Chapter 2

He gave me a shy smile, and when our eyes met, a shiver ran down my spine. I tried to stay calm. After all, I had a second chance, and he had no idea about it. I could still stop everything from happening.

“We have a new student today. Who wants to sit next to him?” I announced.

Since he started school late, he was older than the rest of us, already twenty, and he wasn't what you'd call good-looking. The classroom fell silent—nobody wanted to pair up with him.

Just then, the top student in our class raised her hand.

“Mrs. Gregory, I’ll sit next to him.”

Her kind face reminded me so much of my past life. I replied coldly, “I’ve heard that Wagner is struggling academically. I wouldn’t want him to hold you back. Let’s have him sit by himself in the last row.”

There were plenty of empty seats where he could sit with someone, but I chose the harshest way possible. He seemed puzzled, as if he couldn’t believe my indifferent attitude and how I was deliberately making things hard for him.

Rolf Wagner muttered to himself, “Why she treated me like this…”

Every word he said sent chills down my spine. After class, I bolted back to my office, my back soaked with cold sweat. I gulped down some hot coffee but didn’t even feel the heat. My mind was racing. Should I quit and leave now?

I had worked so hard to get this job. Why should I give it all up because of him?

I sat there, dazed, until it was time to go home.

My husband, Albert Gregory, was waiting in the car at the school gate for half an hour. When he saw me coming down, he hurriedly got out and pulled me into his arms.

“You seem really upset. What happened?” he asked.

Smelling his warm, familiar scent, I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer. Albert and I had a great relationship. In my previous life, he divorced me to protect me from online bullying, moving with me to another city under new identities. When he saw how much I was suffering, he even took a knife to confront Rolf Wagner, but Rolf turned the tables on him, leaving him dead in a pool of blood.

Looking at Albert's handsome face, I wiped away my tears and forced a smile. “It's nothing, just feeling a bit unwell. Let's go home.”

Albert was still worried, insisting on taking me to the hospital for a check-up. An hour later, the blood test results were in. I was pregnant.

Albert, over the moon, lifted me and spun me around. “Honey, this is amazing! We’re going to have a baby!”

“If it’s a girl, she’ll be as beautiful and cute as you,” he said.

I laughed through my tears, silently vowing to protect this hard-earned happiness. The next day, I went to class as usual, using a microphone because my voice was hoarse. The loudspeaker drowned out all my chaotic thoughts. I didn’t look towards that corner of the room, focusing solely on teaching.

A few days passed peacefully, until Thursday afternoon. After my last class, I was heading back to the office when several female students blocked my way. They were supporting Rolf Wagner, who smelled like the bathroom and was covered in injuries. His limp was worse than ever.

I knew his pitiful demeanor was just a facade. He was strong enough to fight back but never did, silently enduring the bullying from a few troublemakers. His nails were long and dirty, and his left hand was bloody, with a chunk of skin missing.

“Mrs. Gregory! Rolf got bullied, and his finger’s skin was ripped off. What should we do?” one of the girls asked, standing up for him.

Rolf looked at me pitifully, his nose scrunched in pain, making his face even more disgusting. “Please help me, Mrs. Gregory…”

I didn’t want to deal with it and told them to take him to the nurse’s office, turning to leave.

“But, Mrs. Gregory, you have a first aid kit in your office. The nurse’s office is too far. Can’t you bandage him up here?” A student called out.

I hesitated, seeing Rolf’s pleading eyes and his bleeding hand. Just then, the bell rang. I suddenly nodded. “Alright, follow me. Everyone else, go back to class.”

Rolf flashed a barely noticeable sly smile. He followed me to the office, which was empty because it was class time. I opened the first aid kit and pulled out some alcohol, tweezers, and gauze.

“Sit down, I’ll dress your wound,” I said.

The breeze fluttered the curtains, lightly ringing the seashell wind chime near the window. I gently and meticulously cleaned his wound. As I worked, he suddenly blushed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Mrs. Gregory, you… you’re really beautiful,” Rolf said, staring blankly at me.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I smiled and dunked his entire finger into the bottle of alcohol. His wound, already down to the raw flesh, was now submerged in disinfectant.

“Be a good boy and let me disinfect it, okay?” I said.

He screamed in pain, trying to pull away, his face contorted in agony. “It hurts, teacher! It hurts so much!”

But I kept smiling, gripping his wrist tightly, forcing his finger into the narrow bottle neck, soaking it in alcohol until it turned red. He bit his lip, drawing blood, his eyes bulging in shock. For the first time, I saw clear hatred in his eyes.