Love Can Wait, Finals Can't

Before being reborn, I gave up on my future to pursue the affections of the most popular young man in high school. I ended up working as a corporate slave for him, and his humiliation of me led to my death.

After my rebirth, I wanted to make that scumbag apologize to me a hundred times in Clock Square.

I used to be a lovesick fool who would even forsake my future for the sake of love.

In my sophomore year of high school, I gave up on getting guaranteed high scores in literature and history. Instead, I chose to study physics and calculus to win the affections of Jack Montgomery, my high school's heartthrob.

In the end, attending physics class felt like listening to a foreign language to me. While the teacher spoke passionately from the podium, I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles.

The laws of motion? Quantum theory? Electromagnetic field theory?

I had no idea what any of those were.

It only took one semester for me to go from being in the top 50 in my grade to below 300th place.

It was inevitable that I would fail terribly when applying to a university. I ended up attending a community college—the kind of place one simply needed to pay to get into.

On the other hand, Jack relied on his family connections to attend a top business university in Ezelia. With such an impressive university on his resume, he returned from abroad to become a corporate executive.

The most outrageous thing to happen was that he became my direct superior.

During the welcome reception for the new executive, I wanted nothing more than to hide myself in the bathroom. Yet, the inevitable would happen eventually.

Jack walked over to me with a glass of champagne in hand, a familiar expression of mocking on his face. "Hey, Emma. I heard that you were boasting about wanting to get into Hareford University back in high school."

Someone next to me immediately said loudly, "Community college is also a form of university!"

Harsh laughter erupted throughout the reception hall.

Jack slowly swirled his champagne glass. "Are you now feeling the consequences of being a lovesick fool? Why didn't this cross your mind back when you were running after me all the time?"

I clenched my fists tightly, feeling my nails dig into my palms.

He continued relentlessly, "By the way, what did you score for your SATs again? 980 points? Oh, no, it was 950 points. You need 1600 points to score full marks, yet you didn't even get 1000 points. You were among the bottom 25% of candidates."

I stood up. "Enough."

Jack's smile widened. "What's wrong? Did I hit a sore spot? Just face reality, Emma. Someone like you will always be a bottom feeder. You should be honored to work for me."

I took a deep breath. Just as I was about to reply, my phone started vibrating wildly. The WhatsApp group chat consisting of my high school classmates was exploding with messages.

"Oh my god! Is the new employee in Jack's company really Emma?"

"That clinger? Oh, that's hilarious! She's really working for him."

"She deserves it for setting her sights on someone far out of her league."

"Allowing yourself to be blinded by love will only ruin you. Hahaha!"

I left the group chat expressionlessly.

…

Late that night, I dragged my exhausted body back to my cramped studio apartment.

My desk was piled high with study materials for the Graduate Management Admission Test—my last resort. As long as I managed to get into a business university and obtained a Master's degree in business, I'd be able to turn my life around.

The papers were covered in densely written mathematical equations. I'd truly ruined my mathematical foundation by choosing to pursue science back then. After downing my fifth espresso, I continued to study hard.

At 3:00 am, I suddenly felt severe pain in my heart. My pen clattered to the floor, and my vision turned black.

Fuck! God was really pulling my leg by making me die of overwork halfway through my GMATs.