Chapter 1

"Zane Sinclair! Be a man. Just pretend to confess your feelings for me on camera. It's not like it'll cost you anything!"

Ava Levine leaned in so close that she was practically pressed against my arm.

Just seconds ago, I'd felt the excruciating pain of heavy tires crushing my ribs.

Now, I was sitting unharmed in my senior-year classroom. Ava stood right in front of me, holding up her phone and pouting.

I'd been reborn.

"Come on, just do it! I'm already recording!" Ava urged, shoving her phone closer to my face. "Look at the camera and say, 'Ava, I've had a crush on you all through high school.'"

A few classmates began egging us on.

"Come on, Zane. The campus belle is giving you a chance. Don't be so ungrateful!"

"Yeah, it's just a quick video for fun. Why the long face?"

In my past life, I'd been too timid to say no under that kind of peer pressure. Blushing furiously, I'd reluctantly played along.

Ava had posted the video online with the caption "The Coldhearted Top Student Has Been Secretly In Love with the Clumsy Beauty for Three Years".

Overnight, it had gone viral and earned her 300,000 followers. From then on, she'd leeched off me and milked me for everything I was worth.

That single video had cost Mom her life and left me as nothing more than a mangled heap of flesh.

I took a deep breath, struggling to contain the rage boiling inside me.

With a sharp flick of my wrist, I slapped the phone right out of Ava's hand. It clattered onto the desk, leaving a crack across the screen.

"Zane Sinclair! Are you out of your mind? You broke my brand-new phone!" Ava shrieked.

I stared at her coldly.

"Stop flattering yourself. I haven't even bothered to remember what your face looks like. And you think I've had a crush on you? Who do you think you are?" I sneered.

The entire classroom fell silent.

Ava stared at me in complete disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes.

"How… How could you say something so cruel?" she whimpered, her voice trembling. "I just thought we could make a video together since we're graduating soon…"

Henry Wright, our class president, immediately jumped to her defense.

He pointed a finger in my face and snapped, "Zane, don't get so full of yourself! So what if your grades are good? Ava is doing you a favor by asking you to record a video with her. What kind of man treats his classmate like this?"

Henry was obsessed with Ava. Everyone knew it.

I shot to my feet, grabbed his finger, and bent it sharply downward. He doubled over in pain, grimacing as he tried to pull away.

"If you care so much about her, why don't you record it with her yourself? Do you think anyone online would want to look at your ugly mug?" I sneered.

I released his hand and turned to Ava, who was still playing the victim.

"Others might not know what you're really like, but I do. Back in our sophomore year, you called a guy from another class poor and threw the breakfast he'd bought you straight into the trash in front of everyone."

I added, stepping closer, "And back in the first semester of our senior year, you lied to your parents about needing money for tutoring just so you could buy a designer handbag."

I let out a cold laugh. "Now, you've figured out that I'll probably score well on the SAT. So you want to ride my coattails and cash in on my reputation as a top student before the results even come out?"

I tilted my head at her mockingly. "Nice little scheme. Too bad you picked the wrong target."

Ava's face drained of color. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't get a single word out.

The way our classmates looked at her changed almost instantly.

Without another word, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the classroom.

The moment I stepped through the school gates, I pulled out my phone and deleted Ava from my Facebook, Instagram, and contacts.

I'd been given a second chance at life. I wasn't about to let that vile woman get anywhere near me again. If she dared to cross me again, I'd make her regret it.