In the past, just hearing him speak to me was enough to keep me giddy for hours, even sleepless through the night.

But now, all I wanted was to stay as far away from him as possible.

“No need. My boyfriend is coming to pick me up.”

I pulled out my phone and texted Ethan Walker. The moment the screen lit up, Daniel Foster’s expression darkened.

“Your wallpaper… when did you change it?”

I glanced down at my phone, puzzled. “Oh, this? Of course, the day I started dating my boyfriend.”

“And since I already have a boyfriend, it wouldn’t be appropriate to keep another man as my wallpaper, would it?”

Daniel’s face turned completely black.

For five years, my wallpaper had been a candid shot of his back. He’d even stumbled across it once before.

But after my rebirth, the very first thing I did was replace it.

I couldn’t find anything better, so I simply chose a selfie Ethan had sent me.

The more I looked at it, the more I liked it.

As soon as I finished speaking, the air around us grew heavy.

“Claire…” Daniel’s voice was low, as if he was about to say more—

But before he could, a familiar voice rang out from not far away.

“Claire!”

Ethan’s car pulled up in front of me. His eyes landed on the black umbrella in Daniel’s hand, and he gave a short laugh.

He stepped out, opened his own umbrella over me, then slipped an arm firmly around my waist.

“Thanks for the offer, Professor Foster, but I’ll be the one to pick up my girlfriend.”

I followed Ethan into the car.

Even after we’d driven far away, I couldn’t help glancing back. Daniel still stood there like a statue, staring at me as if rooted to the spot.

If not for all the cruelty he had shown me in my past life—seeing that look in his eyes, I might have almost believed he truly loved me.

“Stop looking. Your professor has already left.”

Ethan gave me a mocking side-eye, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I punched him lightly.

“What do you mean, my professor? He has nothing to do with me, okay?”

Ethan quickly surrendered.

“Alright, alright, I said the wrong thing.”

When we arrived at the Korean BBQ restaurant, he held my hand tightly the entire time, his gaze so tender it nearly melted me.

“Claire, I honestly feel like I’m dreaming. I wake up, and you’re my girlfriend.”

I swatted him again.

“Cut it out and go grill the meat. I’m starving.”

After dinner, we went to see a movie. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the couch afterward.

When I woke up, I found myself resting on Ethan’s lap. He had kept the same position the entire night, not daring to move an inch.

“Are your legs numb?”

He forced a cool expression, face impassive.

“Of course not.”

But I caught the way he winced in pain when he turned, reflected in the glass behind him.

I laughed silently to myself. Maybe liking someone else wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

I wanted to go home to see my mom—the person I owed the most from my past life.

Back then, because of my foolish relationship, I was deliberately run down by Isabella Reed and left half-disabled.

I wanted justice for myself, but instead, my mother became a hostage—Daniel’s weapon against me.

“Drop the lawsuit, or you’ll find your mother’s corpse.”

Those cold words still haunted my nightmares.

That afternoon after class, I shouldered my bag and hailed a cab outside Columbia’s gate, planning to visit her.

But just then, a pink Porsche came speeding straight toward me.

My legs nearly gave out as memories from my previous life flooded back, threatening to drown me.

That was Isabella Reed’s car!

All I could think was—I couldn’t let her hit me again. I stumbled and scrambled out of the way, just in time for her pink Porsche 911 to slam into a stone pillar, crumpling its front end.

She stepped out in a frilly princess dress, not the slightest bit distressed over her wrecked car. Instead, her face was twisted with pure hatred for me.

“You bitch, how dare you try to seduce my brother? Do you even have the qualifications?”

“With a face that ugly, women like you—scheming and shameless—I’ve seen too many of them.”

I honestly wondered if Isabella was insane. Who runs someone down with a car without a second thought? Clearly, Daniel Foster had spoiled her rotten. If she didn’t serve time in prison, it would be an injustice to everyone she tormented with her arrogance.

I stared at her blankly.

“Excuse me, do I even know you? What gives you the right to try to run me over?”

“This is a civilized society. If you come at me again, I’ll call the cops.”

Isabella glared at me with open contempt, her eyes brimming with hatred.

“Look at you—ugly and pathetic. I don’t even know what my brother sees in you.”

Finally, it clicked.

She must have heard the rumors spreading around Columbia University—that the aloof Daniel Foster had been relentlessly pursuing a female student. Jealous, she had stormed onto campus demanding to know who it was.

Someone pointed at the Dean’s Honor List board, where my name and photo were posted.

“That’s her. Claire Thompson.”

And so, Isabella floored her Porsche straight at me.

Crossing her arms, she looked down at me with smug disdain.

“Don’t you know who my brother is? Even if I kill you today, nothing will happen to me.”

“Is that so?”

I sneered as I pulled out my phone and dialed 911.

“Yes, officer, I’m outside Columbia University. Someone just tried to kill me with their car.”

She thought I was an easy target. She had no idea—I was just as ruthless as she was.

In my past life, Daniel shielded her after she murdered my mother. I took justice into my own hands, killing them both before turning myself in. I’ve always believed in repaying blood with blood.

And this life would be no different.

Soon, Daniel arrived—this time with the police.

“What happened here?”

Isabella immediately rushed over, clinging to his arm with a pitiful look.

“Brother, she bullied me! I was just driving along, and she threw herself at my car. Now my car’s totaled because of her!”

I almost laughed out loud. The lies rolled off her tongue without a pause.

When the officer asked me, I simply pointed at the nearby security camera.

“Check the footage. Everything’s recorded.”

Daniel nodded and went to look, but Isabella yanked his sleeve desperately.

“Brother, don’t you believe me?”

Daniel gently pulled his arm away.

“At home, I can indulge your tantrums. But outside, there are laws. If you’re not at fault, I’ll protect you. But if you are… I won’t cover for you.”

Panic flickered across Isabella’s face.

Moments later, the footage confirmed everything—she had deliberately driven straight at me.

She was taken to the police station for questioning. As the officers escorted her into the squad car, she twisted back, glaring at me with venom.

“Claire Thompson, just you wait!”

I brushed the dust off my hands, unbothered.

Let her wait. I’d already been through hell once. What did I have to fear?

Back home, I cooked dinner with my own hands for my mother.

Seeing my mom alive and well in front of me felt better than anything else.

After dinner, I walked Ethan Walker out. But when I returned to my building, someone suddenly cornered me against the wall.

“Claire…”

Daniel Foster, drunk and reeking of alcohol, was blocking the hallway at the entrance of my apartment.

“Claire, don’t leave me.”

I was utterly baffled. Daniel didn’t even like me—he liked Isabella Reed. So what was with this sudden act of deep affection?

I pushed him away.

“Daniel, you’re drunk. Let go.”

Luckily, Ethan hadn’t gone far. I called him, and he came back to drag Daniel away.

On the way back, Ethan looked unusually serious.

“Daniel likes you.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“He’s not used to losing his little admirer. That’s all. He just enjoyed being chased.”

But Ethan shook his head, resolute.

“Men understand men best. I can see it in his eyes.”

I still thought he was exaggerating. What kind of man “likes” a woman but destroys her family? If that counts as love, I’d rather be hated.

After that night, I deliberately avoided Daniel.

But even so, his adopted sister Isabella kept making trouble for me.

She staged “accidental” run-ins at restaurants, spilling red wine on my clothes. She deliberately swapped out my assignments so I’d get scolded by professors. She even pulled strings to transfer into Columbia.

On her very first day, she already had a swarm of fans and sycophants. With them at her back, she blocked my way coldly.

“Claire Thompson, you’d better stay in your place. Don’t provoke our princess, or you’ll regret it.”

But before they could touch me, my “knight in shining armor” showed up.

Ethan was sharp-eyed. Every time he caught them trying to mess with me, he quietly taught them a lesson until they didn’t dare anymore.

Isabella tried again and again to cause me trouble, but nothing ever stuck. Furious, she even accused me of theft, hoping I’d be expelled.

What she didn’t expect was that my boyfriend, Ethan Walker, was actually the heir of the Walker family fortune. One phone call from him, and the school smoothed everything over for me.

So Isabella shifted strategies.

“Brother, you don’t even need the money. Why insist on being a guest professor here? Why don’t we just go home?”

“You promised to give me half of the family business, didn’t you? I don’t understand anything about it yet. Come back and teach me, okay?”

Daniel didn’t even look up.

“I’ll tell Robert Collins to guide you.”

When her charms failed, Isabella hatched a new plan: framing me for drugging Daniel to expose a scandalous “professor–student affair.”

Her assistant looked uneasy.

“Miss Reed, are you sure about this? If Mr. Foster finds out you’re the one who drugged him, using such dirty tricks to chase Claire away, he’ll be furious…”

“Stop nagging.” Isabella brushed it off, unconcerned.

“I know my brother better than anyone. He’s just temporarily bewitched by that bitch. But once they’re caught in front of livestream cameras, humiliated, he’ll despise her forever.”

That night, according to Daniel’s routine, a drink was drugged. He unsuspectingly drank it.

Immediately, bodyguards carried him into a hotel room.

“Did it work on Claire Thompson’s side?” Isabella asked eagerly.