Reborn to Walk Separate Paths

After being reborn, I cut off every line of contact with Maxwell Sutton.

He chooses Elmshore University, so I change my application to Stonewick University instead. My goal is to stay far away from him and never cross paths again.

When he comes back to the country for holidays and tries to meet up, I fly abroad. I block him on social media and stop replying to his emails.

The moment he joins the same company as me, I hand in my resignation. I don't even want to see him from a distance.

In my previous life, I was obsessed with him for 20 years, and he betrayed me for 20 years.

I was diagnosed with a terminal illness in my 30s. While I took my last breath, Maxwell was busy planning a wedding with his first love.

The daughter we raised adjusted his suit like the perfect child, while I died alone in a hospital room.

And now, I refuse to live that ridiculous life again.

The cardiac monitor let out a sharp alarm, and I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling. I had lived through 35 years, and now my life was ending in this small room that reeked of disinfectant.

"Her blood pressure's dropping. Get the epinephrine ready—now!"

The doctors' and nurses' shouts blurred into the background.

There was no family by my bedside or friends to see me off. Right now, Maxwell Sutton was probably standing at an altar, sliding a diamond ring onto Angelica Xavier's finger. It was funny how he'd never bought one for me.

Rebecca Sutton, the daughter we had raised together for ten years, was probably standing there with the ring pillow in her hands.

The irony wasn't lost on me. Those people I had loved with everything in me were celebrating my disappearance while I took my last breath.

As my consciousness faded, I made one last wish. If there was another life, I hoped I would never meet Maxwell again.

…

"Jocelyn! Get up. Otherwise, you'll be late for your mock exam today."

My mom's voice snapped me back to the living.

I opened my eyes and found myself back in my room as it had been when I was 18. My desk sat by the pale blue curtains, stacked with study notes. The walls were plastered with Elmshore University admissions brochures from past years.

It was April 7, 2010, two months before the college entrance exam. Then it hit me that I had been reborn.

Looking in the mirror, I saw a face with no sign of age. No wrinkles from years of depression or gaunt, sickly pallor from chemotherapy. Just long glossy hair, bright eyes, and a healthy body. Tears spilled down my face before I could stop them.

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" my mom asked, handing me a towel.

"It's nothing, Mom," I replied, wiping my tears and smiling for the first time since being reborn. "I just figured some things out, that's