Chapter 1

Chapter 1 The night of the fatal car crash, my wife was busy throwing a lavish birthday party for her childhood sweetheart.

Meanwhile, I drew my very last breath alone on a freezing cold operating table.

When I opened my eyes again, I was thrown back to my high school days.

Watching her flirt endlessly with him, I quietly backed out of their world.

Years later, drenched in a torrential downpour, she clutched the hem of my jacket with tears streaming down her face.

She begged me to give her one more chance.

I coldly pulled my coat from her grip and stepped back.

"Sorry, but we have nothing to do with each other anymore. Don't ever come looking for me again."

……

The kids at Oakridge High were all gossiping that Gavin, Audrey Pierce's most devoted simp, had finally thrown in the towel.

No boutique pastries in the morning, no attempts to chat between classes, no sports drinks after gym, and definitely no walking her home after school.

"He's been chasing her like a dog for almost two years. Is he really just quitting like that?"

"What do you know? He's probably just playing hard to get, waiting for Audrey to coax him!"

"Still, he'd better not push his luck. Half the guys in school are waiting for their turn with her."

The chatter died down the second I walked into the classroom.

The whole room went dead silent.

Ignoring the curious glances, I walked over to my desk and unzipped my backpack.

Right on top sat an artisanal pastry box and a warm bottle of milk.

I had forgotten to tell our housekeeper to stop preparing them.

Audrey's best friend, Tara, nudged her with an elbow and whispered, "See? I told you he wouldn't last. He's about to crawl right back to you."

Audrey said nothing, but a faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

Under her gaze, I handed the pastry box and the milk to my buddy.

"Do me a favor, Sam. I don't want to waste food."

Sam stared at me in disbelief, then glanced at Audrey and gulped.

"Bro, are you for real?"

I nodded calmly.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the box and dug in hungrily.

I opened my vocabulary workbook and focused on memorizing words.

After devouring the pastry, Sam eyed me with genuine curiosity.

"Since when are you so into studying?"

"I want to test into the AP Honors class."

"Bro, are you sleep-talking in broad daylight? Do you honestly not know where our grades stand?"

Sam wasn't wrong.

My entrance exam scores had barely put me in the bottom tier of Oakridge High.

My foundation was weak to begin with, and I had squandered almost all my free time orbiting Audrey.

Back then, being stuck in a regular classroom didn't bother me.

Audrey was here, and so were my best friends.

Now, she was the sole reason I had to get out.

Every time I looked at her, I couldn't help but remember the woman she became ten years later―a wife who abandoned me time and again for her first love.

During those agonizing thirty minutes as I bled out on the asphalt, my trembling hands had dialed her number over and over.

I had silently prayed that she would pick up and save me.

Instead, all I got was a cold, endless dial tone.

I missed the golden window for rescue and died alone on that freezing operating table.

I couldn't forgive her.

Nor did I ever want to be entangled with her again.

In this lifetime, we were going to be absolute strangers.