Aleena Cook wasn't surprised by the shock written all over everyone's faces. In her past life, her forgiving nature had let Julian Mason and Aya Morales walk all over her—stomp her sincerity straight into the dirt.

She'd never forget the final days of that life. How Julian and Aya drove her to the edge of madness. That gut-wrenching moment when Julian hurled the birthday cake she'd made with so much love onto the ground. He actually believed she'd hurt Aya when Aya tripped on the stairs. Julian was convinced it was all Aleena's doing. He slapped her hard, spitting out the cruelest words, refusing to hear a single word she said. In his eyes, Aya was his precious jewel, while Aleena? Just some sneaky little liar.

Late one night, she waited in the living room for Julian to come home, desperate to explain she'd never touched Aya. The door slammed open. Julian stumbled in, reeking of booze, and yanked her up by the arm. She tried to pull away, but he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. The cold, brutal kiss that followed nearly stole her breath.

"What are you doing, Julian?" she protested, her voice shaking.

He smirked, his face twisted with cruel mockery. "Isn't this what you wanted? I'm just giving you what you crave so you'll leave Aya alone."

The storm of abuse shattered every last hope Aleena held. She cried quietly, enduring the torment. Morning light slipped through the window, casting pale rays on Aleena as she lay bruised and broken in the bed. She trembled, tracing her fingers over the bloodstains on the sheets. That night had been nothing short of torture.

Aleena lost all faith in Julian. She wanted out. A divorce. Anything to escape this nightmare. But she never saw the obstacles coming. When the phone rang, she weakly lifted her hand to answer. On the other end—a heart-wrenching sob. "Aleena, something's happened to your brother!"

Her mind went blank. Without a second thought, she threw on clothes and rushed out. Stumbling to the scene, she shoved through the crowd, only to be met with bloodstains and her brother's pale, lifeless face. She fainted. When she came to, she was in a hospital bed, and Julian was sitting nearby. His next words shoved her straight into hell.

"Aleena, how does it feel to lose someone you love? That was my gift to you," he said, grinning cruelly. "That's what happens when you hurt Aya. Your brother got exactly what he deserved for trying to help you."

Aleena's whole body shook. Her heart caved in with agony. And then the phone rang again. Julian grabbed it first. He listened, and Aleena could hear the sorrow and fear leaking through the line. "Aleena, come home quick. Your mother… she took her own life."

Aleena collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She was completely powerless—and Julian seemed satisfied by her misery, his face twisted into a malevolent smile. "When I told your mother the truth, her expression was just as entertaining as yours," he said.

Aleena wanted to escape this hellish prison, wanted justice for her family. But her enemies had other plans. Aya had her taken from the hospital. When Aleena opened her eyes, she was in a dark, filthy basement that reeked of rot. Her hands were bound behind her back. She struggled, she screamed for help—but the more she panicked, the more Aya seemed to enjoy the show.

"Aleena, there's no point in fighting. No one's coming for you," Aya taunted, watching with a cold smile. "I've been waiting for this day for so long."

"Aya, I thought you were my friend. And you betray me like this?"

"Friend? Aleena, you're pathetic. But I should call you by your real name—shouldn't I call you Aleena Campbell?"

"What? You're her child?" Aleena's eyes went wide with terror as she stared into Aya's gaze—so eerily identical to that woman from the past. "No… her child died…"

"Died? Did you really think I was dead? For seventeen years, I remembered everything. And now… it's your turn to feel my despair," Aya declared.

A group of men lunged at Aleena like wolves. She fought back desperately, broke free, even knocked one to the ground.

"Hold her down!" Aya commanded. "The boss's orders!"

Aleena was pinned to the floor, helpless. She screamed in agony while Aya watched with pure delight.

The ordeal ended with Aleena lying motionless on the floor. Aya leaned in close, her whisper like poison. "Today's little game? Courtesy of Julian."

"Aya… you and your mother are vile… you'll rot for this!" Aleena spat, her spirit crushed but her fury still burning. With every ounce of strength left, she hurled herself at the wall—determined to escape this hell by any means necessary.

"Stop her!" Aya shrieked, but it was too late. Aleena crumpled into a bloody heap and didn't move.

Aleena died. She ended her suffering.

Looking back on her previous life now, Aleena could only see it as a sick joke. Despite her prestigious family name, she'd been pushed out of her inheritance by scheming relatives, ending up with her mother in the faded remains of the Cook family home. She fought her way into university, hoping for a quiet, normal life—only to get dragged into Julian's world, where old family feuds and hidden agendas resurfaced with a vengeance.

She'd been a sacrificial lamb. Aleena finally understood that Aya's hatred came from her mother's grudge against a mistress. Aleena's biological father, Victor Campbell, was a notorious playboy—even after marriage. Aya's mother got pregnant during that sordid affair.

Seventeen years ago, a young Aleena had carried a box to a woman perched on a high stool. The woman took it like it was a precious treasure. And then—in the next heartbeat—she screamed and fell. The fatal box tumbled onto the balcony floor below.

In that past life, Aleena had been so naive, foolishly believing she could finally have a peaceful life as a Campbell daughter. Instead, she ended up ruined, disgraced, and dead. This time around, she swore she wouldn't repeat her mistakes. She would have her revenge. She would make Julian and Aya taste the same pain they'd forced down her throat.

The confrontation ended abruptly as Julian stormed out, his face twisted with fury.

Aleena Cook paused, mentally retracing the chain of events. It had been about a month since she'd first crossed paths with Aya Morales. For the two of them to conspire against her, they had to have plotted meticulously. Aleena thought back to Julian's sudden confession in her previous life, and it hit her—their relationship had never been real. It was just a tactic in some deeper game of revenge. She could understand Aya holding a grudge—but what the hell did Julian have against her?

As Aleena walked through the night, the cool breeze grazing her skin, her mind felt unusually sharp. She wandered beneath the streetlights, their glow casting a shifting mosaic of shadows across the pavement. The world felt peaceful—at least for now.

A whisper echoed in the quiet corners of her mind, smooth as velvet. "Hello, Aleena Cook..." A chilling smile crept onto the girl's lips under the streetlights. "I promise I'll finish this for you."

Shaking off the cold murmur within her, Aleena headed back to campus. Old dorm-room memories surfaced, and a dull headache began to throb behind her eyes. Back then, she'd been soft, accommodating—the kind of agreeable that attracted roommates who fed on pushovers. Before long, she'd become the dorm's maid, errand girl, and resident scapegoat.

"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Aleena," Yvonne sneered the moment Aleena stepped through the door. "I heard your knight in shining armor had to save you from drowning. Quite the spectacle, huh?"

"Miss Aleena?" Lucy cut in, her voice dripping with contempt. "More like someone who can't take a hint. Always hanging all over him, never knowing when to back off."

Before, those biting remarks would've been enough to reduce Aleena to tears. Now, she just shot them an icy look and let their words roll right off her.

Too bad for them—they weren't about to let her off that easily. Sunny, the dorm's reigning bully, got right up in Aleena's face. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"What do you care?" Aleena replied, her voice like ice.

"Well, believe it or not, your pathetic groveling is an embarrassment to all of us," Sunny snapped, her voice echoing off the walls. "Apologize, and this can all be over!"

Aleena laughed out loud—at the absurdity of the situation, at all of them.

"I said apologize, Aleena!" Lucy moved closer, her face stopping inches from Aleena's, her voice a low threat.

In one sharp, fluid motion, Aleena's hand cracked across Lucy's cheek. The sound rang through the room, and everyone froze. No one could believe that the sweet, passive Aleena had just struck someone.

"What the hell, Aleena?!" Sunny lunged forward to defend Lucy. "Who do you think you are?"

With a dull thud, Aleena kicked Sunny hard, sending her crashing to the floor. Then she grabbed a coffee mug off the table and brought it down with brutal force. The mug shattered into pieces, and the room went dead silent. The same girls who'd once made her life a living hell were suddenly subdued, all their earlier bravado swallowed by Aleena's raw, unfamiliar ferocity.

"You all pushed me around before because I had the decency to let it go," Aleena said, her voice calm but steely. "But if I hear one more snide comment from any of you, you'll live to regret it."

She reached down, grabbed Sunny—still dazed on the floor—by the collar, and pulled her up close. Her voice dropped to a menacing whisper, her gaze cold and unrelenting. Sunny felt a shiver claw down her spine. This version of Aleena was a stranger—like staring into the eyes of someone else entirely.

"Do you want to test me further?" Aleena enunciated every word slowly and deliberately.

The atmosphere hung thick and suffocating. Finally, Yvonne broke, trying to defuse the situation. "Look—sorry, Aleena. We were just blunt. We didn't mean any harm."

Aleena let out a dismissive huff, brushing past them to her bed with an air of defiance that dared anyone to try again.

For the rest of the night, the dorm remained quiet and subdued. No one dared provoke Aleena further.

"Finally, some peace," Aleena thought with grim satisfaction.

The morning after Aleena Cook actually got a solid night's sleep, she ended up oversleeping. Her friend Aya Morales called her, practically buzzing with excitement, begging her to hurry up and get to class. Aleena just told Aya to save her a seat—so when she burst through the classroom door, still mid-bite into a croissant, the place was already humming with chatter. Aya waved her over like a maniac, pointing to the empty chair beside her—which just so happened to be right next to someone very familiar.

"Perfect," Aleena thought, dripping with sarcasm. "Aya, always stirring the pot. She definitely saved me this seat next to Julian Mason on purpose."

The professor had already walked in, so Aleena had zero choice but to sit. Julian shot her a look of pure disapproval. "I don't want it."

"Want what, exactly?" Aleena shot back coolly, nodding at her croissant. "Because I wasn't planning on sharing anyway."

Julian blinked, caught off guard. There was a time when Aleena used to bring him breakfast every single day. He'd brush her off impatiently at first, but eventually, he'd take it just to toss it in the trash later. Today, he'd been ready to embarrass her in public by rejecting whatever she offered—except she hadn't brought him a thing.

Seeing the awkward twist in his expression gave Aleena a quiet thrill, and she happily turned her attention to the lecture.

"What are you plotting now?" Julian whispered, his voice low.

"Are you out of your mind? What kind of nonsense is rattling around in that tiny brain of yours?" Aleena snapped back, annoyed by his insinuation.

Aya listened to the exchange, totally confused by Aleena's sudden shift in attitude. She didn't know that Aleena had made up her mind to keep her distance from Julian. He was at the center of all the future trouble—avoiding him was the smart move.

But here was the tricky part: Aleena and Julian had the same major and served in the same student council department. In the past, Aleena had considered that shared major a stroke of luck. She'd joined every club and event tied to Julian just to spend more time with him.

Yet Aleena knew that running away wasn't going to fix anything. In her past life, too many questions about Julian had been left unanswered. Back then, she'd foolishly poured all her energy into trying to please him, never bothering to dig into the deeper issues that actually mattered.

If she truly wanted to protect herself, Aleena needed to understand why Julian resented her so much. That meant staying close enough to gather intel.

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer," Aleena muttered under her breath.

So, despite originally planning to skip the student council dinner to avoid him, Aleena showed up anyway.

The student council dinner felt more like a campus networking mixer than a formal banquet. Officers from different committees drifted between tables, trading jokes, talking about upcoming events, and catching up with the student body president and department directors. Aleena's easy charm made her popular with the upperclassmen, but she still kept one eye on Julian as he worked the room. At one point, she leaned in and quietly asked her director for a favor. He smiled and nodded.

By ten o'clock, the dinner began winding down. Their director reminded everyone to make it back to campus safely, giving Aleena a knowing glance.

As the group filed out of the restaurant, Julian returned from the restroom only to find the room empty—except for Aleena, clearly waiting for him. He stopped, realization flickering across his face, then turned to leave.

"Leaving already, Julian?" Aleena called out, mockingly. "Come on, I'll walk you back."

Julian halted, studying her with a tilted head. "You act like you don't care, and now all this—just for this little stunt? Aleena, you are seriously annoying."

Aleena raised an eyebrow, thinking, "If I weren't trying to dig into your background, I'd have stayed far away from you."

"Fine, I'm out. Figure your own way back," Julian shot back. But Aleena knew his alcohol tolerance, and judging by the state he was in, there was no way he'd make it back to campus safely.

She turned like she was leaving, but kept him in her peripheral vision. The street was pedestrian-only near the university, and cabs were few and far between. Julian, stubborn as ever, started staggering away—and Aleena couldn't help but find it humorous.

Sure enough, moments later he was hunched over by the roadside, retching into the bushes. He tried to straighten up, wobbling, but Aleena was already there. She uncapped a bottle of water and splashed it across his face before he could even react. Then she hooked an arm under his. "Come on, let's get you back. If something happens to you out here, I'd feel responsible for not helping."

Julian tried to protest, but Aleena tugged him along. "No arguing. You're stuck with me now. Play nice."

As she helped him stumble along, she casually asked him about where he lived and what kind of food he liked. Julian, drunk and off guard, seemed surprisingly cooperative—a far cry from his usual biting remarks. Encouraged, Aleena pushed a little deeper, asking about his family, what his parents did for a living.

But the moment she mentioned his mother, Julian shoved her away hard. "Get lost!"

Interesting. There had to be more to this. Aleena was determined to uncover the truth, and she didn't mind his rough handling. Still, after pushing her aside, he staggered to lean against a tree, his face twisted with a pain he was trying desperately to suppress.

What was going on with him? Aleena studied him, then asked, "Why are you so defensive? What did I say?"

"If something's bothering you, just get it off your chest. Maybe I can actually help."

"You help me? How could you possibly... her death... and you..." Julian's words faded into nothing, suspicion clouding his eyes as he stared at Aleena.