Bryant's POV

When the college entrance exam results came out, the heiress of a powerful California family received an offer from Stanford University. Smiling brightly, she announced to the whole class, "Whoever gets into Stanford with me, I’ll marry them!"

One afternoon, she leaned on my desk, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at me with a teasing smile.

“They say you’ve got a crush on me. So, are you coming?”

My cheeks burned. That same night, I went home and changed my college application. I put Stanford down. In the end, I barely made it in, making me the last student accepted.

Over the next four years, I used everything I learned to help her family double their stock value. She kept her promise, too. After graduation, she married me, and we were even expecting twins.

But right after giving birth, she showed up with red eyes, clutching the death notice of a transfer student. She then tied me and the babies up and dragged us to the edge of a cliff.

“If you hadn’t changed your application back then, he would’ve gotten into Stanford,” she cried. “He wouldn’t have slipped through the cracks and ended up working himself to death in some sweatshop. You stole his future, and now you think you deserve to raise heirs with me? How am I supposed to face him after this?”

Then she made me watch as our babies were beaten to death, their bodies covered in blood. And as I screamed in agony, she cut the rope tying me, and I fell.

As such, our children and I died at the bottom of that valley.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I changed my college preference.

——

That night, my parents wouldn’t stop watching me. When they saw I had just washed up and gone to bed without a word, they blocked my door.

“You’re not going to change your college choice?” my mom asked.

I froze. Wait a minute, were they reborn too?

My nose stung. I remembered how, in my past life, after seeing my mangled corpse, both of them collapsed crying. Harsh as they were sometimes, they were still my parents.

So I shook my head. “Massachusetts Institute of Technology is good enough. I’m not changing it.”

“You’re what?!” My mother’s voice cracked like a whip.

They barged into my room, opened my laptop, and pulled up the college application site.

“What’s your password? Tell us. We’ll change it to Stanford for you!” my mom demanded.

But I refused, “Dad! Mom! I said I’m not changing it!”

Suddenly, my dad slapped me hard across the face, his eyes filled with fury. “You ungrateful brat! You almost secured a place in the Olson family last life, and now you’re just giving up your chance?”

My heart dropped after hearing their reason.

So that was what they cared about.

Not me… just my value.

“No need to change anything,” I said coldly, holding out my phone and showing them a photo from Ellen Olson’s social media. “She’s already made her choice.”

In the picture, Ellen held hands with Toby Wheeler, the transfer student. Matching rings glinted on their fingers. The caption read: [You're the only home I’ll ever need.]

“Useless child!”

Another slap stung the other side of my face.

My mother pointed at me, eyes filled with tears. “You spent years chasing her and couldn’t win her heart. Now she’s his with just a glance. What was the point of raising you? Our whole family was counting on this marriage to climb higher, and you couldn’t even pull your weight!”

“You’re right! I’m useless!” I snapped, yelling back for the first time. “But don’t worry. Once I get into college, I’ll start earning money and pay you back every cent you spent raising me, with interest. Go have another kid. Maybe your next one can actually marry into the richest family in the country.”

With that, I shoved them out and slammed the door shut.

They banged and shouted from the other side, but I pressed my hands to my ears and refused to listen.

Not this time. In this life, I won't let these ridiculous power games ruin my future.

I'm going to live for myself.

In the following days, I had no contact with Ellen.

I could tell from her posts that she must’ve been reborn, too.

But I felt no urge to reconnect.

Bryant's POV

In this life, she could date whoever she wanted. As for me, I’d focus on my research. We’d stay out of each other’s lives.

Or so I thought.

That night, after drinking farewell shots with my buddies, I returned home, only to find a dozen men blocking the entrance to my room.

Inside, standing at my computer, was Ellen.

She was giving orders.

“Delete everything,” she commanded coldly.

I rushed forward like a madwoman the second I saw my application screen had been wiped clean.

“Ellen! The deadline’s in just a few minutes! What the hell are you doing?!” I barked.

But the bodyguards were already prepared. They pinned me down at the doorway like it was nothing.

Ellen held up my little notebook, the one I used to record all my passwords, and gave me a chilling smile.

My voice started trembling. “Ellen, I didn’t apply to Stanford! There are still three minutes left. Please… just help me re-enter my application. I promise, I won’t take Toby’s spot. I swear!”

Yet, she only scoffed. “Your acting’s not bad.”

Then she reached out and wrapped her hand around my neck. “You really think I don’t know? You threatened Toby into giving up his spot just so you could take it for yourself. And now you’re back to sneak in again, aren’t you?”

My eyes widened in shock. “Threaten him? I’ve never even met him!”

But she wasn’t listening. She pulled out her phone and called him right in front of me.

“Baby, I’ve cleared his application,” she said sweetly. “Go ahead and apply to Stanford.”

“Ellen!” My eyes stung with tears. I was panicking. “You erased everything! If you won’t let me apply to Stanford, then at least put back my original choice, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology! That school won’t even affect you two being together!”

“Bryant.” She forced me to meet her gaze. “Mistakes come with consequences. Whether in this life or the last, this is what you owe Toby.”

Then, the alarm went off.

“No!!” I screamed, my throat raw.

The deadline for college applications had just ended.

Then, from the hallway, I heard a familiar voice.

“Ellen?” Toby ran in and swept her into his arms.

“I can’t believe you really did this for me,” he said, overwhelmed. “I’m… I’m so happy…”

The iciness in her eyes melted instantly into warmth.

“Of course I did,” she whispered. “It’s my job to stand up for the one I love. This year, we’ll get into Stanford together. And when we graduate, I’ll marry you.”

Toby stiffened in her arms.

She caught it immediately. Her eyes searched his face and asked, “What’s wrong? Did you not get your application in?”

His face was drained of color when he embarrassingly admitted, “Actually… my score… it wasn’t high enough for Stanford…”

She frowned at his answer and replied, “You got a 1550. It’s high enough. Why wouldn’t you qualify?”

At this point, his lips went even paler. “Not 1550… it was… 650…”

“What did you just say?” Ellen blinked in disbelief. “You told me your score was enough. You said Bryant threatened you, that’s why you didn’t apply to Stanford.”

I looked up at her, eyes red and swollen.

So my future was ruined over someone who couldn’t even come close to qualifying?

“Ellen, I—I…” Toby stammered as he dropped to his knees with a thud.

Then suddenly, he pointed at me as tears welled in his eyes and continued, “It wasn’t just during the application. He threatened me before the exam, too! He said if I scored over 700, he’d make sure the hospital pulled my grandma’s oxygen tube!”

“You liar!” I roared, lunged forward, and punched him square in the face. “You only ever scored high because Ellen was feeding you answers during tests! That 650 is your real score! You knew you couldn’t make it, so now you're blaming it on me?!”

Toby trembled on the ground, cowering.

But Ellen yanked me by the arm and slapped me across the face hard. “You bastard!”

Bryant's POV

The bodyguards quickly pinned me down again as Ellen began slapping me hard from both sides. Each hit stung like fire across my cheeks.

“You already tore us apart once in our last life! Why are you trying to break us up again?!” she screamed. “You hurt him, Bryant. So now I’ll make you pay for it a hundred times over!”

I tasted blood in my mouth.

Catching her off guard, I raised my leg and kicked her straight in the stomach.

Doubling over and clutching her belly, she gasped, “You’re insane!”

Hair clung to my face as I glared at her. “Who said I’m trying to break you up? If you love him that much, then go with him to community college. No one’s stopping you.”

Ellen froze.

Even Toby turned to look at her instinctively.

But she said nothing.

I let out a bitter, breathless laugh. “See? I’m not standing in your way. Not now, not even before. If you’d really been that determined, nothing could’ve come between you two. Just admit it, you just couldn’t let go of Stanford or your family’s stock price, and you didn’t have the guts to blame your precious ‘first love.’ So now you're blaming me.”

“You’re a coward, Ellen! A spineless, selfish coward,” I spat.

“Enough!” she snapped, her voice shaking.

Grabbing Toby’s hand, she turned and stormed out of the room.

“You’re insane!” she lastly shouted before leaving.

The bodyguards then followed close behind.

And just like that, they left me there, crumpled on the ground like a piece of trash.

Then a notification popped up on my computer.

It was a message from a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[Mr. Bryant Blanton, we were extremely impressed with the project files you sent. For that reason, we’ve made an exception to admit you as a research assistant. We hope you’ll continue to contribute to the future of our country’s scientific development.]

Attached was a formal letter of appointment.

Tears welled up and spilled down my cheeks.

The truth was, the heartbreak from my last life wasn’t what haunted me most.

My biggest regret was that I had been on the brink of a major scientific breakthrough, something our country desperately needed, but I died at the bottom of that cliff before I could finish it.

It wasn’t Ellen I regretted.

It was the career that died with me.

But now, with everything I remembered from my past life, I finally achieved that breakthrough.

And this time, I could fulfill my dream of serving my country.

In the days that followed, I worked remotely with the research team, helping advance the project from a distance. If our tech reached completion, it would push national science forward by years, and traditional businesses like the Olsons' would be left scrambling to keep up.

The night before I was supposed to report for duty, I packed my things and got ready to leave.

But before I could step out the door, a group of men burst in and dragged me away.

My parents greeted me with bright, excited smiles.

“You really struck gold this time!” my mom said cheerfully. “The Olsons say you don’t even need to get into college to marry in. For the next four years, you’ll live at their estate and learn how to be a good son-in-law. Once Ellen graduates, you two will have the wedding.”

My breath caught in my throat.

The Olsons were extremely traditional, roles reversed by gender. Men who married in were expected to act submissively, obey strict household rules, and give up access to any electronics. Their job was to serve their wife, support them from the shadows, and stay quiet.

If you disobeyed, they’d punish you with house rules, which were harsh ones.

In my last life, they never dared treat me that way because they relied on my expertise to keep their stock prices stable. Even Ellen helped shield me from their old-school traditions.

But I’d seen what happened to the other men in that household.

“I’m not going!” I shouted, struggling to break free.

But a slap came out of nowhere and struck me hard across the face.

My mom frowned at me, annoyed. “Do you know how many people would kill for this chance? You blew your shot, and they still want you. You should be grateful!”

“I—mmph!”

Before I could say another word, they shoved a cloth in my mouth and forced me into a car.

When I woke up, I was lying in a guest room at the Olson estate, the one they had prepared just for me.

Outside, a celebration was underway.

They were throwing a party to send off Ellen and Toby.

Apparently, she had paid for him to attend a private university near Stanford.