Mia threw herself into Nolan's arms and wept.

"You shook me off way too hard just now, Nole! I fell straight to the ground. My knee hurts so much I can't even walk. I might've said the wrong thing, but you shouldn't be treating a young woman like this."

Nolan's eyes flashed with guilt. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Stop crying. I'll take you to the nurse's office."

Mia pouted pitifully.

After picking her up in his arms, Nolan looked at me. His dark eyes were filled with even more remorse. "I did cause her injury, Tess. Let me take her to the nurse's office first. I'll look for you the moment I'm done, okay?"

Curled up in his arms, Mia shot me a smug look, but her thoughts told a completely different story.

[What a scumbag! He keeps saying he doesn't care about me, but the second I get hurt, he worries about me more than anyone else. He's not even married to Teresa yet, and he's already neglecting her this way. Is this what he considers love?]

The rest of her thoughts were even more shocking.

[If this is how he acts before they're married, it's no wonder that he only gets worse after marriage. He even used the fact that he saved her life before as an excuse to force her to donate her blood to save his favorite mistress!

[Her health was already fragile, to begin with. She ended up falling unconscious for three days straight after donating her blood, and he was so busy fussing over his mistress that he didn't even check on her. She must've been so heartbroken then.]

Before my brain could even process the words, my heart was already clenching hard. The pain was spreading through my body. The blood was slowly draining out of my face as well.

Nolan and I were the only ones who knew he'd saved my life by donating his blood to me before. Mia was a new transfer student. There was no way she could've found out about it.

Did this prove that the future Nolan would really hurt me for the sake of other women?

I clenched my trembling fingers, forcing down my wildly surging emotions. "Okay. You can take her to the nurse's office."

"I knew you'd always be kind and considerate of others, Tess. I'll get going then," Nolan said with a faint smile before carrying Mia off.

I could still hear her thoughts.

[I feel so sorry for doing this to Teresa, but it's better to see things clearly before they're married than suffer after, isn't it? With how smart she is, she'll probably break up with him now, right? Either way, once we get to the nurse's office, I'll get the scumbag to reveal his true thoughts to me. That way, I can help Teresa escape her future hell!]

I stood there for a few seconds before, as if under a spell, I followed them. Through the window, I watched the campus nurse treat Mia's wound before leaving. I also saw Mia leaning toward Nolan.

"Nole, I know you don't like going to the library. Why not just tell her the truth? Isn't it exhausting to always pretend like that?"

Nolan's brows furrowed. He warned her, saying, "I might not like going to the library, but Teresa is the woman I love. If she wants to go, I'm more than happy to accompany her. You'd better keep your mouth shut and stop bringing up things you shouldn't even be mentioning. Otherwise, I swear I'll come after you."

Mia smirked, completely unfazed by his threat.

"Stop trying to threaten me. I know you better than you can even imagine, okay? You might be devoted to Teresa right now. You might be willing to put up with your own discomfort to be with her. But in the future, you'll find her boring. You'll secretly keep 18 mistresses on the side.

"They'll get pregnant and start provoking Teresa. They'll slap her and even kick her in the abdomen, while you just stand there and let them do it. Are you sure that when the time comes, you can still claim that she's the woman you love?"

Nolan was stunned. "How is that possible? I would never do anything to hurt Teresa!"

"I'm telling the truth. That's exactly what you're like in the future. I saw it with my own eyes!" However, Mia wasn't annoyed that he was doubting her.

She handed him her phone, saying, "This is the livestream to announce the winning lottery numbers. The drawing is in ten seconds. The numbers for this round are going to be 06, 10, 13, 14, 15, 20, and 11. You'll soon be seeing for yourself whether I'm really from the future or not."

To verify it myself, I quickly pulled out my own phone and joined the livestream.

Meanwhile, Nolan snorted loudly, as if Mia had just cracked a ridiculous joke. "You've got to be kidding me. The winning lottery numbers are randomly generated. How could you possibly know them in advance…"

He was cut off by the announcement in the livestream—and the numbers were the exact ones Mia just listed out.

My eyes widened, and Nolan's voice died out. Shock flooded his face.

Mia took her phone back and smiled sweetly at him. "You finally believe that I'm from the future, right? To be honest with you, I'm one of your 18 mistresses.

"If you really only loved Teresa, you'd instinctively refuse to have any physical contact with me, but you’re not rejecting my proximity at all. Would you believe me if I told you that, in the future, you'll also be hurting Teresa time and time again for my sake?"

Nolan pressed his lips together, seemingly convinced.

It felt as if a knife had been driven straight into my heart. I couldn't listen to this any longer. With my body just barely holding steady, I turned and left.

Mia really was from the future. And in that future, Nolan and I… would really end up bitter and hateful toward each other. We would torment each other—or rather, it would be a one-sided torment. He would be the one tormenting me.

An indescribable emotion filled my heart. I returned to my dorm room, only to meet the mocking gazes of my roommates.

One of them, Olivia Reed, remarked, "Look who's back at last. You were reported for plagiarizing Mia Shaw's work in your submission to the national art competition. Professor Dorsey wants to see you in her office."

It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over my head. I snapped out of my heavy emotions in an instant.

"Me? Accused of plagiarism? Who reported me?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "As if that matters. Mia published her work ages ago, and you submitted the exact same piece to the competition. Anyone with eyes can tell that you plagiarized her art."

My expression was dark. I turned on my heels and headed straight to the office of my faculty advisor, Professor Dorsey. Once I got there, I solemnly explained to her, "I didn't plagiarize anyone, Professor Dorsey. Nolan Shaw was with me the whole time I was creating my artwork. He can be my witness."

Professor Dorsey rubbed her forehead. "I've already notified Mia to come over. When she and Nolan get here, I'll get to the bottom of things."

Not long after, Mia walked in. She was eating ice cream. Pulling Nolan along into the office, she said with a cheerful smile, "You wanted to see me, Professor Dorsey?"

Professor Dorsey looked at her and said, "I called you here to ask you about a situation. You and Teresa both submitted identical artwork. I want to know which one of you copied the other."

Nolan frowned and immediately said, "There's no way Teresa plagiarized anyone. I can testify that she drew her artwork herself."

I looked at him, and some of the tension in my heart eased. Even when everyone else was doubting me, he chose to believe me.

However, after finally finishing her ice cream, Mia pulled up a website and said pointedly, "You shouldn't slander me just because of your relationship with her, Nole.

"I published my artwork a month before she submitted hers. Go on. Check the time of publication. I have no beef with her, so there's no reason for me to set her up. I don't care if anyone else doubts me, Nole, but you can't."

At the same time, Mia's thoughts rang out again.

[I feel bad that I have to do this to Teresa. I did plagiarize her artwork. I just hope this makes her understand that no matter how much Nolan loves her right now, he's only drawn in by her talent and not her soul.

[They'll get married and have a daughter, and she ends up becoming a full-time housewife. Once that happens, she'll get bogged down by the chores of daily life, and he will start having a change of heart. That's when her true suffering will begin.

[I'll be his mistress in the future, one of the women he carefully chose to keep him company. I know he'll constantly hurt Teresa because of me.]

My heart jolted. Sure enough, Nolan's expression wavered, and his brows drew together.

"Tess, the publication date for Mia's artwork really is earlier than yours. Did you see her work during that week when you were creating your submission?" Nolan questioned me.

My expression froze, and my heart clenched painfully. "I didn't. Weren't you with me the entire time when I was working on it?"

Nolan pressed his lips together. "I was by your side, but I didn't pay full attention to your creative process. You could've easily won this sort of competition without plagiarizing anyone, Tess. I have full faith in your abilities. Come on, then. I'll go to the library with you, and you can come up with a new artwork. There's still time."

It sounded like he meant well when, in reality, his words made it a certainty that I was guilty of plagiarism.

A spectating crowd had gathered outside Professor Dorsey's office, and they immediately started whispering among themselves.

"I can't believe the top student of her class would actually plagiarize someone else. How shameless of her! I guess grades don't reflect a person's character after all."

"Look at her. She makes it seem like she's the one being wronged. Nolan loves her more than anything else in the world. He would even pluck the stars out of the sky for her, and even he admits that she plagiarized Mia's work. So, what does she have to feel bad about?"

Even Professor Dorsey sighed. "Teresa, I know you're a good student and a smart young woman, but you shouldn't be plagiarizing just to secure the top prize in a competition. I won't put it in your permanent record this time. Just destroy your previous artwork and submit a new one—but remember, this mustn't happen again."

Malicious gazes came from all directions, burning into me.

My face was pale. I clenched my hands and straightened my back, declaring, "Thank you, Professor Dorsey, but I won't be submitting a new piece of artwork. I never visited the site where Mia posted her artwork. I'll get someone to check all of my browsing history as evidence to prove my innocence.

"I didn't plagiarize, and I refuse to admit to something I've never done. I won't stop defending myself and clearing my name!"

As Professor Dorsey looked at me in shock, I turned to Nolan. I would've been fine if anyone else doubted me, but he shouldn't. He knew full well that Mia was from the future. If she could memorize the winning lottery numbers, what was stopping her from remembering my artwork?

"Don't ever come near me again, Nolan," I said.

His expression stiffened. "You're telling me not to come near you ever again just because I told the truth? It's perfectly normal for people to make mistakes sometimes. It's not like I doubted your talents.

"I was even willing to accompany you while you made a new piece of artwork, so why are you getting mad at me? Either way, I won't allow it. I refuse to accept this."

As I listened to his haughty tone and words, he suddenly seemed like a complete stranger to me. I even felt a little relieved.

I was relieved that Mia let me see his true colors sooner rather than later. I hadn't fallen in too deep yet. It wasn't too late.

"Come near me again, and I'll call the police," I warned him before leaving Professor Dorsey's office.

Once I was outside, my emotions started getting the best of me. Nevertheless, I resisted the urge to cry and immediately wiped away any stray tears that fell from my eyes. I wasn't going to show any weakness.

I'd gone all the way to the lake when someone patted me on the shoulder.

Mia's head popped out from the side, and she flashed me a smug smile.