Lost Love, Begone

I was reborn.

The universe spat me back to the year of my SATs, eighteen again, right when Noah Ritchie confessed his love for me.

Turned out, it was the last year he'd ever love me. That was the year he met her… the one who'd actually own his heart.

For Carla Davidson, he didn't hesitate to confess his love to me, not out of sincerity, but to distract me from my studies. Because of him, I missed my shot at a top university and barely got into a second-tier one.

He even staged a car accident to keep me from attending an academic competition, just so Carla could win first place.

When Carla suffered from severe blood loss in an accident, he convinced me to donate so much blood that it permanently damaged my health and left me unable to bear children.

Later, Noah was forced to marry me, but he spent every day brooding over a photo of Carla.

And when he learned she was getting married, he abandoned me without a second thought, choosing to die for love.

But in this lifetime, I'm wide awake. I won't love him again.

I'll be selfish. I'll live for myself and no one else.

So when Noah looked at me with his usual arrogance and asked, "Tiffany, will you be my girlfriend?"

I met his gaze calmly and shook my head. "No."

Noah Ritchie froze when he heard my reply.

His eyes locked on mine, wide with disbelief.

Had I really just rejected his confession?

Before he spoke, he had probably imagined countless outcomes. The only one he hadn't considered… was being turned down.

Noah and I had grown up together. We were childhood sweethearts in every sense.

Our parents were colleagues and neighbors.

Ever since kindergarten, I had been fond of trailing after him wherever he went.

He'd always doted on me, his little playmate, and he often went hungry himself just to buy me snacks.

The most touching memory I had of him was when I got into trouble for scratching up my family's car. I even smashed the windshield with a rock.

It had absolutely nothing to do with him, yet he stepped forward without hesitation and took the blame.

He was beaten for it and spent three days in bed.

From that day on, I swore I would marry him.

And in my previous life, I did.

But it had cost me a lifetime of heartbreak.

He did love me… just not as much as he loved Carla Davidson, the transfer student who joined our class in senior year.

For a long moment, I stayed silent, and Noah's face gradually darkened. He finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Tiffany, do you even understand what you're saying right now? Did you not hear me clearly just now…"

"I said no!" I cut him off before he could finish. "Try shaking the water out of your head, will you? The SATs are only months away. Who has time