The year my dad went broke, I was sent to live with billionaire heir Jace Blackwell.

We grew up together.

When he had a fever, he clung to me, face buried in my arms.

When he got yelled at, he sprawled across my lap and sulked.

And when another boy wrote me a love letter, Jace pinned me down and kissed me—shaking, jealous, possessive.

Everyone thought we were the perfect couple.

Then, on the day we were filling out our early college applications, a sharply dressed man burst into the classroom and shoved me to the floor.

He grabbed eighteen-year-old Jace, his eyes bloodshot.

"Jace! Look at me! I'm you ten years from now! Don't go to the same college as Nadia. She's not the one you love. It's Faye!"

Faye Whitmore.

The broke new girl.

Eighteen-year-old Jace stared at that identical face, stunned. Then his expression went dark.

"What the hell are you talking about? The only person I love is Nadia! I don't care who you are. Touch her again, and I'll kill you!"

He rushed over and pulled me into his arms.

He was shaking.

I gave a bitter smile.

No one knew.

I was from ten years in the future, too.

And twenty-eight-year-old Jace wasn't lying.

By then, I wasn't the girl he loved anymore.

Nadia's POV

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace's chest heaved as he shouted like he'd completely lost it.

"You don't have to believe me, but I'm begging you—be brave! You already felt it, didn't you? How many chances does a person get? Don't spend your whole life regretting this!"

A dull ache spread through my chest.

So even going back to the past couldn't change anything. Jace still wouldn't love me.

Before I knew it, tears were already running down my face. Then someone gently covered my ears.

Eighteen-year-old Jace tilted his head and leaned closer, smiling as he winked at me.

"Did he scare you? Don't be scared. I'm here. That guy's crazy. Nothing he says matters. Just listen to me, okay? I'll only ever love you. You hear me?"

A teenage boy's love burned bright and felt endless.

But staring into his eyes—those bright, familiar eyes—I heard another voice through the sound of shattering glass—

"Nadia Nielsen! I never loved you! It's better the baby's gone! Touch Faye, and I'll make sure your mom dies on that operating table!"

It was our tenth anniversary.

I caught Jace cheating.

Faye was naked in his bed.

I shattered right there, losing the baby I'd finally conceived after seven rounds of IVF.

When I tried to use the video of his affair against him, Jace wrapped a hand around my throat and threatened my mom's life.

"The truth is, I fell for Faye the second I saw her! If I hadn't sent in that early college application, we never would've missed each other!"

Jace smashed the crystal globe beside the bed.

Along with it, the promise he'd recorded during his confession shattered too.

He threw me to the floor like I weighed nothing, and I still refused to believe the boy I knew was gone.

Not until my mom, right before brain surgery, was "accidentally" hit and killed by Faye—and not a single lawyer in Borevia City would take the case.

Not until I died in a fire caused by a gas leak.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back ten years earlier.

Maybe the pain had been too much. Or maybe, before I died, I really had seen Jace run into the flames. I convinced myself it had all been a dream.

But now twenty-eight-year-old Jace was cruelly reminding me—

It had all been real.

And if that was true, then in this second life, I only wanted the people I loved to stay alive and safe.

So I looked at the boy in front of me and gave him a faint smile.

"I heard you."

But this was where we ended.

Future Jace was dragged out by security.

The classroom finally fell silent.

But after that, eighteen-year-old Jace never brought up early college applications again.

He stuck close to me, trying to cheer me up. He even booked one of the fanciest private karaoke rooms in the city and dragged the whole class there.

After we finished and headed home, we passed another room and saw Faye inside.

She was holding a wine glass while a group of men harassed her.

"She's this young and already working somewhere like this? What a fake innocent act she's putting on."

"Come on. One drink, a hundred bucks. Keep us happy and you can have whatever you want."

Their laughter was loud and gross.

Faye's shoulders shook. She struggled to pull away, and through blurry eyes, she looked straight at Jace.

He froze.

I let go of his hand first. "Go help her."

He tipped his chin up, pretending not to care.

"I don't even know her. Why would I help?"

He pulled me away, stiff all over. But the whole ride home, he stayed distracted, spinning the ring on his finger over and over.

Right before we reached the Blackwell estate, he finally cracked.

"Nadia, y-you... go in first." He wouldn't look at me. "I just remembered I forgot the cake I got you. I'll... I'll be right back."

Eighteen-year-old Jace still stuttered when he lied.

I looked at his reddening face and nodded.

***

While waiting to sign the agreement with Jace's dad, Robert, I got a video from twenty-eight-year-old Jace.

Stacks of cash covered the floor outside the room. Jace grabbed handfuls of hundred-dollar bills and threw them at the men like he'd gone insane.

"Picking on a girl? You call yourselves men? Drink! One cup, a hundred bucks! I'll pay all of it!"

The men shook at the sight of the bodyguards.

But Faye tugged on Jace's sleeve.

"That's enough... please let them go. I still have to work here..."

Jace stared at her. "You're still coming back here? Haven't they done enough?"

Concern slipped into his voice.

Faye bit her lip as tears streamed down her face. "But... if I stop working, I won't have money for school..."

Something inside him cracked.

Jace sucked in a breath and looked away, his face turning red.

"Th-Then I'll just take care of you."

Faye stared at him.

The pen in my hand loosened, then tightened again.

He'd said that to me too.

Back when creditors drove my dad to jump to his death, Jace knelt in the rain all night, begging Robert to help us pay off the debt.

"Don't be scared. You still have me. I'll take care of you."

Burning up with fever, he smiled and said it in my arms.

Back then, I really thought we'd last forever.

Turns out I was the only one who believed that.

"Once the visas are approved, take the million dollars and leave the country with your mom. Don't come back. Don't see Jace again. Thank you for everything you've done, but you two aren't right for each other."

Robert nodded at his secretary, who slid the papers toward me.

I signed without saying a word.

Then I picked up the thin, weightless check and almost laughed.

Look at that, Jace.

Even your calculating father thought you'd love me forever.

And what happened?

In my last life, I went as far as threatening to kill myself and threw away all my pride, just so I could choose you.

This time, I won't be that stupid again.

After that day, Jace acted like nothing had changed.

He still ate with me, went to school with me, watched movies with me. He still loved curling up in my arms, acting spoiled, throwing little fits.

The only difference was that every night, he'd go out for his so-called "extra studying" and come home late.

He said he was tutoring his useless friends.

But where he actually went—and what he actually did—twenty-eight-year-old Jace sent me everything.

Every night, he went with Faye to the lounge where she worked. He booked the most expensive private room, did absolutely nothing, and ordered an entire table full of food for her.

"You're way too skinny. We're in the same class, and you're still this underfed? If people find out, they'll laugh at me. You have to try everything. And if you don't finish it, you're not leaving work."

After saying that, he tossed down a stack of cash.

As he watched Faye eat tiny bites, his eyes slowly drifted.

Then Faye looked up.

Their eyes met.

Both of them froze.

Then their faces turned red.

Something shifted quietly between them.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace seemed satisfied. He turned the camera toward himself, contempt dripping from his voice.

"Do you know why Faye's still working here? Because that day, she was still shaking, but when he said he'd take care of her, she threw herself into his arms and said she didn't want to be some parasite living off him. And you? How could you shamelessly live off my family?"

I didn't answer.

I just looked at him. "So you really don't remember anything?"

He frowned. "Remember what?"

I smiled and closed the video.

I was leaving anyway.

At this point, the truth didn't matter anymore.

***

With the SAT getting closer, the whole classroom felt tense.

So when Jace showed up with the most expensive cake in South Borevia, the entire class lost it.

"Jace, you're insane! Didn't Nadia want this cake?"

"He's still down bad for Nadia. Seriously, it's annoying. Respect, though."

Everyone started teasing him like usual.

I kept smiling, stayed quiet, and watched Jace and Faye steal shy glances at each other.

Then an older voice came from the doorway.

"You've all got it wrong. Today's Faye's birthday. Jace bought the cake for her."

The classroom went dead silent.

Jace shot the man a glare and rushed to explain.

"Nadia, I just felt bad because she's never celebrated her birthday before, so I—"

Before he could finish, twenty-eight-year-old Jace strode over, dragged him aside, and shot me a glare.

"It's obvious you like Faye. Why are you even explaining yourself to her?"

Everyone around us stopped breathing.

They were waiting for me to break down.

Instead, I slipped a hand into future Jace's suit pocket and pulled out a lighter.

Click.

I lit the single candle on Faye's cake.

"Happy birthday."

I placed the cake in Faye's hands and went back to my seat.

Then I picked up my plain slice—the same one everyone else had—and took a big bite.

Eighteen-year-old Jace crouched in front of me, searching my face.

"Nadia, y-you're not mad?"

I smiled sweetly and scooped another bite of frosting into my mouth.

"Why would I be?"

"I secretly celebrated another girl's birthday. You seriously don't care?"

Before I could answer, one of his friends slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Dude, come on. Everyone knows you're crazy about Nadia. She's not gonna get jealous over something this small."

Jace froze, suddenly not knowing what to say.

I just kept smiling at him, then stood up and suggested everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to Faye.

A few voices joined in, then the rest followed.

When Faye asked Jace to blow out the candle with her, I quietly got up, walked out, and tossed my slice into the trash.

The frosting tasted bitter today.

I brushed away my tears, but suddenly someone grabbed my wrist.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace stared at me, suspicion flashing in his eyes.

"I only started smoking last year. How'd you know I keep my lighter in my left pocket?"

I lowered my eyes and peeled his fingers off my wrist one by one.

"I just grabbed it."

Then I went home alone.

For the first time, I wasn't leaving school with Jace.

Even the driver thought it was weird. After he got back, he told me Jace had given some skinny girl a ride to Old Town in Borevia City.

I smiled like I hadn't heard a thing and kept sending my mom the flight details for our move overseas.

No one in this world was truly irreplaceable.

Not me either.

It was fine.

It really was.