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?!”