A memory flashed through my mind—my past life, pinned down by over a dozen men, my fingers snapped one by one while she stood outside the door, staring longingly at photos of Myron Mason.

A chill ran down my spine. I stumbled backward.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, I really need to get back to studying. I'll stay out of Christina's business!"

Christina froze.

After all, in situations like this, I'd always been the first to rush in and look after her.

But now I was already turning to leave. She opened her mouth to say something, but I was gone.

Over the next few days, I heard from my parents that Christina had been grounded by her family. They'd confiscated her phone and forbidden any contact with Myron.

I smiled to myself.

So even without my interference, her parents would set her straight.

But it didn't matter. I just needed to focus on myself.

If the exam questions stayed the same as before, then this time, the top score in the province would be mine.

Still, I didn't dare slack off. Ten practice tests a day, English vocabulary drilled on every walk home.

But one evening, while I was walking and memorizing, lost in concentration, a group of men dragged me into an alley.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!"

They tore my backpack and clothes to shreds, forced my right hand flat against the ground, and brought a hammer down on my fingers.

"AHHH!"

The agony merged with memories of my past life—those excruciating ten hours before my death.

Just as despair consumed me, seven or eight cameras flashed in my face.

A familiar figure pushed through the crowd.

Christina stood over me, dangling a photograph.

"Here's a lesson for you: not everyone needs to take the college entrance exam. Breaking one hand today should teach you something."

She tilted her head. "Say another word about any of this, and you'll lose the other hand too. These photos? A little editing, and they'll be all over the city."

"Christina... this is illegal!"

I was shaking from the pain.

She looked bored.

"So what? What's the point of living by the rules all the time? Myron says if you're young, you should do something crazy."

A proud little smile crossed her face. "You've never truly loved someone, Alvin. You wouldn't understand."

Haven't I?

I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

How could I not understand?

I loved her...

"Miss Sullivan, since there's no one else around, and his other hand's still good, maybe we should—"

The men cracked their knuckles, looking me up and down with obvious intent.

CRACK.

Christina's foot slammed into the man's knee, dropping him instantly.

"Say another word, and you'll lose that leg."

The man caught the look in her eyes and started slapping himself.

"I was out of line! I'm sorry! I deserve it!"

Christina glanced down at me.

"I'm going to Lake Evermist with Myron for a week. I expect you won't say anything you shouldn't to my parents."

A week?

That would take us right up to the exam.

A stack of photos landed at my feet. One of the men leered down at me.

"Here. Keep a copy for yourself. Damn, you're pretty photogenic."

Rain began to fall. Soon I was alone in the alley.

With trembling hands, I picked up the photos. Every instinct screamed at me to tear them apart.

But I stopped myself.

No... I couldn't destroy them.

This was evidence.

No matter how much I wanted to pretend this never happened, I had to keep them.

Gritting my teeth, I staggered to my feet, clutching the photos as I stumbled out of the alley.

Once I became the top scorer in the province, these would be my evidence for the police.

For the next week, I did practice tests with my left hand, pushing myself to the limit.

Finally, exam day arrived.

The car had barely stopped when I spotted Hubert and Yolanda pacing by the front gate, phones pressed to their ears, calling someone over and over.

Moments later, another car pulled up. Christina was hauled out by two bodyguards, thrashing wildly between them.

"It was my idea!" she screamed.

Behind her, Myron was being dragged out too.

Hubert stormed over and slapped Myron hard across the face.

"You're the bastard who seduced my daughter?"

"Dad! If you're angry, take it out on me!"

Christina's eyes were bloodshot, her clothes half-torn from struggling.

"Listen to me, Christina," Hubert said through gritted teeth. "This family will never accept trash like him. We're getting rid of him today, and you're going to take that exam like you're supposed to."

Hubert and Yolanda grabbed Myron and started dragging him away, ordering the bodyguards to escort Christina to the exam site.

"No! Myron!" Christina clawed at the air. "Dad! Mom! I'll take the exam! Just don't send him away!"

Myron kept looking back, reaching toward her desperately.

"Christina! Save me! I can't leave you!"

Watching her parents drag away the man she loved, Christina could barely breathe through the pain.

Her eyes, rimmed red, landed on me as I walked past.

"You!"

She grabbed my collar and yanked me toward her.

"What are you talking about?"

Her grip knocked against my right hand. I sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. She bared her teeth.

"You just love running to my parents, don't you? Love being jealous? Do you have any idea that Myron's parents just died? He needs someone by his side right now! If I hadn't been there for him, he would've thrown himself in the river! You'd let someone die just because you're jealous?"

She shoved me to the ground. Her chest heaved as she made a gesture toward someone in the crowd.

"Do it!"

The man from the alley—the one who'd tried to assault me—flickered through the sea of faces.

On the big screen nearby, the "Good Luck on Your Exam!" message vanished. In its place were the photos taken of me in that alley.

The originals had clearly shown me as the victim, beaten and cornered.

But these weren't the originals.

These had been edited. Photoshopped. AI-enhanced. The footage of me getting jumped had been transformed into something else entirely—me partying with a group of heavily made-up older women.

Students heading into the exam hall froze in their tracks.

"Oh my god, is that—that's disgusting! Taking photos like that? Those women look old enough to be his mom!"

"Kids these days have no shame. And right by the school, too!"

"Wait, I know him! That's Alvin from Class Eight!"

"Tsk, tsk. Looks so proper on the outside. Who knew he was into this kind of thing?"

"Getting freaky with sugar mamas in back alleys? Interesting."

"Christina!"

I grabbed her collar.

"Take it down! Take it down now!"

But she just shoved me away, laughing as she pointed at the screen.

"What's wrong? Isn't that you? You love snitching so much—well, now everyone knows your little secret. Why so shy all of a sudden?"

"That's not me!"

My voice cracked.

She just laughed harder as the bodyguards escorted her toward the exam hall. At the entrance, she turned back.

"Alvin, Myron is my everything. You've targeted him again and again. So now I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine."

The parents waiting outside fixed me with looks sharp enough to draw blood.

The police restored the screen quickly enough, but the damage was done. No one could look away.

Every step toward the exam hall felt like wading through concrete.

When I finally walked into the classroom and took my seat, the students who were already there looked up. Their expressions ranged from complicated to openly disgusted.

The security officer did a double-take when she saw me, then proceeded to pat me down roughly.

I spoke up carefully. "Ma'am, I don't have anything hidden in my clothes. Could you be a little gentler?"

She didn't care. "You had the nerve to take photos like that. How do I know you're not hiding some cheating device somewhere creative?"

Every pair of eyes in the room landed on me. Snickers rippled through the crowd.

Christina sat in a chair nearby, a cold smirk on her face as she watched me squirm.

I don't know how I made it through the exam. It took everything I had not to let that whole mess get to me.

The test questions hadn't changed from before.

I let out a small breath of relief.

In my last life, I'd beaten Christina by two points.

This time, I was going to do even better.

Christina seemed to notice this too. Throughout the entire exam, her pen flew across the paper. She looked every bit the academic star she used to be.

When the test ended, her parents were waiting outside the gates.

Christina didn't even glance at them. She just turned and walked off.

The two of them weren't angry. After all, the fact that their daughter had shown up to take the exam at all was a blessing.

So they grabbed my hands instead.

"Alvin, did she actually try to answer the questions?"

I nodded.

They both let out relieved sighs.

After the exam, Christina disappeared to who knows where.

Her parents didn't bother keeping tabs on her anymore. If their daughter wanted to run around with Myron, let her have her fun.

After all, with Christina's grades, as long as she took the exam, the only question was whether she'd pick Redwood or Kingsford.

On the day results came out, both families gathered together to check scores.

When they saw my score, everyone froze—

Zero.

My parents burst into tears of joy—

After all, only top scorers got that treatment. The system always hid our actual results.

Then it was Christina's turn.

A glaring zero stung the Sullivans' eyes.

Her parents embraced her excitedly. I turned to look at her too—

So in this life, she'd still managed a perfect score.

"What's everyone so excited about?"

Christina let out a cold laugh. "Aren't you worried I actually got a zero?"

"What are you talking about!"

Her parents lightly smacked the back of her head.

"How could you possibly get a zero? Besides, Alvin told us you were writing the whole time. You didn't put your pen down until the last second!"

Christina shot me a cold look and raised an eyebrow with disdain.

"I knew you'd never shake that little tattletale habit of yours."

She pulled out her phone, opened Myron's social media feed, and tossed it to her parents.

The moment they saw Myron's post, both of them clutched their chests.

Christina watched her parents' faces twist in fury, a victorious smile curling her lips.

"Did you really think dragging me to the exam would fix everything?"