After being reborn, I deliberately avoid every possible connection with Zachary Lawson.

When he enrolls at Prestwick University, I choose to study abroad in Norell instead.

When he comes all the way to Norell looking for me, I travel even farther, moving from place to place as a war correspondent.

Years later, I return home hand in hand with the person I love to have our wedding.

Zachary is stopped outside the venue, his eyes red-rimmed. "Why don't you love me anymore?"

Natalie's Point of View

Zachary Lawson and I grew up together. Our families were evenly matched, and we were childhood sweethearts everyone admired.

Everything changed in our senior year of high school, when a transfer student named Vivian Larson joined our class. She seemed delicate but surprisingly strong, and Zachary couldn't help but feel the need to protect her.

Three months later, Zachary said, "Natalie, let's call off our engagement. Vivian needs me. She can't survive without me."

I couldn't accept it and made such a scene that everyone found out about it. In the end, Zachary was placed under house arrest by his family, while mine used their influence to transfer Vivian to a better school in another city.

Yet a month later, Vivian jumped to her death after enduring relentless bullying at her new school.

When Zachary found out, it was as if his soul had died with hers. He stopped speaking and refused to eat.

Overwhelmed by love and guilt, I left everything behind to stay by his side. I spoke to him gently each day, fed him bite by bite, and begged him to keep living.

Two months later, after mapping out our entire itinerary, I took him to the snow-capped mountains he had longed to visit.

When the first rays of sunlight broke through the clouds and lit up the mountain peaks, the golden glow seemed to reach the emptiness in his eyes.

He slowly turned his head and looked at me for the first time in ages, a gentle smile forming on his lips. "Natalie, thank you for everything you've done."

At that moment, I thought that I had lifted the shadows from him and brought back the young man I once knew.

Later, we got married and had a pair of adorable children.

But when the children were ten years old, I fell seriously ill and was paralyzed in bed. I couldn't even turn over on my own.

That very day, Zachary walked into our home holding hands with Vivian, the same woman who was supposed to be dead.

I never expected she would still be alive. What broke me even more was that my own children ran happily into her arms, cheerfully calling her "Mom". I trembled in shock, unable to utter a single word.

Zachary looked down at me, his gaze cold and cutting. "Your children died the day they were born. These two are Viv's and mine. You were nothing more than a nanny who raised them for over a decade.

"You destroyed Viv's life and mine. Your family abused their power and drove her to despair. Even though you repulse me, I forced myself to marry you just for this moment."

He took a deep breath and said coldly, "You won't be alone. Your parents will join you soon. Everyone who separated Viv and me will pay. None of them will get away."

After I died, he manipulated the system to have both our parents sent to prison, where they later died under suspicious circumstances.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day he confessed that he liked Vivian.

After school, the classroom was completely empty, which made Zachary's voice sound unusually loud to me.

"Natalie, I truly like Viv," he said.

Zachary held Vivian's hand and gently guided her to stand behind him.

I came back to my senses and looked at the two of them. Their faces were still youthful, and for a moment, I felt disoriented.

My throat tightened. I said nothing and simply lowered my head to pick up my backpack from the floor. My hands trembled slightly, and I failed to zip it closed despite several attempts.

Zachary looked at me. His tone remained cold and unyielding. "If you want to cry, then cry. I'm not going to give in."

Vivian suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud, her voice shaking with sobs. "I'm sorry, Natalie. This is my fault. I shouldn't have appeared in Zach's life. If you want to hit me or yell at me, I'll accept it all."

I didn't look at her and kept my eyes fixed on Zachary.

Seeing her on the floor, Zachary immediately helped her to her feet and held her protectively.

"It was my fault for not understanding my own feelings," he said. "I only ever saw you as a younger sister, Natalie."

Even though I had lived through all of this before, I still couldn't accept his words.

Every morning, he would bring a warm cinnamon roll—my favorite—on our way to school.

On rainy days, when my beloved shoes got dirty, he would crouch down without caring about appearances and wipe them clean. Then he would carry me on his back as he walked.

Even after years of people teasing us by calling me his fiancee, he never once denied it.

Yet in the end, he said I was only like a sister to him.

I nodded and forced a smile. "Alright, let's call off our engagement. Be good to her. I'll explain everything to my parents."

Zachary froze for a moment. He clearly hadn't expected me to agree so readily.

His voice softened slightly. "Don't worry. I'll still treat you the same way I always have."

He reached out to wipe my tears, but I gently dodged his hand.

"There's no need for that," I said.

I wiped my face on my own. "I'm not feeling well today, so I'll head home first."

I practically ran out of the school building. It was only after I rushed into the car waiting to take me home that my racing heart gradually calmed down.

My phone started buzzing in my pocket. It was a call from my sister, Judith Hooper.

Judith's bright, eager voice rang through the phone. "Natty! How's it going? Have you considered what I told you last time?

"Your grades are so good. It'd be such a waste to stay in the country and study that lousy finance major. Come to Norell and study media instead. Just think of it as keeping me company. What do you say?"

As I held my phone, the image of Mom's old box came to mind. It was neatly filled with records of the brave work she had done as a journalist.

When I was little, I loved flipping through those notebooks and believed that Mom was the bravest person in the world.

Influenced by her, I fell in love with journalism and resolved to study media. But because Zachary wanted to study finance at Prestwick University, I changed my own academic plans just to stay by his side.

I interrupted her relentless persuasion. "Judy."

My voice was still hoarse, but it rang unusually clear. "I've made my decision. I'm going to Norell."

The other end of the line fell silent. After several seconds, Judith asked in disbelief, "Really? Are you sure? What about Zachary? Can you really leave him?"

Zachary?

I lowered my gaze to the empty water bottle in my hand and suddenly recalled what had happened earlier that morning during recess.

My throat had felt unbearably dry, but the water dispenser at school was broken, so I couldn't get any water.

Yet I saw Zachary carefully pass his water bottle to Vivian and say softly, "Drink slowly. It's hot."

At the time, I had been preoccupied with reviewing the mistakes I had made in my exercises and hadn't given Zachary and Vivian a second thought.

Now, that image overlapped with the memory of the young man who had always noticed my needs first and immediately stood up to get me water. The care that had once been mine alone was now for someone else.

I spoke into the phone, my voice soft but resolute. "He likes someone, so I won't get in the way."

After saying that, I ended the call and shoved the empty bottle into my backpack.

When I got home, I told Mom and Dad about my plans to study abroad. They were overjoyed at the news and immediately began making arrangements for my departure. They then told me that with my grades, I could start studying abroad as soon as I graduated from high school.

There were three months left until graduation.

I suddenly felt a weight lift off my chest. In just three months, Zachary and I would have nothing to do with each other anymore.