I followed her inside the apartment.

The decoration was familiar, with cool tones and minimalist designs. It was elegant and distant, just like her.

But my heart no longer stirred this time.

She took a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to me. Then, she walked toward the window and lit herself a slender cigarette.

The hazy smoke curled between us, like a fog that separated our worlds.

“Harry, I know you’re upset,” she said with a muffled voice through the haze.

“I didn’t handle your family matters properly. But Zac’s mental state is unstable. He… can’t take any more emotional strain.”

It was Zac Lowe again.

I looked down, twisted open the bottle, and took a sip.

The cold water slid down my throat, but it did not wash away the bitterness that rose within me.

She had said the same thing in our previous life.

She told me Zac had a fragile mind and was prone to self-destruction since childhood. She told me to be patient with him after I went back to my family.

And I did.

I let Cathy pour all of her attention on him. I remained silent and endured his endless provocations and tantrums.

But he used his own death to sentence me and Cathy’s marriage to ten years of torment.

Seeing me silent, Cathy assumed I was sulking about being denied my own family. She crushed the cigarette in the ashtray.

She turned, walked to me, and lowered her head slightly to meet my eyes where I sat on the sofa. There was a plea in her gaze.

“Don’t be mad at me, all right?”

Her tone was so gentle. She placed her hand over mine on the bottle.

“I admit my mistake. I didn’t investigate the matter properly and gave you false hope. Tell me if there’s anything you want as compensation. I’ll make it up to you as long as it’s within my power.”

She paused. Her tone of voice was imploring when she finally spoke. “But let’s not think about the Lowe family for now, all right?”

She had surrendered completely. The affection in her eyes nearly overflowed.

I could see it clearly. She truly feared that I would be mad and feared losing me.

But that affection was built upon the sacrifice of my identity.

I lifted my gaze to meet hers and felt an urge to laugh.

“I don’t want anything.”

I drew my hand back, and her gaze darkened instantly.

“Don’t worry. Even if the Lowe family offered all their wealth and begged for my return, I won’t look twice.

“There’s no need for you to apologize either. You owe me nothing. We should end this.”

Her brows furrowed. She straightened up abruptly with a cold expression.

“End this? Harry, are you throwing a tantrum? Are you threatening me because I didn’t let you go back to the Lowe family?”

She leaned forward and pressed her palms against the sofa on both sides of me, trapping me in her shadow.

“I only told you not to return to the Lowe family. I never said we should break up! We can go back to how we were before! I’ll treat you even better than before!”

I looked at her, and I felt exhausted.

She believed that by stripping away my identity as the actual Lowe family’s son, we could somehow return to our peaceful beginning, and our love could continue as it used to be.

But she did not understand that the tragedy had never started with my return to the Lowe family.

“Cathy…” I pushed her away and stood up to put some distance between us. “I’m tired. I want to go back.”

Without sparing her a second glance, I turned and headed for the door.

She did not stop me this time.

In the days that followed, I poured all my focus into the final stages of my application to study abroad.

I soon received an offer letter from a foreign university. My departure date was set for next month.

The day before I was supposed to leave, I had just stepped out of the library when two men in black suits blocked my path.

“Mr. Lawson, Ms. Jones wants to see you.”

I was forced into a car that sped through the city before stopping at the topmost floor of a skyscraper overlooking a scenic river.

“Ms. Jones is occupied at the moment. Please wait here.”

They led me into a glass-walled room and left after locking the door behind me.

The view in the room was breathtaking. One wall was made entirely of glass, and across from it stood the city’s most luxurious rooftop restaurant.

The restaurant was glowing with golden light. Laughter and music spilled into the night as a lavish birthday banquet took place inside.

The man at the center of it all was Zac.

He wore an immaculate suit and was surrounded by well-wishers.

Cathy was standing beside him and straightening his tie, all while looking at him with an affectionate gaze.

I watched as she took his hand and led him into the first dance.

They twirled, drew close, and whispered to each other with such tenderness that they seemed like a perfect pair.

Applause filled the room. Every face glowed with joy.

I almost laughed. I wanted to laugh at how blindly stubborn I had been in my last life.

I wasted everything on a woman who never loved me. Was it worth it?

I shut my eyes. I was unwilling to watch that dazzling scene any longer.

But the memory forced itself through. I could see Cathy’s bloodied face in the earthquake and her trembling back as she shielded me from the falling debris.

She had hated me, but she had also saved me.

That love and hate tangled like a net and trapped me in there.

Time slipped by. The noise from the party died down.

The door behind me opened suddenly.

I turned and saw Zac standing by the door.

He walked toward me with a triumphant smile.

“Harry,” he said while looking down at me. “How does it feel watching the woman you love throw such a grand birthday party for me?”

I finally understood.

Cathy had not sent the guards. He had sent them.

He had brought me here to crush whatever feelings I might still have left for Cathy.

But he did not need to. In this life, I had already let go of all my feelings for her.

I said nothing and stared at him coldly.

My silence seemed to enrage him. His smile twisted.

“You think keeping quiet makes you look noble? Let me tell you, what isn’t yours will never be yours!”

He leaned in closer and lowered his voice as he whispered, “If you hadn’t shown up, Cathy and I would’ve been engaged long ago. You ruined everything!”

“Are you done?” I asked calmly. “If so, I’d like to leave.”

He trembled in fury.

Suddenly, he drew a dagger from his suit pocket. The blade flashed under the light.

My chest tightened.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” His laugh was maniacal.

“I want Cathy to see what you have driven me to! I want her to know that as long as you exist, I’ll never have peace!”

Before I could move, he slashed the blade across his own wrist.

He looked at me and smiled. Then, he began shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Please! I’ll give you everything! Why must you attack me?!”

Footsteps thundered outside, and Cathy burst through the door first. She rushed over to hold him. Her face darkened.

Zac sagged weakly in her arms. His face was pale as he pointed his trembling fingers at me.

“Cathy… he said he’s the real heir of the Lowe family! He said I don’t deserve any of this… that I should just die…”

Cathy’s head snapped up. The fury in her eyes burned like wildfire.

“Harry,” she said coldly, “did I not warn you to behave yourself?

“It’s Zac’s birthday today, and it was supposed to be his happiest day. You ruined everything!”

My heart sank as I stared at her.

She had forgotten that it was my birthday too.

Zac and I were born on the same day.

One of us was raised among the clouds, the other clawed their way up from the dirt.

She called in the guards, who swiftly pinned me down. She flung a military-grade dagger onto the floor at my feet.

She said mercilessly, “He bled because of you! Now, you’ll bleed twice as much!”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“Cathy, are you out of your mind?!”

I struggled to be free.

But she only gave me a single glance before ordering her guards to take action.

A sharp sting seared my arm, and hot blood flowed instantly.

I screamed in agony. Sweat broke out across my forehead. I bit down hard as the taste of blood flooded my mouth.

A second cut…

Then, a third…

I lost count of just how many times the knife had struck. Pain blurred into numbness. My vision wavered until everything became hazy.

I saw Cathy’s expressionless face, with Zac smiling triumphantly in her arms.

Something inside me finally broke.

“Enough!”

Cathy finally stopped the guards. “Take him to the hospital when you’re done,” she said without looking at me.

Then, she supported Zac and walked away.

I collapsed into a pool of my own blood. My consciousness flickered.

Just before it faded completely, I felt the earthquake again.

This time, Cathy did not shield me.

She stood on the sidelines coldly and watched as the falling stones buried me alive.

‘Cathy, we’re finally even. I don’t owe you my life anymore.’

The sharp scent of antiseptic filled my nose when I opened my eyes again. I was in a hospital room.

Cathy sat by my bedside. Her eyes lit up when she saw me wake up.

“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly.

I was stunned.

“I went too far last night,” she said as she looked at me, and her voice trembled with regret. “I was too angry. I lost control. And I…”

“And what?” I interrupted her. “You regret it now?”

She was startled by my tone and looked up. Her lips parted, but whatever she wanted to say dissolved into a sigh.

“Harry, don’t talk to me like that.”

She murmured softly, “I know you hate me, but Zac almost died.”

“Cathy,” I said as I met her gaze, “you don’t need to apologize. Just consider that as me repaying you for whatever I owed you.”

“You owed me?”

She frowned, clearly confused.

“Yes.” A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

“In our last life, you saved me during the earthquake. In this one, I gave my life to you. We’re even now.”

The chair crashed to the floor as she shot to her feet.

Her lips trembled, and her pupils contracted in shock.

“You… you were reborn too?!”