Chapter 1

The moment I hung up the phone, my college cohort’s valedictorian, Wayne Grey, suddenly grabbed my cell and slammed it onto the floor, shattering it instantly.

“Are you out of your mind?” he shouted. “Calling the cops now will only make everyone think Maya really stole that customer’s wallet! She works her butt off doing part-time jobs just to lighten her mom’s financial burden. She’s already pitiful enough. How could you accuse her like this?”

I frowned at him.

In my previous life, I didn’t call the police. Instead, I stood up for Maya and took the blame myself. In the end, the guy’s thugs only backed off after beating me black and blue. On top of that, Wayne didn’t stop any of it back then. He even covered Maya’s eyes with his hand, afraid the bloody scene would scare her.

All this time, I thought he helped because we were dorm buddies and he had my back.

However, I finally understand that they had been treating me like a fool from the very beginning.

“Wayne,” I said calmly, “I’m doing nothing wrong. When a crime happens, you call the police. And even if Maya didn’t take the customer’s wallet like you said, isn’t calling the police exactly what would clear her name?”

My voice was even but firm. Then, I bent down, picked up my smashed phone, and held it out to him.

“And this phone? I just bought it. It’s the latest top-tier model, and it costs more than a few thousand dollars. When the police get here, they can log it, and you can compensate me at full price.”

“You–”

Wayne’s face turned bright red, but he couldn’t squeeze out a single word.

Suddenly, Maya burst into tears. She already had that soft, delicate look, and with her crying like she’d suffered every injustice in the world, anyone would feel protective just seeing her.

“I really didn’t take it,” she sobbed. “The customer dropped his wallet, and I only picked it up to return it. You’re targeting me because I’m poor, just to humiliate me. Do low-income students not deserve dignity?”

Wayne instantly pulled her into his arms, comforting her before turning on me, yelling, “Everyone, you heard that, right? We’re juniors in college. His name is Dylan Conner. He’s been drooling over Maya for three years and still hasn’t won her over. Now he’s salty and using this chance to get revenge!”

The crowd around us immediately started whispering and pointing.

“How disgusting. She turns him down, so he does this? Which college is he from? I’m reporting him. People like this should be expelled!”

Watching them wrapped up in each other’s arms, an image of the last thing I saw in my previous life, right before I died in that fire, flashed in my mind.

A wave of fury exploded from deep inside my chest. Before I even realized it, my fist connected with Wayne’s face. The punch landed hard, splitting his lip open on the spot.