Chapter 2

After school, the hallways were mostly empty.

I gulped down the fresh air.

To be yanked back from the edge of death, from that cauldron of hatred and terror, left my emotions raw and volatile.

Mason was handing Chloe a bottle of water.

A bottle laced with a potent, illicit drug designed to cloud her mind and steal her will.

In my previous life, I had accidentally discovered Mason pouring unknown white powder into that water.

I exposed him on the spot.

But my childhood sweetheart didn't believe me. She insisted on drinking the water.

She even asked if I was just jealous that Mason was more popular than her, always trying to undermine him.

This time, I wouldn't interfere.

Chloe took the water, her gaze flickering to me.

"Are you really going to tell me what I can and can't drink now?"

"Suit yourself."

I waved a hand dismissively.

Mason, ever quick to twist things, immediately jumped in:

"Alex, you're way too controlling with Chloe. Doesn't she even have the freedom to make friends?"

At his words, the few classmates still lingering in the room shot me weird glances, full of suspicion.

Chloe's face hardened further.

"Who does he think he is? Just an arrogant jerk."

I tightened my grip on the pen in my hand, my eyes burning with hatred.

"Are you two ever going to stop? From beginning to end, have I said a single word?"

Chloe paused, her face stiff, then fell silent.

Mason continued to stir up trouble.

"You didn't say anything, but your face is terrifying. The way you look at me and Chloe just talking, it's like you're about to hit someone."

Chloe shot me an irritated glare.

As if to spite me, she chugged the entire bottle of water.

In my last life, I had knocked the bottle away, so she only took a single sip.

But even that one sip was enough to make her mind hazy.

I couldn't even imagine what consuming the whole bottle would do to her.

A dark anticipation stirred within me.

Watching her finish the water, Mason couldn't hide his triumphant glee.

He took Chloe's hand. "Chloe, I'll walk you home. You don't look so good."

Chloe didn't resist. Still in a daze, she let him lead her out of the classroom.

Ten minutes later, Daniel, the class monitor, burst into the classroom, his face ghost-white and frantic.

At that moment, I was the only one left in the room.

Daniel stammered, clearly struggling to speak, as if it was something terribly embarrassing.

"What's wrong? Did something happen to Chloe and Mason?" I asked, feigning concern.

Daniel grabbed my arm.

"Yes, it's them… they…"

"What exactly happened?"

I met Daniel's eyes, pretending to know nothing.

I used to trust Daniel deeply.

He wasn't just the class monitor; he'd been my deskmate for all three years of high school.

I thought we were close enough to talk about anything.

But after the incident, he'd kick me when I was down.

He spread rumors that I had drugged Chloe out of love-turned-hate.

He even live-streamed, exposing my "true nature."

"I was his deskmate for three years! I always knew he was emotionally volatile, and that he liked Chloe, but I never thought he'd actually do something like this."

"Alex has a violent temper. He once hospitalized someone from outside school over a minor issue."

"I tried to warn him, but he wouldn't listen. Even his elderly neighbor, who lives alone, said she always felt like he was stalking her, and she was terrified…"

That live stream pushed the situation to a terrifying climax.

My life was utterly destroyed, and the school expelled me.

Later, I ran into him once.

He held a high-ranking position then.

"Thank you, you know. If it weren't for your downfall, I wouldn't have gotten your Ivy League scholarship and made it into a top-tier university."

Memories flooded back. I glared at Daniel.

In my previous life, it was he and I who discovered Chloe being half-carried, half-dragged by Mason into an abandoned storage room in the old building.

I rushed to stop them, while Daniel, claiming he'd go get help, instead hid and watched, recording the whole thing.

Seeing my lack of urgency, Daniel stammered, completely incoherent.

"Mason took Chloe into the abandoned storage room in the old building! Chloe was crying and pushing him away… Mason, Mason looks like he's going to do something terrible to her!"

"But aren't they dating? How do you know Chloe isn't going along with it?"

At my words, Daniel froze.

Everyone knew Mason was after Chloe, and she seemed to reciprocate his feelings.

Daniel grabbed my wrist frantically.

"But Chloe doesn't look conscious at all! This isn't right!"

"Come on, let's go check! We can't just ignore this!"