Chapter 1

1

In this life, I've made sure our paths never cross.

When Lucas Reed gives a lecture in Boston, I'm at the Gulf Coast doing marine research.

When he's doing charity work in the rural South, I'm in a high-security lab writing defense reports.

We are strangers now, destined to never meet again.

The agonizing lessons of my past life are still burned into my memory.

I won't destroy my future for the sake of love ever again.

In my previous life, as I lay dying, Lucas held my hands with a look of deep devotion.

I used my last ounce of strength not to whisper his name, but to write down the final equation of my research.

He went gray overnight, but it was too late.

I have been reborn!

This time, I'm breaking free from Lucas Reed to finish the scientific legacy my parents left behind.

I stared at the college application form in my hands, took a deep breath, and signed my name.

Lucas and I were childhood sweethearts.

Ten years ago, my family gave everything we had to save the Reeds from a bankruptcy that would have ruined them.

The Reeds were so grateful that they arranged a marriage between Lucas and me right then and there.

From that day on, I became his shadow.

Wherever he went, I was right behind him.

I thought we would stay like that forever―simple, happy, and together through high school and college.

But life took a turn when I was fifteen.

My parents died in a lab explosion, leaving me with nothing.

The Reeds took me in, and I stayed in their house for twenty years―my entire life.

I gave up my dreams of higher education and never stepped foot outside the Reed estate after graduation.

I served his parents, managed the household, and raised our children with every bit of my soul.

But then Lily Evans appeared.

She was Lucas's high school sweetheart, his "one that got away."

Everything I had sacrificed became a pathetic joke.

Lucas used to tell me, "The Reeds value gratitude above all else. You saved us, so you became our daughter-in-law."

"But Lily saved my life once. I can't just ignore her. I have a debt to pay."

His mother would sigh every day, saying the debt to my family had long been repaid.

She told me to stop holding her precious son back and let him find true happiness.

Even the son I nearly died giving birth to turned on me.

"Mom, don't you feel like you're not good enough for Dad? Why do you keep guilt-tripping him?"

"Is it fair to make an innocent man pay for a past generation's debt with his whole life? Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

I gave up everything, only to receive nothing but contempt in return.

That night, I signed the divorce papers and left the Reed estate for my old, abandoned family home.

The gas lines were old and leaking.

I died in my sleep, ending a miserable and ridiculous life.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day we had to submit our college choices.

I remember the day after the exams, Boston was hit by a once-in-a-century rainstorm.

The city's transportation was completely paralyzed.

I waited at the intersection for ages, but I couldn't flag down a single cab.

In a panic, I called Lucas for help.

His mother answered instead.

"Claire, do you not have legs or something? Are you seriously bothering people over a little rain?"

She hung up on me.

I looked at my exam permit, which was already blurred by the soaking rain.

I told myself I couldn't give up.

But when I finally crawled to the testing center, the security guard blocked my path.

"Your permit is a wrinkled mess. How do I know you're not a fraud?"

I scrambled through my bag to find any ID to prove who I was.

No matter how much I begged, he wouldn't let me in.

When the final bell rang, I collapsed on the ground, sobbing in absolute despair.

Later, I found out that Lucas hadn't even eaten breakfast that morning.

He and his driver were too busy rushing to pick up Lily Evans to make sure she got to her exam on time.

Me? His supposed girlfriend and fiancée? I didn't get a single thought.

"Claire, have you really thought this through? Project 531 is the highest level of national security."

My teacher's voice snapped me back to the present.

"If you join, you might never have the chance to leave that facility for the rest of your life."

I looked at her with unwavering eyes.

"I've decided. I'm going to finish my parents' work and serve my country."

The Reeds didn't know that since middle school, I had been part of an elite youth science program.

My grades were always at the top.

Even if I missed the general exams, I already had a direct ticket to Boston Tech and Project 531.

In my past life, my absence gave Lily the perfect opening.

While I was stuck at home, she maneuvered her way into Lucas's life.

She supposedly saved him from a truck accident and became his "white moonlight."

My teacher looked at me with worry and pity.

"Claire, for most girls, being with the person they love is a dream come true. This isn't a game."

"I don't know what kind of fight you had with Lucas, but don't do this just to spite him."

It's true. Being Lucas Reed's girlfriend was every girl's dream in school.

But they had no idea of the bitterness hidden behind that dream.

In my past life, I was stupid enough to clip my own wings just to stay by his side.

This time, I only want to fly toward my own horizon.