Chapter 3

3

Before long, my brother Clay caught up with me outside the venue.

"Bro, what just happened? Haven't you been crazy about Vera forever?"

I looked at my brother, the only one who had tried to protect me in my past life, and patted his shoulder.

"Clay, you were right all along. That woman is nothing but trouble."

"I've come to my senses. I won't have anything to do with her ever again."

Hearing this, Clay wrapped his arms around me in excitement.

"Hell yeah, bro! Finally! I've been telling you she's bad news!"

"Don't worry, I know plenty of gorgeous girls. I'll introduce you to someone ten thousand times better than her."

With our arms around each other's shoulders, we headed to a nearby pub for drinks.

In my past life, I had let my brother down so many times because of Vera, constantly arguing with him over her.

Looking back, this party-boy brother of mine had sharp instincts all along.

Over the next few days, Vera didn't reach out once.

She probably assumed I was still the same pathetic simp who revolved his whole world around her.

In the past, whenever she threw a tantrum, I was always the one to apologize and beg for forgiveness.

I would shower her with expensive designer gifts until she smiled.

Once the gifts were lavish enough, she would forgive me.

Back then, I foolishly thought I was just being a good boyfriend.

Now I realized I was just an utter clown.

When the weekend arrived, Clay invited me out.

When I was with Vera, I rarely interacted with other women.

Now, I wanted to enjoy the world around me.

We borrowed my father's yacht and sailed out onto the bay.

Clay had invited a group of lively girls to help cheer me up.

Among the crowd, however, I spotted a familiar face.

"Josie? What are you doing here?"

I stared at her in mild surprise.

Josie Saunders had been my classmate throughout middle school, high school, and even college.

We were always in the same class.

Yet because my eyes were glued to Vera, I had never paid close attention to her.

Seeing Josie in a modest bikini now, I was genuinely stunned.

She wasn't just pretty; she had an incredible, elegant figure.

An absolute ten.

Josie looked at me, shyly lowering her gaze.

"Carter... Clay told me you were in a bad mood, so he invited me to keep you company."

"Do I... look okay like this?"

I glanced over at my brother with a questioning look.

Clay winked at me before diving into the water with a couple of girls.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in amusement.

"Did Clay tell you to wear this?"

Josie nodded honestly.

"Yeah! He said guys love it when girls dress like this. Is that true?"

I was speechless. I quickly took off my light jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Don't listen to that punk. He was messing with you."

I waited for Josie to change into comfortable clothes, and we spent hours chatting on the deck.

After all these years as classmates, I was shocked by how much she knew about me.

"I remember in eighth grade, during gym class, Clay accidentally tripped me and I twisted my ankle. You were the one who carried me to the nurse's office."

"In tenth grade, you got into a fight with three guys from another class just to stand up for Vera."

"When we started college, you always bought Vera the prettiest gifts..."

Listening to her recount all those little moments from my past, I realized how blind I had been.

I looked at her, astonished.

"How do you know all this about me?"

"Oh... I... I don't know everything! I just happened to see it, haha..." Josie was terrible at lying; it was written all over her face.

She was completely different from Vera, who could lie through her teeth without blinking.

Before the day ended, Josie and I exchanged social media handles.

Curiously, the silhouette of the man in her profile picture felt oddly familiar.