After being reborn, I'm taken back to the day I confessed my love for my childhood friend.

In my past life, I had to plead and beg before he begrudgingly agreed to marry me.

"You look pathetic when you beg me for anything, Annabelle." That was what Hayden Gulman always said to me.

He was so cold to me that he even canceled the part where we read our vows to each other during the wedding.

When I was eight months pregnant, he took a photo of my belly covered in stretch marks. Then, he complained to his true love about the unhappiness he faced after marrying me.

When I went into a difficult labor due to my agitation, he and his true love were on vacation. At that moment, my heart finally died. It turned out my one-woman show couldn't be considered love at all.

Now that I've been reborn, I smile when I see the disdainful look in his eyes. I say, "We have nothing to do with each other from this moment on. I only wish to be happy."

"If you're going to throw yourself at me, forget it. My tastes in women aren't that poor," said Hayden Gulman.

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone looked at me.

Today was the day of his birthday party. I attended the party all dressed up as I had initially been planning to confess my love to him.

"Oh my. Hayden's too direct. He just said that outright and embarrassed Anna in front of everyone."

"I thought before that it was easy for a woman to pursue a man's affection, but Hayden's standards are way too high."

"Well, he has his eyes on someone unattainable, after all. If Whitney didn't already have a partner, Annabelle wouldn't even stand a chance."

At that moment, Hayden was fully focused on peeling apples for Whitney Sherbon. He happened to catch sight of me out of the corner of his eyes and frowned.

In my past life, I had pestered him endlessly in front of everyone. I had insisted that he peel apples for me. Just as we had reached a stalemate, it was Whitney who gave me a peeled apple slice out of her own fruit bowl in the end.

On the other hand, I had taken advantage of my momentum to confess to Hayden. Although he had been very reluctant about it, he still accepted it in the end.

In this life, I did not want a relationship in which I had to beg for scraps of affection.

I pretended not to notice everyone's curious, expectant looks and continued to eat my own food.

Someone cleared their throat. "You went through all this trouble to invite everyone here, Annabelle. What exactly do you plan to announce?"

Although Hayden was not looking at me, he stopped peeling the apples. I was just considering what to say when I heard a sudden exclamation.

Whitney had accidentally broken her fruit bowl. She raised her bleeding hand and ran out, crying.

Hayden looked at me hesitantly, but in the end, he still followed her out.

My best friend, Florence Austen, nudged me. "Are you doing alright, Anna?"

I concentrated on eating my food even as I replied, "I'm perfectly fine."

Hayden's voice could be faintly heard through the private dining room's door.

"Don't cry anymore, Winnie. You're making me sad too," he was saying. "No matter who I end up with, your place in my heart will never be replaced."

Once they returned, Florence said immediately, "Hayden, if you and Whitney find it so hard to let go of your old feelings, then you might as well get together."

Hayden looked strangely at me as he retorted, "Don't spout nonsense. Winnie just returned not long ago, so she's not in a good mood. I was just trying to comfort her."

I waved a dismissive hand and attempted to smooth things over. "It's up to Hayden who he wants to speak with, Florrie. It's hardly our business to worry over his affairs."

Had this been in the past, I would definitely have kicked up a fuss without regard for anything else, and I would not have stopped until I had forced Hayden into making a choice.

Today, I let the matter pass without saying a word, which greatly surprised everyone.

Florence leaned in and whispered, "What's this now? Have you snapped out of your hopeless romantic phase?"

Hayden's face darkened, which was a rare sight. "What do you mean by that, Annabelle?"

"Nothing," I replied. I continued to pick from the dishes in front of me. "It was just a passing comment. Isn't it pretty normal for you to be willing to chat with Whitney? After all, you two are a perfect match for each other, aren't you? We grew up together and you're like my big brother. I wish you happiness."

Hayden was stunned.

He lived downstairs from me. He had lost both his parents when he was young, and ever since then, he frequently came over to my house to eat.

Back then, my parents liked him a lot and told me to consider him my older brother.

However, I had my own considerations, so I kicked up a fuss and was only willing to call him Denny. I refused to recognize him as my older brother.

Now that I had taken the initiative to call him that, he was stunned.

Perhaps because she noticed the change in me, Florence took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. "Wow, I didn't expect you to have such a beautiful younger sister, Hayden. If you had made it clear to us in the beginning, we wouldn't have spread blind gossip around."

"That's right," I told Hayden with a smile in my voice. "When you finally decide to officially bring a partner into the family, remember to send me a wedding invitation."

Seeing my calm expression, everyone else relaxed as well.

"A partner? Isn't she already right in front of our eyes?" someone asked with a laugh while pointing at Whitney.

Others started chiming in as well.

"Exactly. Back then, you voluntarily scored lower in your college entrance examinations just so you could go to the same college as your crush."

"That's right. Back when Whitney needed surgery, you not only gave her all the money you had, but you also donated a considerable amount of blood to her. Honestly, Whitney would probably have to devote her life to you to repay you for what you've given her."

I struggled to keep my expression calm, but my heart was bitter.

It turned out that in my previous life, Hayden had lied to me when telling me about his college entrance examination results. He lied to me about being a volunteer for an earthquake relief team for three months. He said that his funds could not cover the cost of his meals.

I had felt genuinely sorry for how pale he looked, so I went hungry myself just so I could save on living expenses and send the extra to him.

I worked five odd jobs outside of classes and fainted several times just from exhaustion caused by low blood sugar alone. The most dangerous of those occasions had been when I was almost crushed under a bus' wheels because I had passed out.

In the end, all of my hard-earned money had been used on another woman's recovery.

I could no longer taste the food I was eating. Before I knew it, all I could taste on my tongue was bitterness.

It felt similar to when I had been on the verge of death in my previous life.

Back then, I had been eight months pregnant and in the middle of moving. I had been struggling to move the furniture up to the sixth floor without an elevator when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my abdomen.

Hayden had been absent from beginning to end, because Whitney had just gotten a new job that day. He had accompanied her while she went through the formalities. When he received my calls for help, he continued to hang up time and time again.

I was suffering even as I waited for the ambulance to arrive, to the point that I didn't even notice I had bitten my lip so hard that it was bleeding.

Of course, it was still my heart that had hurt the most.

"If you guys continue to gossip, I'm going to leave," said Whitney, picking up her bag.

She was still as elegant and graceful as ever.

"It's not safe for Anna to go back alone, Hays, so remember to escort her home," she added.

Hayden stood and replied before I could say a word. "There's no need for that. She's already an adult. Why would she still need me to escort her back? You, on the other hand, just returned from studying abroad, so there are many places you're not familiar with."

There were hoots from all around. Hayden's attention was solely on Whitney.

She glanced apologetically at me and asked, "Is Hays' arrangement alright with you, Anna?"

I wiped my mouth. "You're too polite, Ms. Sherbon. Isn't it up to Hayden to decide what he wants to do?

"Furthermore, even if you don't mind, for Hayden's sake, I'd still like to avoid causing any misunderstandings. There's no reason to ask me about something like this."

My voice was calm, causing Hayden to glance at me in surprise. "You don't have to be so passive-aggressive with Whitney, Annabelle. I'll come get you after I send her home."

I didn't even bother saying anything. I simply waved a dismissive hand before dragging Florence out the door and heading straight for a nail salon.

Less than two hours later, I received a call from Hayden.

"Why aren't you at the restaurant anymore?" he asked.

I ignored his question. Instead, I asked one of my own in return. "Is something the matter?"

He paused for a moment, then said, "You really don't have to act like this, Annabelle. I'm just doing all this purely because Whitney just returned from abroad, and we haven't seen each other for years.

"After all, we were classmates back then. It’s natural for me to behave more enthusiastically."

"Do as you like," I told him flippantly. My attention was on the nail art designs I was looking at with Florence. "If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up."

"Anna," he said, calling me by my nickname, which he hardly ever did. "Whitney just returned to the country and is only just finding her footing back here. Don't you work at a company listed in Fortune Global 500? Can you put in a good word for her?"

It turned out that people really would laugh out loud when they found themselves completely speechless.

Setting aside the fact that I had only been employed there for a year and hardly had any standing within the company, why should I help Whitney?

I had gone to great lengths to get this job back then. And when had Hayden ever helped me?

Hayden's urgent voice sounded from the receiver. "Are you listening, Anna?"

Feeling a surge of irritation, I hung up the phone.

I did not expect Hayden to come knocking on my door the very next day with Whitney in tow.

Although my parents' house and workplace were both in the same city as me, I still rented a place outside after getting a job. Although it was tougher living alone, the freedom I gained was worth it.

Florence had invited some people we were close with, and we were just preparing to have some fondue together.

Seeing Hayden arrive uninvited, she could not help saying sarcastically, "Oh my, are you trying to get a pass from Anna before officially introducing Whitney to your parents?"

"Shut up," Hayden snapped darkly. "How many times have I told you guys? Whitney and I are just old friends."

Whitney's smile froze on her face, but no one noticed it.

Florence did not let up. "What do you mean by this visit then? You're bringing an old friend to visit your childhood friend? My, it turns out that this old friend can't trump a childhood friend!"

Everyone looked like they were highly enjoying the drama unfolding before them.

Hayden ignored Florence's questioning and turned to me. He said, "I went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer, but why was nobody home?"

"They went to Marratiff on holiday over the new year," I said indifferently. "Are the two of you staying for fondue? I didn't prepare any extra."

Whitney tugged on the hem of Hayden's shirt. She was eager to leave. "In that case, let's…"

"It's fine," said Hayden, helping himself to a seat beside me. "We're already here, so we might as well get together with Anna and the others."

He looked at Whitney and said, "You just came back from abroad, so you need to expand your network of connections."

As he said that, he glanced meaningfully at me with an expression that said, "you'd better appreciate my goodwill".

At the end of the day, it was all for Whitney's sake.

Honestly, what were you expecting, Annabelle Shaffer?

I smiled self-deprecatingly, feeling completely downtrodden.

However, Hayden was once again startled to see my smile.

"It seems like you still can't bear to leave Anna!" Florence exclaimed with a laugh while nudging me.

"Hardly," Hayden replied with a snort, returning to his usual self and helping himself to some fondue. "Why wouldn't I be able to part with her?

"Besides, I really think that it is meaningless. Sometimes, even if I don't do anything wrong, she will get angry with me. Just why is that?"

There was a rare hint of passive-aggressiveness in his voice. Florence ignored him and held her phone out to me.

"Look at this! Gets you excited, doesn't it?" she asked enthusiastically.

Hayden followed my gaze, and his expression darkened instantly.

There was a five-foot-nine-inch-tall man with particularly dazzling eight-pack abs displayed on the screen.

"Whoa!" someone exclaimed enviously. "Do you have connections to any more of those quality men?"

"Yes, in your dreams," said Florence sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. "This is a junior staff member who just came to work with my department. Anna gets dibs."

"He'll definitely do," I say, practically drooling.

Unexpectedly, I was grabbed by a pair of hands.

"What are you up to?" Hayden asked in a low voice, which was a sign that he was truly angry.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became tense.

"Strange," Florence said loudly. "I'm just introducing Anna to a potential partner. Why the heck are you getting angry?"

Seeing our confused looks being directed his way, Hayden let go of me and turned away from me.

With the presence of Hayden and Whitney, the get-together quickly ended amid a strange atmosphere.

In the following days, I focused on enjoying myself. With Florence by my side, I enjoyed all the food and entertainment that I had been reluctant to try out in my previous life due to monetary concerns.

One day, as we were in the middle of a spa session, Florence suddenly held her phone out to me. "Isn't this Whitney's Instagram page?"

Whitney had posted a photo of herself baking at home. However, Hayden's figure was clearly visible in the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

In fact, they were both in their sleepwear.

Whitney had captioned the photo, "With me."

"It doesn't matter," I told Florence. I massaged my face in an effort to get rid of the flash of bitterness that I felt.

A moment later, both our phones rang at the same time. We were being invited to dinner. Apparently, something big was about to happen.