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.

After her birthday, Faye—the girl who used to keep to the sidelines—was suddenly welcomed by the whole class.

Of course, it was because of Jace.

And thanks to my "generosity," he stopped even pretending to hide it.

Dresses. Bags. Shoes.

Food. Drinks. Whatever she needed.

Anything he bought for me, she got a matching version.

A couple of my close friends couldn't take it anymore.

"How can Jace do this? He's never been close to another girl."

"And now he's glued to Faye. Do you know what his friends call her? Jace's new girl."

Every word hit.

I was about to tell them to drop it when Jace stormed into the classroom with a camera in his hand. Faye hurried in after him, trying to stop him.

He'd clearly heard enough.

"Nadia," he said coldly, "so it really was you."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He slammed the camera down on the desk.

The bang sent more students crowding the hallway windows.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace stood off to the side, sneering.

"I knew it. You pretending not to care? Total fake. You just wanted to screw her over when no one was looking."

I picked up the camera and opened the gallery.

Photo after photo.

Faye changing during swim class.

Her pale shoulders. Her narrow waist. And then—

A completely bare back.

Jace let out a humorless laugh.

He pulled up the school forum and shoved the phone toward my face.

"This camera—I brought it back for you from Paris. Your name's engraved on it. And now it's full of Faye's private photos. They're already online. People are calling her a side chick. Nadia Nielsen, explain yourself."

I hadn't expected that after just a few days, the boy who once loved me like that would use my full name.

I let out a quiet, cold laugh. "There's nothing to explain."

The classroom exploded.

My closest friends panicked.

"Why aren't you telling him the camera was lost? There was only one swim class! You were on your period that day—you weren't even there!"

"There's no point."

I let the camera drop to the floor and looked straight at Jace, like I was ready to take whatever came next.

And then—

He apologized to Faye.

In front of everyone.

"I'm sorry. This is Nadia's fault. I'll make it up to you for her."

Faye rushed to him, eyes red, and the two of them walked out without looking back.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace left me with one last look—nothing but contempt.

***

For the next few days, I didn't see teenage Jace once.

Instead, people kept shoving Faye's social media in my face.

Under a sky full of stars, inside a softly lit tent, there was a photo of two silhouettes, their arms brushing.

Faye captioned it:

[I was just dust, but someone told me I'm the brightest star in his eyes.]

I stared at that line.

My phone buzzed twice in my pocket.

A message from Jace popped up.

[Nadia, Faye agreed not to make this a big deal. I'll come back tonight and stay with you.]

I let out a quiet laugh and shook my head.

Then I blocked him on everything and walked out of school alone.

I took one last look at the Blackwell estate—the place I'd lived for over ten years.

I was about to drag my suitcase toward the car when the front gates were kicked open.

"Nadia! Where did you hide Faye? Hand her over right now, you psycho!"

The older Jace and the younger Jace stood in front of me, the same rage in both their eyes.

My voice shook. "I don't know."

"Who else would do this besides you?"

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace lunged at me. Teenage Jace grabbed him, stopped him, then forced himself to calm down.

"Nadia. Just tell me. Where is Faye? She already said she'd let this go. But tonight, right after she got home, she called me. She said someone was harassing her. She was crying."

Crying.

That word again.

In my last life, when my mom died after being hit by Faye, he used that same excuse to make me forgive her.

I glared at him.

"I said I don't know! I don't know! What does her crying have to do with me?"

Smack.

The sound cracked through the air as Jace's hand hit my face.

Even the bodyguards who had just run in froze.

"Sir—M-Ms. Whitmore's been found. It was those guys from the lounge..."

The hand he'd used to slap me started shaking.

The sting burned across my cheek.

When he saw the mark on my face, regret flickered in his eyes.

"Nadia, I'm so—"

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace cut him off. "What are you apologizing for? Go save Faye."

He dragged his younger self away.

Even though Jace kept looking back at me, standing there stunned, he didn't stay.

From that moment on—

The Jace of my past, my present, and my future were all gone.

"Good."

I let out a dry laugh, slipped off the couple's ring, and threw it away.

Then I walked into the silent night.

Jace Blackwell—

We'd never see each other again.