feelings.

But they unluckily ran into a gang shootout.

In the chaos, she pushed me away.