Chapter 3

Amidst the flying gears, the watch cover engraved with "A&J" slid to Julian's feet.

His eyes accidentally swept over those two intertwined letters, and his body suddenly went stiff.

His face turned pale. Long fingers pressed hard against his temples as a painful groan escaped his throat.

"Julian! What's wrong!" Panic flashed in Scarlett's eyes.

She couldn't let these old things trigger his memory.

She suddenly let out a shrill scream, stumbled backward, and pointed hysterically at the shards on the floor. "Aurora! Are you crazy? You were trying to cut my face with those shards!"

I hadn't even touched a single piece.

But that ridiculously cheap lie instantly woke up Julian's urge to protect her.

The faint pain in his head was completely crushed by his anger over her supposed attack.

"Throw her out," Julian grabbed his head and ordered his thugs, looking at me like I was a disease.

Two massive mobsters instantly stepped up, grabbed my half-open suitcase, along with the Columbia admission letter tucked inside, and strode toward the balcony.

"This is my place. Your trash doesn't belong here!"

"Give my bags back!" I lunged forward to stop them.

Too late.

With a hard toss from the thug, all my belongings, along with the only hope of my second life, were thrown straight out the third-floor window.

With a loud crash, it slammed into the stinking dumpster downstairs.

I rushed downstairs like a maniac.

Ignoring the rotting meat and filthy water, I fell to my knees in the mud and dug frantically.

That was my future! It was my ticket out of this shithole, and the dream I had missed out on for my entire last life.

"Found it..."

With trembling hands, I pulled the paper out of the filth.

The second I pulled it out, a sharp piece of broken glass slashed across my palm.

Blood gushed out instantly, dripping onto the white page.

I looked up and saw that Julian and Scarlett had followed me down to the apartment entrance.

Julian stared at my bloody hand, his pupils shrinking sharply.

He suddenly clutched his chest, swaying slightly without anyone noticing.

But before he could figure out where the strange stab of pain came from, blaring police sirens tore through the quiet street.

Two cops stepped out quickly. Scarlett had called them.

"Officers," Julian immediately snapped back to reality, shielding Scarlett firmly behind his large frame.

The way he looked at me returned to that arrogant, upper-class superiority.

"This woman broke into my house and tried to attack my girlfriend with sharp shards."

He pointed at me, his tone terrifyingly calm. "She has severe violent and stalking tendencies. Seeing my current status probably drove her insane. She’s already given my girlfriend a nervous breakdown. I want to press charges immediately."

Holding my bleeding hand up, I looked at him with a cold smirk.

In that moment, even the last trace of my heartache died completely.

In the police interrogation room, the fluorescent lights burned my eyes.

"Officer, that's my apartment. I just went back to get my bags..."

"Enough, Valenti," the cop cut me off coldly. "Your building manager already testified. He confirmed your lease expired a while ago and that you broke the lock today. The Falcone family's legal team is already out there. You can't beat them. In Chicago, Falcone is the law."

I felt like I was plunged into ice water.

The manager had been bought. With Julian's money now, buying perjury in this corrupt neighborhood was as easy as buying a cup of coffee.

"The victim is very firm. She refuses to settle and insists on charging you with assault." The cop closed his notepad and gave me a contemptuous look. "Better get a lawyer. By the way, law schools are very strict on background checks. Once you get a criminal record for violent assault..."

The cop glanced at the bloodstained admission paper I had set on the table.

"...your Columbia Law admission will be completely void. You can forget about passing the bar for the rest of your life."

The door slammed shut.

In that tiny holding cell, the crushing despair of my past life—having no one to turn to, being abandoned by the whole world—came flooding back like a tidal wave.

If they charged me, my future was done.

I got a second chance at life, only to be stomped into the dirt by them again?

No! No way!

I stared hard at the bloody paper.

Cornered with no way out, I picked up the wall phone.

With shaking fingers, I dialed a number that was burned into my memory but that I had never dared to call.

It belonged to the Don of New York's biggest mafia family. Cassian Acardi. The ruthless Don who ruled the East Coast underworld.

He used to pursue me like crazy, but I pushed him away every time. Because Julian and I grew up getting terrorized by the mob. I hated those people.

On Graduation night, when Julian was chased by gang members and fell into the river, I always thought Cassian had ordered the hit out of jealousy. I cut all ties with him over that.

It wasn't until right before I died that I found out the hitmen were actually from a rival faction in Julian's own family. I had misjudged Cassian.

"Help me." I bit my lip hard, forcing my voice not to shake.

There was a second of silence on the other end.

Then, a deep, cold voice that carried a faint tremble echoed in my ear.

"Wait for me."