In my past life, right before sitting for the college entrance exams, my best friend, Lily Shaw, and I made a pact. We promised that once we got into college, we would study finance and make a fortune.

But because my exam went smoothly and I was the first to leave the exam room, I ended up on camera for an interview. Somehow, I blew up overnight.

Years later, I became a top celebrity, while Lily was sent to prison for financial fraud.

When she got out, I gave her a million dollars to help her get back on her feet.

She repaid me by quietly forging lies about me, whipping up a wave of online hate, and doing everything she could to destroy me.

I traced the truth and confronted her, but she snapped back at me, "What gives you the right to stare down at me from your lofty throne and throw me scraps, Hannah Linden? I'm prettier than you, and my grades were better than yours. Why did you get the better life?"

She laid out a plan to get back at me. She knocked me out and slashed my face. She also gouged out my eyes and cut out my tongue before stuffing me into a freezer, leaving me there to freeze to death.

When I open my eyes again, I find myself reborn in my senior-year classroom. There's just over a month left for the college entrance exams.

I look at Lily, who sits to my left and whispers to me. I smile at her, my eyes glinting with ice and venom.

In my past life, my best friend, Lily Shaw, and I made a promise to each other right before sitting for the college entrance exams. We would study finance in college and rake in the big bucks.

Since I did relatively better during my exam and was the first to leave the exam room, I ended up giving an interview to the reporters waiting outside. After that, I blew up overnight.

Years after that, I went on to become a mega star, while Lily was jailed for financial fraud.

When she was released, I transferred a million dollars to her account to help tide her over. In return, she made up lies about me, started a wave of online hate, and did everything she could to wreck my reputation.

I traced things back to her and confronted her. All she did was screech, "What makes you think you can look down on me and throw me your scraps, Hannah Linden? I'm prettier and smarter than you. Why is your life so much better than mine?"

She devised a plan to exact her revenge. After knocking me out, she slashed my face, gouged out my eyes, and cut out my tongue. Then, she stuffed me into a freezer, leaving me to die there.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back in my senior-year classroom. I'd been reborn, and it was just over a month away from the college entrance exams.

I looked at Lily, who was seated to my left. She leaned in to whisper something to me, and I smiled, my eyes glinting with malice.

"Hannah, can you stop by my place after school? I have something important to tell you," Lily whispered.

Her place and mine were separated by just one wall, and we'd been best friends since we were little.

I'd been given the chance to live life over again. Just thinking about how Lily, being the lunatic she was, would one day wield public opinion like a weapon to stab me in the back and even kill me made my blood run cold.

"Okay," I replied, expressionless.

After school, I went to Lily's place. She finally couldn't hold it in anymore and said to me, "Hannah, I'm sorry. I have to come clean to you. I… I kissed Vincent York."

She lowered her head, blushing as she added in a small voice, "It was my first kiss."

I looked at the beautiful, vivacious young woman before me, taking in her exquisite features. Who would ever guess that she had a heart full of venom?

I thought she would pull some sneaky trick on me. I didn't expect it to be this. I curled my lip, feeling unimpressed.

In my past life, Vincent York had been my first love. We started dating as students and stayed together until we were one step away from marriage.

Yet when I was cyberbullied, he didn't hesitate to push me over the brink for money.

Thinking back, I was such an idiot to have given so much for a worthless man.

Lily probably thought I was upset when she saw me zoning out. She continued, "Hannah, I know I've betrayed you, but I really couldn't help myself. Vincent and I truly like each other."

She sobbed and whimpered, making it seem like I was the one bullying her.

Honestly, I'd stopped caring about things like first kisses long ago.

This time around, I was done with both my best friend and first love. I said, "You two are a great match. I wish you both the best."

Lily was caught off guard by my calm reaction.

While she went to get me some water, I casually flipped open the notebook on the table. Then, my eyes went wide.

The lines scribbled on the page were from a famous poem. They were also the lyrics of my representative work, "Simple Joys", from my past life.

Beside the verse, a huge red "Die" was scrawled. It had been written with such hatred and so forcefully that it had torn the paper.

I snapped the notebook shut as my heart pounded, and a terrifying thought popped into my mind.

There was a chance Lily had been reborn, too!

I couldn't control the emotions that surged in me, so I left without a word before Lily returned.

…

The monthly exam results came out fast. Having been reborn, I'd already forgotten everything I'd learned in class.

As expected, I ranked dead last in class.

Lily, though, took first place by a clear margin. The teachers and students piled on the praise.

"Lily, keep it up and you're sure to get into a top college!"

"She even nailed the problems beyond the syllabus. She's incredible!"

"Wait, weren't Hannah's grades about the same as Lily's? How'd she end up last this time?" someone asked.

That drew everyone's attention to me.

Lily said, "Everyone has off days. Hannah, don't let Vincent affect you. You just need to work harder for the next exam."

Lily thought that by telling me about Vincent on purpose yesterday, she'd messed up my performance.

The moment his name came up, it instantly ignited everyone's desire to gossip.

"What happened? Did Hannah's grades drop because of Vincent?"

"She came in dead last. She seriously has no self-control."

"Hannah, learn from your best friend Lily. She studies hard, she's pretty, and she treats her friends well."

Even Ms. Bolton, the homeroom teacher who usually liked me, said sternly, "You're too young to be acting out. Write a self-reflection essay."

After school, I obediently handed in the reflection essay and got a thorough scolding.

By the time I got back to the classroom, it was already late. Only Lily was still in the classroom, studying alone.

I heard her mutter to herself, "I lost to you way too many times before, Hannah. Now that I've started over, I'm going to keep you under my heel forever."

My heart jolted when I heard that. With this, I finally confirmed that she'd been reborn, too.

I pretended I hadn't heard her and walked off on my own.

Lily's pride bordered on obsessive. In my past life, I often worried about her mental state and would purposely miss a few questions so she could take first place.

This time around, she'd returned with a whole college education from her past life, so she was way ahead of kids our age.

And I, who'd unexpectedly debuted in the entertainment industry, hadn't even gone to college. After being away from books for so long, I barely remembered anything I'd learned.

If I didn't study like my life depended on it, I might never turn things around.

Now that I'd gotten another shot at life, I would repay Lily for everything she'd done to me in our past lives!

…

When I got home, my parents had already cleared the dishes. They evidently had no intention of making me dinner.

"I heard you came last for this month's exam."

My grades had plummeted so badly this time that Ms. Bolton had already called my parents.

"Burying your nose in books is all you know, yet your grades are like trash. You're such a waste of space!"

"Look at Lily—she's gotten first place again. She's smart, well-mannered, and so good at holding a conversation. She'll do a hundred times better than you ever will!"

My parents laid it on me the moment I walked in. Since I was little, they'd never praised me. If I ticked them off even a little, I would get a beating or an onslaught of curses.

"Mom, Dad, look who's here." My brother, Harry Linden, opened the door and bounced in. Lily was right behind him.

Mom and Dad instantly beamed. "Lily! Speak of the devil. We were just praising you!"

Harry started fussing over Lily, his eyes constantly darting toward her full chest. He said, "Mom, Lily and I haven't eaten yet."

Mom fondly patted his head and went straight to the kitchen to make a beef casserole.

"Wow, it must be my lucky day. Mrs. Linden's beef casserole is my favorite," Lily said, looking expectant.

Mom grinned. "Come by often if you like it. I'll make it for you anytime!"

"By the way, Hannah, I brought the comic you asked for last time." Lily pulled out a romance comic and handed it to me, deliberately raising her voice.

The second Dad heard that, he yanked my ear and snatched the book. "So, you're reading this trash instead of studying!"

"Mr. Linden, don't get mad at Hannah. I've read this comic, too. Her grades only slipped because there's a boy she likes at school. She's already reflected on her mistakes," Lily said.

Dad slapped me hard twice. "Can she compare to you? You've always been at the top of the class. She reads a comic and immediately loses her way—boys are all she can think about now!"

That night, Harry and Lily enjoyed Mom's beef casserole.

Meanwhile, in the corner, a phone captured footage of Mom and Dad whipping me with a belt and a feather duster until my skin split and I bled.

I would make Lily pay for this, bit by bit.

…

"You're just a waste of space. What's the point of getting an education?"

In my past life, before the college entrance exams, Mom and Dad had said that to me. Later, when I suddenly went viral, they'd pushed me to debut in the entertainment industry.

My life had slowly stopped being my own, and I became a tool for making money.

Mom and Dad moved into a big villa and found Harry, the uneducated brute he was, a beautiful wife.

They'd gotten all of that after draining my earnings. They only remembered that they had a daughter when they wanted more money.

This time around, I would study hard and live a different life!

Lily refused to let me off so easily, though. Early the next morning, my classmates started giving me strange looks.

It turned out that my chat history with Lily had been shared on the school forum, cut up and twisted out of context. What was supposed to be a private talk between best friends now looked like it was dripping with hormones.

She'd been good at this in our past lives, and she was now running the same play again. It was still impossible to guard against it.

"Hannah looks so pure and innocent. Who would've known that she had such an open mind?"

"I heard she doesn't just have a boyfriend—she also has several sugar daddies outside of school! You think I've got a chance with her?"

"Her grades tanked in the last monthly exam. This proves what caused it!"

A user named YorkInTheMist commented, "I'll tell you a secret, but don't spread it around. Hannah isn't pure anymore."

That was Vincent's account. No doubt his beloved, Lily, had told him to post it. It made the other commenters explode with excitement.

"Whoa, this is so much to take in. Why do I feel like I don't get that?"

"This is too spicy! Hannah Linden is okay with anyone, huh?"

"You just exposed yourself, Vincent. Try not to be too sad."

The thread never got taken down. Later, even the teachers started looking at me funny. Every time Lily passed by, she would lift her chin at me, looking as smug as ever.

Still, I knew the only thing I could do was study.

There were only a few days left until the second mock exam. I shut everything out and locked myself in a world of practice tests.

…

The second mock exam arrived on schedule. I felt good about my language paper in the morning and answered quickly.

But halfway through math in the afternoon, the head of student discipline, Ms. Johnson, suddenly burst into the exam room.

She marched straight to me, looking furious. "Hannah Linden, someone reported you for cheating!"

I stared back at her, feeling baffled. "I didn't, Ms. Johnson."

"Are you sure? Someone saw you bring a cheat sheet into the exam room!"

All the eyes around me snapped into focus. Some were shocked, but most of them were gloating. I caught the smile on Lily's face and got a bad feeling about this.

Ms. Johnson was known for being thorough. She took me out of the room and searched me from head to toe, more professional than even the airport security.

A crumpled scrap of paper slipped from my shirt pocket. It was covered in math formulas written in tiny handwriting.

"You've been caught red-handed, Hannah. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I denied the accusation with everything I had, but every explanation sounded weak at that moment.

"Cheating on exams is a serious violation. Be glad this isn't the actual college entrance exams, or you could be looking at more severe punishment! Of course, cheating on the second mock exam isn't a small matter, either. Prepare to face disciplinary action!"

Ms. Johnson made me stand outside the classroom while she made several calls.

I was panicking, but I had no idea how to defend myself. I couldn't even remember when that paper could've been planted on me.

Ms. Bolton arrived first, looking incredulous. Even though I'd messed up in the last exam, she still believed I was a good student.

"Ms. Johnson, Hannah has always worked hard in my class. Is there any chance this is a misunderstanding?"

But with the cheat sheet as ironclad evidence, even she had nothing else to say.

The exam ended just then. Minutes later, Lily and a couple of other students walked out, carrying my backpack.

"Ms. Johnson, we just found a bunch of cheat sheets in Hannah's bag. There's one for every subject!"

The teachers took them and examined them carefully.

Ms. Bolton gave me a long, grave look and sighed. "I'm very disappointed in you."

The students filing out of the other exam rooms saw this and started whispering.

"I never would've thought Hannah was like that. Maybe all her grades from before were from cheating."

"Cheating is a huge deal. Do you think she'll get expelled?"

"No way… If she is, she can't sit for the college entrance exams anymore!"

More and more people stopped to watch the drama play out. Ms. Johnson dispersed them immediately and took me straight to the principal's office.