The first thing I do after being reborn is dump my devoted boyfriend and immediately say yes to the obsessive man's pursuit.

In my past life, my so-called best friend, Sarah Cole, bound herself to an app that could transfer all of my boyfriend's love for me to her. My boyfriend was Luke Spencer.

The golden roses he prepared for me ended up with her. The hotel he bought for me suddenly had her name on the deed.

The way he looked at me shifted from fierce desire to cold disdain, but when he turned to her, his eyes overflowed with the tenderness I once knew so well.

When I cried and demanded to know why Luke had changed, he just looked at me with disgust as he spat, "We broke up a long time ago. Leave my girlfriend alone!"

On my birthday, Sarah went live online, flaunting how Luke had rented out the entire amusement park for her. Fireworks lit up the sky behind her in a blaze of color.

And me? They worked together to have me thrown into a mental hospital.

They called me a crazy woman obsessed with someone who never loved me back, and in endless rounds of electroshock therapy and forced medication, I died in despair.

When I open my eyes again, I'm reborn.

This time, I no longer feel anything real for my ex-boyfriend. Instead, I play along with Ethan Grant.

I find it funny when Sarah opens the app again, siphoning away every drop of Ethan's overwhelming love.

I really want to know if she can handle it.

"Natasha, I love you!" The deafening shout, followed by the crowd's wild cheers, snapped me back to reality.

My boyfriend, Luke Spencer, stood there holding a massive bouquet of gold roses, professing his love to me. The crowd's chants rolled over me in waves. "Say yes! Say yes!"

For a split second, I felt dazed. Then, it hit me: I had been reborn. I came back to the day Luke stood in front of the entire school with gold roses to make his public love confession.

In my last life, I had been right here, heart pounding, waiting for him to reach me. But just when he was one step away from me, he suddenly turned around and handed the roses to my best friend, Sarah Cole, who was standing behind me.

I never forgot that moment. The love in Luke's eyes that once belonged to me vanished in an instant, only to reignite when he turned toward Sarah. I later learned that Sarah had an app on her phone that could steal love.

She stole Luke's love from me like a thief. And now, history felt like it was about to repeat itself. I could almost feel Sarah behind me, quietly raising her phone, ready to pull the same stunt again.

The teasing voices around us grew louder, and Luke's smile only grew wider. Before he could say a word, I cut in with a calm and deliberate tone. "Luke, let's break up."

Everyone froze, and the noise died in an instant. His smile stiffened. He stared at me in disbelief like he hadn't heard me right.

"Nat, w-what are you talking about?" he stammered.

I repeated myself. "I said, let's break up."

My tone was ice cold when I added, "I don't love you anymore. I lost feelings for you."

The words hit like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of the crowd.

"What the actual… What's going on? Is Natasha out of her mind?"

"Everyone knows that Luke has been nothing but good to her. And now, she wants to dump him?"

"Is she playing hard to get? This is so hurtful."

Luke's face turned pale in an instant. The flowers quivered in his grip as the affection in his gaze was replaced with raw disbelief and pain.

"Why, Nat? Tell me why. Did I do something wrong? Just tell me and I'll fix it."

In my last life, I had asked him that same desperate question. And all it earned me was his disgust. Now, it was his turn to feel that sting.

"Nat!"

A hand suddenly gripped my arm. It was Sarah. Her face was tight with urgency.

"Don't be rash. You and Luke are great together—why break up over nothing? Just apologize to him and quit causing drama."

I stared at her fake, concerned face and let out a cold laugh in my head.

She was definitely panicking now. That was when it hit me—her app must only work on my current boyfriend.

The moment Luke and I broke up, she wouldn't be able to steal his love from me anymore. No wonder she was suddenly so desperate to push us back together.

I yanked my arm out of her grip, shedding the weakness I'd had in my last life, and fixed her with a glare sharp enough to cut. I spat, "Stay out of my business."

With that, I pushed my way out of the crowd without looking back, leaving behind a wave of shocked murmurs and Luke's broken voice calling my name.

Word that I had dumped Luke spread through campus like wildfire. Overnight, I became the villain in everyone's story—heartless, ungrateful, and playing the love game for sport.

No matter where I went, I could feel the stares on my back and hear the whispers trailing after me.

"She's the one who dumped Luke."

"I heard she was just using Luke until something better came along. She probably found some rich guy."

"Wow… never thought she had it in her. She always seemed so quiet, but she's got a scheming streak a mile wide."

I couldn't have cared less. Compared to the electric shocks and restraints I had endured in the psych ward in my last life, these rumors were nothing. They were child's play compared to what I had been through.

For the past two days, Sarah wouldn't leave me alone, constantly pushing me to get back with Luke.

Every word out of her mouth was loaded with how miserable he was without me, how much he still needed me.

"Nat, Luke hasn't eaten for two days. He's lost so much weight. You can't just let him waste away like this."

She took my hand, her voice dripping with sincerity. "You guys were everyone's couple goals. Don't let a little fight ruin that."

I pulled my hand free and met her gaze, taking in the fake sweetness in her eyes. It was almost funny. I said evenly, "If you really care so much about him, why not go date him yourself?"

Her smile faltered for half a second before snapping back into place. She explained, "I'm doing this for you. I'm your best friend. I can't just stand by and watch you screw this up."

"Oh, really?" I gave her a dry little laugh before continuing, "Well, thanks for the unsolicited advice."

I left her standing there and headed straight for the basketball courts.

One figure immediately caught my eye. He was tall, pale enough that his storm-colored eyes seemed to draw anyone in and hold them there. A small mark beneath one added an edge that made him hard to look away from.

He wasn't playing—just leaning lazily against the hoop, like he had all the time in the world. The space around him was completely empty, as if everyone knew better than to get too close.

The guy was Ethan Grant—old money, had a bad temper, and had moods that could turn on a dime. He had trouble written all over him. In my last life, I had heard the rumors—one young lady dated him for less than a month before she transferred to another school just to get away.

I took a deep breath, walked across the court, and stopped right in front of him. He seemed to sense someone watching him and lifted his gaze, slow and lazy. His eyes locked on me—cool, appraising, with just a hint of impatience.

"What do you want?" he asked me. His voice was just like him—cold and distant.

I met his gaze head-on and said, each word deliberate, "I broke up with Luke. Now, I'm saying yes to being your girlfriend."

The words hung in the air, and for a moment, Ethan just stared at me. He was caught off guard. He straightened slowly, towering over me, a teasing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Last time when I was pursuing you, didn't you say you and Luke were madly in love? What, so now you're ready to let him go?"

Ethan's words pulled me back to the years I had spent with Luke. Back then, we were really in love. But that was before Sarah stole it all away.

I kept my voice steady. "If you're not interested, then forget it."

I was just about to turn away when he let out a low, quiet laugh. "Of course, I am."

Before I could react, Ethan closed the distance and gave me a kiss.

News that I got together with Ethan spread faster than the news that I'd dumped Luke. The campus lit up with gossip.

"Oh God! Did Natasha lose her mind? Dumping Luke for Ethan?"

"Does she seriously think Ethan is the same kind of nice guy Luke was? Just wait—by day three, she'll be begging for mercy."

"I'm giving it a week before she comes crawling back to Luke in tears."

I was the hot topic of the week, and every single person was betting on when I'd go down. And Luke, the guy I had dumped without a shred of hesitation, finally lost it when he heard the news.

He stormed into my classroom, his eyes glassy, and he was seething. He questioned me in front of everyone. "Natasha, what the hell are you doing?"

He pointed straight at me, every word dripping with betrayal. "Did you break up with me just to be with Ethan? Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Before I could say anything, Sarah jumped in, looking absolutely heartbroken.

"Luke, calm down." She grabbed Luke's arm but turned on me, playing the know-it-all bestie.

She continued, "Nat, how could you be so stupid? You've got a great guy like Luke, and you dump him just to mess with Ethan? He's not even worth it!

"As your best friend, and even if you hate me for it, I'm not gonna stand here and watch you ruin yourself without saying something."

She played the part of the righteous friend, all conviction, like she was really looking out for me. The rest of our classmates around us started chiming in.

"Exactly, Natasha. Sarah is right. You should break up with Ethan."

"Luke's been nothing but good to you. Don't be stupid."

I took in the whole ridiculous scene and almost laughed. "Luke, it's over between us. Why can't I start a new life?"

Then, I turned to Sarah and gave her a look full of sarcasm. "And you, Sarah. Why are you so far up in my business?"

Sarah's face went pale. She hadn't expected me to call her out in front of everyone.

Luke was shaking, so angry he couldn't even speak. Then, a male's voice cut through the room. "Since when is it your job to lecture my girlfriend?"

Ethan leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets, cool as ever, as his gaze swept the room. He walked over at an unhurried pace, slipping in front of me like it was the most natural thing in the world to block me from view.

His gaze landed on Luke, and his first words were pure venom. "Losing to me isn't exactly shameful.

"Let's be real. Whether it's family background, looks, or anything else, you don't even come close. So instead of standing here barking like some sore loser, go ask yourself why you got dumped."

Luke's face went crimson from the humiliation. He shot me a glare sharp enough to cut glass before turning and storming out.

That was when I noticed Sarah's gaze was locked on Luke. It was more intense than they had ever been on Luke.

I smirked. Sarah had taken the bait.

From that day onwards, she stopped trying to push me back toward Luke. Instead, she started working to "help" my relationship with Ethan.

She fed him everything she thought she knew about me—my favorite colors, my tastes, even the type of guy I supposedly liked. And the wildest part was that Ethan actually listened to her. He molded himself into the perfect boyfriend.

It wasn't until a class dinner that Sarah finally made her move—locking Ethan and me in an empty private room after I'd had a little too much to drink.

Just before she shut the door, she glanced back at me with a smile full of hidden meaning.

She thought that after tonight, Ethan's feelings for me would hit their peak. Then, she could just sit back, bide her time, and steal every ounce of that love for herself.

She wasn't wrong. But what she didn't know was that I had been waiting for this moment, too.