I Was Meant to Fly, but They Clipped My Wings

I hurried ahead as the music played through my earphones. I thought I could get away from this mess, but Diana Fowler suddenly broke away from the two thugs. She gazed at me with eyes full of tears, clutching my arm so hard she left two bloody scratches. "Help me, Levi!"

I instinctively shook off her hand, acting as though I had encountered something terrifying.

In my past life, I had saved her out of a brief impulse of kindness, only to have both of my legs broken by the thugs. I needed an enormous sum for medical bills, but she was nowhere to be found. I had gone to the police and needed a witness, but she didn't appear back then.

In the end, Diana brought the police into my hospital ward instead. She pointed straight at me and yelled, "It's him! He's the one who attacked me two nights ago! If those two kind strangers hadn't scared him off, I might not be alive right now!"

I was fresh out of surgery at the time. I was so enraged as I listened to her distort the account that I coughed up a mouthful of blood. "What are you even saying? Those two men were the ones who attacked you. How can you frame me like this when I saved you out of the goodness of my heart?"

Diana held firm to her claim, not budging an inch. "You're the one who saved me? How can you lie through your teeth? You were obviously driven by lust and tried to attack me while intoxicated! You're the beast here!"

In that instant, everyone in the hospital ward glared at me with pure contempt. I turned from a celebrated student into a social pariah overnight.

Diana, on the other hand, looked on with a cold expression as the police took me into custody.

I had once asked her why she would treat me in such a manner.

Diana smiled maliciously and replied, "You brought this on yourself by seeking attention and offending the wrong person, Levi. You can only blame your own fate—not anyone else."

In the aftermath, my mother, Grace Dafforn, suffered a major blow due to this affair. She couldn't even afford her own medication after exhausting all of our savings for my medical treatment. She eventually passed away from her heart condition that had suddenly relapsed.

I received the news while in prison, leaving me overwhelmed with remorse. I couldn't wrap my head around how a selfless act had led to the ruin of my family and my life. I eventually took my own life after being driven by pure despair.

I suddenly woke up and found myself back at the scene of the incident. I could tell that things were slightly different than before, though, as this timeline seemed to differ slightly from the last.

In my past life, Diana was definitely tied up by those two. In this life, however, she was able to run toward me.

I suddenly heard the two thugs shouting from behind me, along with the scraping of steel rods on the ground.

"How dare you try to run away, you wretched woman!"

"Who the hell are you? You'll get a beating too if you don't mind your own business!"

I recalled the miserable way I had died in my past life. I didn't dare stop for even a second and ran toward the nearby commercial street. I was certain they wouldn't make a move, given the crowded conditions, with traffic and surveillance cameras everywhere.

I ran into a cafe and turned to look back, only to witness a shocking sight. I spotted Diana in the alley across the street, holding the arm of one of the thugs and walking away as if they were close.

I broke out in a cold sweat, wondering if Diana was acquainted with those thugs.