Chapter 3

I had been wearing a formal wedding suit and vest, eagerly waiting for Carol's arrival.

However, when she arrived, I realized that she was dressed in black, as if she were mourning instead.

Then, the wedding officiator asked us to exchange our vows, and Carol took the microphone and said in a cold, icy voice, "Marcus Shaffer, I would rather become a nun for the rest of my life than fall in love with you."

I snapped out of my reverie then.

I answered the person on the phone in an eerily calm voice, "Let me forward your call to Mr. Thomas Shaffer. He is the groom who'll be marrying Carol instead."

The other person on the line was confused. "But your invitations all contain your—"

"It's cancelled."

I hung up on the person. Then, I sent my lecturer a text message and began packing my things in a suitcase.

Mom and Dad never came home for a whole day and night.

I was almost done packing up then.

Sometime after waking up and washing up the next morning, the apartment door was suddenly shoved open.

When I saw Carol standing at the door, I asked instinctively, "What are you doing here?"

Shouldn't she be busy taking care of Thomas at the hospital?

Carol didn't answer me. She just shuffled in and placed a beautiful slice of cake on the table.

"You like blueberry cheesecake. Eat it."

I was stunned.

When I snapped back to my senses, I then realized that she was trying to comfort me in some sort of way.

It was the same as before, when our friendship was still intact. If she realized that I was upset or unhappy, she would always buy me a slice of blueberry cheesecake to cheer me up.

This was what she always did to me. She would talk to me coldly while still remembering everything about me.

Every time I came down with a fever or the flu, Mom and Dad would basically ignore me, but Carol would make me chicken noodle soup and get me to take my medications.

I was allergic to mangoes. Mom and Dad never could remember that, but Carol would actively avoid anything with mangoes in it.

Mom and Dad would stay overnight at the hospital to take care of Thomas if he had a high fever, and Carol would stay home with me in the living room because she didn't want me to feel sad or lonely.

When I attempted suicide by jumping off a building, she was the one who stayed by my side and watched over me day and night.

Carol was also the one who instinctively saved my life when I nearly got crushed by a heavy truck in my past life.

She treated me with kindness every day, and I had grown so attached to it that I couldn't possibly forget her anymore.

I misunderstood that as her being in love with me. I simply thought that she never realized it.

That was the only reason I'd refused to give up on her in my past life.

But now, I finally understood that she didn't do all those things for me because she loved me. She only did all those things because she was a good person.

She was simply trying to repay me for the day I shielded her from a falling panel of shattered glass when she was 12, leaving me cut and bloodied from head to toe.

I suddenly came back to the present and smiled back at Carol.

"It's fine. I don't like blueberry cheesecake anymore."

Carol was shocked. She looked at me in pure confusion.

"Since when have you disliked it?"

A long time ago, ever since that tragedy had happened to Thomas.

All of a sudden, I remembered the incident that would happen to Thomas. It felt like it was just around this time as well. I hurriedly took out my phone and looked at the calendar.

Today was the 1st of May.

And today was the day Thomas would attempt to drown his sorrows in alcohol, but end up being abducted, abused, and then eventually kill himself by throwing himself off a building.

This also marked the beginning of the time when everyone started outright hating me.

But this time, I had already given up my spot for him, and I wasn't getting married to Carol anymore. Yet, I didn't know for sure if he was still going to drink and drown his sorrows in alcohol or not.

I didn't bother explaining to Carol anymore and rushed out of the apartment like a madman.

Based on my memories of my past life, I hurriedly called the police beforehand and ran straight toward the back of a bar in the alley.

To my surprise, Thomas was still there, in the alley, and he was surrounded by a group of men who were basically forcing him to drink. Thomas' face was very red, and he looked obviously drunk as he grinned happily at his drinking companions.

"Thomas Shaffer!" I exclaimed, rushing up to him and grabbing him by the arm. "Come home with me."

"Marcus? What are you doing here? Stop meddling in my business!"

The men exchanged glances with each other. Then, a man approached me and said, "Are you his brother? Wow, you're a lot more handsome than he is. Care to join us for a drink?"

The stench of alcohol on the man's breath was revolting. I spoke in a cold voice, "I've already reported you all to the police. You'd better leave if you know what's best for you!"

However, the men didn't seem scared and just bared their yellowed teeth at me fiercely.

I panicked and hurriedly grabbed Thomas' arm before hightailing it out of there.