Chapter 2 The Kindness I Don't Need

I had just come out of the operating room, and it had been nearly twenty-four hours since I last slept. I looked utterly drained, like someone whose soul had slipped away.

I was wearing the most comfortable thing I owned, a plain tracksuit I'd picked up from a small shop on the street. No brand, no label. Next to him, I looked like I didn't even belong in the same world.

"No, thank you. I don't need anything right now," I replied simply, sitting down to eat. After such intense surgeries, I hadn't had a single meal all day.

As I sat there, quietly tasting my food, Sophie suddenly walked up to me. She set a check for one hundred thousand on the table in front of me.

"This is for old times' sake," she said gently. "Use it to do something nice for yourself. Find a better job, buy some new clothes. Learn to love yourself again. Lucas, what's in the past should stay there. Don't get trapped in it. If it weren't for you…

"Forget it. That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that you don't let my leaving destroy you. Promise me you won't give up on your life, okay?"

I looked up at Sophie, puzzled.

Her unfinished sentence lingered in my mind. What had I done in my past life that made her turn away from me after being reborn?

In that last life, we'd gone from school uniforms to wedding vows.

She had her own dream of making music, and I wanted to study medicine. Both paths demanded time, money, and relentless effort. Naturally, one of us had to make a sacrifice.

Because I loved her, I gave up my chance to stay in medical school for graduate studies and a doctorate. I started working early, using one person's income to support both of our dreams.

She failed again and again. Each time, she grew more frustrated, more lost, more defeated.

I was like her power bank that never ran out. No matter how exhausted I was when I got home, I always found the patience to comfort her and steady her emotions.

I thought she would see that as love.

But when she asked for another new guitar, and I told her we couldn't afford it, she snapped. In a fit of anger, she smashed the guitar into pieces.

"You know what?" she shouted. "If I'd listened to Vincent and gone with him to study in Valleria, I wouldn't be living like this! I regret ever being with you, Lucas. I really do."

After that, she stopped playing the guitar. Her dream died with it.

And because of what she'd said, that she regretted ever being with me, I often found myself crying quietly in the middle of the night.

Still, I made one last attempt to hold on. I pulled her close and whispered, "Sophie, let's have a baby, okay?"

She shoved me away so hard I nearly stumbled, her eyes filled with disgust. "With our finances? You think now is the time to have a kid? And I've told you before that I hate children! I don't want to have a baby with you!"

Those words shattered the last bit of hope I had left.

That New Year's Eve, the truck that came barreling toward us ended both our lives.

In that instant, I felt no fear, only release.

Now that we had both been reborn, we had also made our choices to stay away from each other. There was no reason to cling to the past.

I pushed the check back toward her. "No need. I don't take things from strangers."

She frowned, confused and a little offended. "Lucas, what do you mean? You think I'm a stranger?"

I met her gaze. "I can buy my own clothes. Whatever my job is, I think it's decent, and there's nothing shameful about it. I'm not giving up on myself, Sophie. Keep the money for someone who actually needs it."

She stood there, holding the check tightly, lips pressed together, saying nothing.

Then, Vincent walked over and stopped beside her. His eyes flicked to the check in her hand, and he seemed to understand instantly.

There was fire burning behind his eyes, but he forced a smile, pretending to be calm and gentle.

"Lucas, you're really turning down our kindness?" Vincent said with a faint smile. "Then, let's offer you something more practical. I just opened a nail salon on Regency Avenue. You can start there as an apprentice. The pay isn't great, about six thousand a month, but you'll learn a trade. Even if things get tough later, you could open your own nail studio someday. What do you think? Interested? It's definitely a more respectable job than whatever you're doing now."

I kept eating calmly, unfazed by his tone, and turned down their offer. "Thank you, but I'm satisfied with my job. I have no plans to change it."

A few classmates nearby called out to me, half-teasing, half scolding.

"Lucas, what's wrong with you? They're being so nice! Sophie and Vincent are offering you money and a job. Just take it already!"