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.

Bryant's POV

In there, there was no pressure to study. It was just about getting a nice-looking diploma.

And yet, despite being the one arranged to marry her in the future, I was now treated like an outsider.

After struggling to break free but failing, I finally gave up and closed my eyes, waiting for it all to end.

When I opened them again, Toby was walking through the door.

I knew why he was here.

He came to watch me suffer.

The smug expression on his face and the designer suit said everything.

But in that moment, I looked at him like he was my only way out.

“Toby,” I said calmly, “let’s make a deal.”

He froze.

“You know that eventually, Ellen is going to marry me,” I continued. “Even if she gives all her love to you, it’ll be my children who inherit her legacy.”

His face turned pale.

“So, here's the deal,” I said. “Let me go, and we’ll go our separate ways. If they no longer have a reason to tie me to her, she can marry you freely. And your children can be the heirs.”

He was quiet for a long moment.

Then he looked at me, uncertain. “You’re really giving her up?”

“If I’m lying, may I never have children,” I said coldly.

For someone like him, that was as serious a vow as it got.

After a moment’s hesitation, he untied me and agreed, “Fine. Come with me.”

He led me through an empty hallway, moving carefully, one step at a time.

“When we get down the stairs, just go through that door. You’ll be free,” he instructed.

“Thank you,” I said, and took a step forward.

But suddenly, he grabbed my wrist.

“I changed my mind,” he said.

My breath caught. “What do you mean?”

“The only way I can truly believe you won’t try to take her back is if you’re dead.”

And with that, he shoved me.

My head slammed into the edge of the stairs, and my body tumbled down violently.

The crash echoed through the house.

Upstairs, Ellen’s voice rang out. “Toby? What are you doing?!”

His face went ghost white.

Then, without missing a beat, he shouted back, “Bryant! You said you wanted a quick tour, why’d you suddenly throw yourself down the stairs?! If I’d known you were planning to frame me like this, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing you food!”

“Bryant?” Ellen came rushing over, and when she saw me, covered in blood, her breath hitched.

But then Toby looked at her with teary eyes, and her gaze started to soften.

“Ellen… I just wanted to bring him food, but he had it all planned.”

“Bryant,” she said coldly, stepping in front of Toby like a shield. “With how cruel you are, how could anyone trust you to raise a worthy heir?”

Toby took a shaky breath. “Ellen, I know it’s my presence that’s made things hard for him. He even said earlier that if I kept clinging to you, he’d have the hospital pull my grandma’s oxygen tube. Ellen… I love you, but I can’t just abandon my grandmother.”

He then turned away, pretending to make a painful choice.

“Toby!” Ellen panicked, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

But Toby fought her off with tears in his eyes.

“Let me go!” he cried. “Let me be the bigger person. Just please, don’t hurt my family!”

“Guards!” Ellen’s eyes were red as she gave the order. “Strip Bryant, hang him up and beat him!”

I coughed up blood, staring at her in disbelief. “What did you just say?”

But she only clung tighter to Toby. “If I destroy his reproductive organs, he won’t be able to have kids anymore. That way, he’ll have no choice but to raise our children.”

“Anyway, my parents only kept him around for that purpose. They won’t object. Now, will you still leave me?” she cooed.

Toby suddenly wrapped her in his arms, trembling.

“Ellen! This is a crime! You—mmph!” I barked, but before I could finish, they gagged me and strung me up.

After that, one of the bodyguards grabbed a thick baton and slammed it into my abdomen.

The pain was so unbearable that my tears and sweat poured out together.