He Chose My Best Friend, so I Restarted

The world spun when I leaped to my feet. My entire body was covered in a layer of cold sweat.

I was in my husband Jared Casey's old apartment, which was demolished years ago. The calendar on the wall made me realize that I had traveled back in time to 20 years ago.

Jared placed the cake into the fridge, while my best friend, Noelle Stark, pulled out the birthday present she had prepared for me. She sounded a little flustered as she explained, "Jared and I ran into each other downstairs."

Noelle's face was flushed. Her lips were red and swollen, and she kept unconsciously pressing them into a line.

"Why did you fall asleep on the table?" she asked. "You have a red mark on your face now."

She then tried to touch me with her wet hand to tease me.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped.

Moving on instinct, I reflexively slapped her hand away.

Noelle lost her footing and stumbled backward. Her back collided against the hard corner of the fish tank, causing her to hiss in pain.

"What do you think you're doing, Lilian Mefford?" Jared roared as he dashed out of the kitchen.

He reflexively tried to lift Noelle's shirt to check the damage, but his hand froze the moment he touched her shirt.

Noelle also snapped back to her senses and hastily put some distance between herself and Jared. Although she insisted that she was fine, her eyes had reddened.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I know that this dress is really cheap and doesn't suit someone like you. I just thought that the color would look really nice on you. I'll buy another present for you after I get my salary and make it up to you, okay?"

Jared grew even angrier upon hearing her words. He shot a reproachful look at me and snapped, "Wash your face if you're not fully awake yet. Don't throw a tantrum."

I barked out an indignant laugh. I treated Noelle too well in my past life. I felt sorry for her because her parents passed away when she was still young and she was constantly passed around by her relatives. Thus, I treated her as if she was my own sister and took good care of her.

As a result, she never had a chance to show her true colors. Naturally, Jared also didn't have a reason to protect her.

In fact, I even got mad at him once, demanding why he always looked so repulsed and annoyed whenever I mentioned Noelle.

In the end, he cracked under my barrage of questions and said in frustration, "I don't need a reason to hate someone. Can you be a little more mature? She's your best friend, not mine. Stop behaving like a child who wants all her friends to play together."

It turned out that the truth had been the opposite. Jared didn't hate Noelle. On the contrary, he loved her.

I had been too blind to see the truth when I was 18. I was completely oblivious to their clandestine relationship and was kept in the dark for most of my life.

Since some omnipotent being had given me a second chance, I wasn't going to make the same mistakes again.

My hand was trembling slightly when I turned around and grabbed my university application form from the floor where I'd dropped it.

It was my birthday that day. We filled in our forms during the day, prepared a meal together, and had cake to celebrate. The next day, I left the country to go on a vacation with my parents, so I asked Jared to submit my form for me.

However, when the acceptance letters started coming in one month later, Noelle, who had gotten the same score as me, was accepted into Avalium University's law school. Meanwhile, I was only accepted into a regular university that was my last choice.

Everyone was shocked. Noelle even burst into tears due to how anxious she was, promising me that she would accompany me if I decided to repeat the year and take the college entrance exams again.

My parents, Freya Linnell and Corey Mefford, were just about to use their connections to launch an investigation when a male student suddenly stepped forward and admitted that he had tampered with my university application form.

He claimed that he had always had a crush on me, but I never once looked his way because I was too outstanding. Feeling inferior and jealous, he secretly tampered with my university application form.

That was when we found out he and I had indeed been accepted into the same university and even the same major.

Feeling enraged by the absurdity of his actions, I believed his words. I never once suspected that Jared and Noelle were involved in the incident since they were the two people I trusted the most.

"Let's break up, Jared," I said. "Also, let's go our separate ways from now on, Noelle. I don't have a friend like you."