Chapter 3

The next day, I spent the entire morning in the office dealing with contracts.

Julian brought over the investigation report from the hospital that I had requested the day before. The results showed that Scotty's allergens were completely different from any ingredients found in the liquor. His reaction was clearly caused by accidentally ingesting peanuts.

After reading the report, I had my answer.

I thought back to Scotty's strange behavior yesterday. I no longer cared whether he had truly eaten peanuts by accident or not.

Since the liquor I gave him wasn't the problem, from this point on, the two of them would have nothing to do with me.

But just as I was trying my best to cut off all ties with Maggie, it wasn't long before she came looking for me.

I knew why she was here. According to the timeline, Sinise Group would be on the verge of bankruptcy at this point. The company was facing cash flow issues, suppliers were pressing for payment, employee salaries needed to be paid, and bank loans had to be repaid… Everything was hitting all at once.

In my previous life, after Maggie and I got married, the Tilman family lent Sinise Group a large sum of money, helping her survive the crisis. Later, with my help, she secured a major project, and only then did Sinise Group finally turn things around.

But this time, she didn't have my help, so she naturally found herself stuck at every turn.

When she came to see me, she brought me some tacos—my favorite from my previous life—and a cup of lemonade.

"I passed by a taco stand and remembered you loved eating these, so I bought some for you on the way," she said.

I stared at her for a long time. Only when she started to look uneasy did I finally speak.

"You must have remembered wrong. I never liked eating tacos."

Her entire body trembled as if she'd been startled.

At this point in my previous life, I truly had never eaten that kind of food. It was only after marrying her that I started living frugally, trying to stretch every penny. The inexpensive yet delicious tacos then became a staple we had whenever we went on dates.

After a long silence, she forced a stiff smile.

"Then I probably remembered wrong. But Aaron, you should try this. It tastes pretty good."

I remained expressionless and just waved my hand, motioning for her to take it away.

"You should take it back. I can't stand the smell."

She froze, standing there awkwardly with the bag in her hands, not knowing what to do.

In the past, I never would have spoken to her like this. As much as I disliked it, I still would have taken it just to spare her embarrassment.

In my previous life, I had changed all my interests and preferences just to accommodate her and so that we would have more things in common.

But even on her deathbed, the person she cared about the most was Scotty. Only then did I realize how foolish I'd been.

"If there's nothing else, please leave," I said flatly. "After all, you're from Sinise Group. It won't look good if you stay at Tilman Group's offices for too long."

Hearing the dismissal, Maggie stepped right up to me and leaned forward slightly, her expression complicated.

"Aaron, are you mad at me because I chose Scotty?"

I didn't say anything.

After a long pause, she answered her own question, staring at me blankly.

"You must be very mad," she continued. "But Aaron, you don't understand. I didn't want things to be like this either. I just didn't want to miss out on him again. I didn't want to live with regrets for the rest of my life anymore!"

I knew exactly what she meant. She didn't want to sacrifice herself again to be with me this time.

In the previous life, being with me had been a lifelong regret for her.

I plastered a faint smile onto my face, but inside, it felt like my heart was riddled with puncture wounds.

"You don't have to explain anything to me. What's happened has happened—I stopped caring about it a long time ago."

Maggie let out a sigh of relief.

"In that case, why don't we have dinner tonight?" she asked slowly, her tone laced with guilt. "It's been a long time since we've had a meal together, just the two of us."

It had indeed been a long time. Ever since she chose Scotty in this life, we'd never eaten together.

In our previous life, as husband and wife, we basically ate together every day. And because of her sensitive stomach, I would often cook meals that she could digest more easily.

But I had no desire to do anything that meaningless in this lifetime.

"No need. There's a lot going on at the company. I don't want to waste time."

I paused. I recalled her dying wish from the previous life, and the question I had been holding back surfaced again.

"Maggie, how did you know—"

However, just as I started asking the question, her phone suddenly rang. Scotty's voice came through, inviting her to have dinner with him.

Maggie froze for a second, then glanced at me instinctively. After a long silence, she ultimately agreed.

Meanwhile, I swallowed the rest of my question back down.