After being given a second chance at life, I made a deliberate choice to avoid Nevaeh Charlton entirely.

When she enrolled at Brookshire University, I left the country and went to study in Hollandia instead. When she followed me there, I disappeared again—this time, chasing war zones across continents as a field reporter, always just out of her reach.

Years passed.

In the end, I returned home with the woman I loved, ready to marry her and begin a new life together.

On the day of our wedding, Nevaeh was stopped outside the venue. Her eyes were rimmed red, and her voice was unsteady.

"Why don't you love me anymore?"

Chester's POV

Nevaeh Charlton and I had grown up together. Our families were of the same social status, and everyone said we were the perfect childhood sweethearts.

That was, until senior year.

A transfer student named Edward Rogers showed up in our class. He carried himself with effortless grace, distant and untouchable, like he did not belong to the same world as the rest of us. Nevaeh fell for him almost instantly.

Three months later, she finally said it.

"Chester, let's call off the engagement. I like Edward. I only want to be with him."

I could not accept it, and I made a scene so big that everyone found out about it.

The fallout was brutal.

Nevaeh was locked up at home under strict watch. As for Edward, my family pulled some strings and had him transferred to a better school in another city.

A month later, Edward took his own life after being unable to endure the bullying at school.

When Nevaeh heard the news, something inside her seemed to die along with him.

She stopped talking and refused to eat.

Out of both love and guilt, I dropped everything to stay by her side. Every day, I spoke to her in soft, careful words. I fed her bite by bite, begging her to keep living.

Two months later, after planning everything down to the smallest detail, I took her to the snowy mountains she had always dreamed of visiting.

When the first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and lit up the entire snowy peak, golden light poured over everything. It reflected in her hollow eyes, as if something inside them was finally waking up.

Slowly, Nevaeh turned to look at me.

For the first time in what felt like forever, her lips curved into a gentle smile.

"Chester, thank you. For everything."

In that moment, I thought I had pulled her out of the darkness. I thought I had found the love of my life again.

We later got married, just like everyone expected. We had a son and a daughter, both bright and full of life.

However, when they turned ten, everything fell apart.

I became seriously ill and eventually was paralyzed, unable to even turn over in bed on my own.

That same day, Nevaeh walked into the house holding Edward's hand.

Edward was supposed to be dead. I never imagined he was still alive.

What shattered me even more was what happened next. My children ran straight into his arms, laughing, calling out, “Dad!" in clear, happy voices.

I trembled all over, too stunned to speak.

Nevaeh looked down at me from where she stood, her gaze colder than ice.

"You never had children of your own," she said. "Our so-called children are actually Edward's and mine. You were just their nanny for all these years.

"You destroyed our lives. Your family used their power to push Edward into a corner with no way out. I married you and endured you for years, waiting for this day to finally come."

She took a deep breath, then delivered her verdict with a chilling calm.

"You won't be alone for long. Your parents will be joining you very soon. Everyone who tore Edward and me apart will pay. Not a single one of you will escape!"

After I died, she did exactly what she said.

She used every trick she had to send both my parents and hers to prison. One by one, they died in convenient ‘accidents’.

After some time, I opened my eyes again.

I had been sent back to the day she told me she loved Edward.

The classroom was empty after school, so every voice sounded louder than usual.

"Chester, I really do love Edward." Nevaeh stood there, holding Edward's hand. The two of them leaned close together, their bond firm and unshakable.

I snapped back to the present and looked at their still-youthful faces. For a moment, everything felt unreal.

My throat tightened, and I said nothing. I just bent down to pick up my backpack from the floor.

My hands were shaking. I tried to pull the zipper closed, but it kept slipping.

Nevaeh watched me, her tone as icy and sharp as ever. "If you want to cry, then cry. I'm not changing my mind."

Edward, who was usually so proud, had his head lowered. His voice sounded almost humble.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault. I shouldn't have shown up in Nevaeh's life. If you want to hit me or yell at me, I'll take it."

I did not even look at him. My eyes stayed on Nevaeh.

She immediately reached out and pulled Edward back up when he started to kneel.

"This isn't his fault," she said. "I just didn't understand my own feelings before."

Then, she looked at me and said the words that still cut just as deep, even after living through all of this once already.

"I only ever saw you as a brother."

Even with a second chance at life, I still could not accept that.

Every morning on the way to school, she used to bring me my favorite blueberry muffins, still warm in the bag.

On rainy days, when my favorite shoes got dirty, she would crouch down, not caring about how she looked, and wipe them clean for me.

All those years, whenever people teased that we were destined to get married, she never once denied it.

However, in the end, I was just a brother to her.

I nodded and forced a smile.

"All right. We'll cancel the engagement. You two can be together. I'll talk to my parents."

She froze for a second, clearly not expecting me to give in so easily.

"You don't have to worry," she added, her tone softening a little. "I'll still treat you the same as before."

She reached out, but I stepped back slightly.

"I'm not feeling well today. I'm heading home."

I practically ran out of the school building. Only after I jumped into the car that had come to pick me up did my racing heart finally settle.

My phone rang in my pocket. It was my sister, Tracy Smith.

"Chester! Have you thought about what I told you last time?"

Her bright, eager voice poured through the speaker. "With your grades, staying here to study that boring finance stuff would be such a waste! Come to Hollandia and study media. You can keep me company, too! Okay?"

I held the phone as my mind drifted to an old box of my mom's books. Inside were neatly arranged records from her days as a reporter, stories of the risks she took and the things she uncovered.

When I was little, I loved flipping through those pages. Back then, I thought my mom was the bravest person in the world. Because of her, I fell in love with that career and decided I wanted to study media, too.

However, Nevaeh wanted to attend Brookshire University for finance, so I changed my path just to stay by her side.

"Tracy," I cut her off mid-sentence. My voice was still a little hoarse, but it was steady. "I've decided. I'm coming to Hollandia."

There was instant silence on the other end. A few seconds passed before she spoke again, disbelief clear in her voice. "Really? Are you sure? What about Nevaeh? Can you really let her go?"

Nevaeh…

I looked down at the empty water bottle in my hand, and suddenly, a memory from that morning hit me.

My throat had been dry, but the water dispenser at school was broken, so I could not get any water.

I saw Nevaeh carefully hand her own cup to Edward, her voice soft.

"Drink slowly. It's really cold."

At the time, I had been too focused on fixing my mistakes in a problem set to think much of it.

However, that memory overlapped with other memories with Nevaeh, who would always notice I was thirsty before I did and get up right away to fetch water for me.

The care that once belonged only to me had been given to someone else, unchanged, as if it had never been mine at all.

I spoke into the phone, my voice quiet but firm. "She likes someone else. I'm not going to force my way in between them."

After I said that, I hung up and shoved the empty bottle deep into my backpack.

When I got home, I told my parents about my plan to study abroad.

They were overjoyed and immediately started making arrangements.

Then they told me that with my grades, I could leave as soon as I graduated high school.

Three months…

There were only three months left until graduation. I let out a breath I did not realize I had been holding.

Just three months.

After that, Nevaeh and I would have nothing to do with each other anymore.

The next morning, I got up early on purpose so I could miss Nevaeh, who usually came to walk to school with me.

By the time she walked into the classroom, I had already previewed the lessons for that day.

Edward was right beside her. In his hand was my favorite blueberry muffin.

Nevaeh met my eyes. She quickly looked a little embarrassed and tried to explain.

"I heard from your driver that you came early today. I was going to bring this for you, but Edward was hungry."

I lowered my head again, flipping through my book like nothing mattered.

"It's fine."

She walked over quietly. "Don't be mad about this. Do you want me to go buy you another one?"

She still thought I was the same short-tempered guy I used to be.

However, I had already lived through this once.

I just shook my head. "I'm not mad."

It was only a blueberry muffin. I could buy as many as I wanted for myself.

With that thought, I pulled out the muffin I had left untouched in my drawer and started eating it right in front of her.

Edward, who had been standing behind her looking a little smug, froze for a second.

Nevaeh let out a small breath of relief when she saw. "I guess I won't need to bring you blueberry muffins anymore."

As she said that, she took out a notebook from her bag.

"Your math scores haven't been great lately. I stayed up late to organize these notes for you. Take a look!"

Maybe due to her guilt, the notes were even more detailed than before. They were clear enough that even an idiot could understand them.

I took the notebook, then handed it straight to Edward with a gentle smile.

"I think you need this more than me."

Edward's face darkened instantly. "Chester, are you trying to make me mad?"

"I know I'm not as strong in math as you are, but Nevaeh's always made notes for you. Now you give her notes to me right in front of her, actually because you're blaming me for the connection between us, don't you?"

As he kept talking, his whole body started trembling, as if he had just been deeply humiliated.

I had not expected his reaction to be that dramatic.

Nevaeh stepped forward and pulled him into her arms, gently comforting him. Then, she looked at me. "I know you're upset, but don't make things hard for Edward. He has his pride."

I almost laughed.

How had I never noticed before that Nevaeh could be so blind?

Edward tugged on her sleeve and shook his head. "Don't argue with Chester because of me. This really is my fault. Maybe I'm just too insecure, so I misunderstood him.

"I'm sorry."

Before Nevaeh could even respond, I spoke first. "No, I'm the one who should apologize. I didn't realize I hurt your feelings."

Nevaeh froze.

Even Edward opened his mouth then closed it again, clearly not expecting that from me.

I looked at Nevaeh and placed the notebook back into her hands.

"From now on, you don't need to come find me anymore. I don't want Edward to feel uncomfortable."

With that, I turned and went back to my seat, burying myself in my studies again.

Only Nevaeh remained standing there, unable to snap out of her shock for a long time.