Chapter 1

"This kid is unbelievable! He's hurt himself and still won't stop trying to save her!"

"Look at the uniform. I bet he's taking the SAT, too! If he misses the exam, what's he supposed to do?"

I followed the direction everyone was pointing and saw my stepbrother, Terence Norman, thrashing through the water.

A short distance away from him was Kendall Lawson, the Lawsons' heiress who couldn't swim.

As he fought his way toward her, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hang on! I've got you! I'm not letting go!"

Watching the scene unfold, I pressed a hand against my stomach.

The memory of the knife sinking into me still felt horrifyingly real.

If I hadn't overheard Terence's conversation in my previous life, I probably would've fallen for this act too and believed he was some selfless student sacrificing his SAT to save someone.

A few minutes later, Terence dragged the barely conscious Kendall onto the riverbank.

Kendall had a severe fear of water and had already passed out. She had also cracked her head when she fell into the river, and blood covered half her face.

She was the Lawsons' daughter, and the school's biggest hope for a perfect SAT score that year.

Water dripped from Terence's hair as it clung to his cheeks. His eyes red, he dropped to his knees on the gravel and started performing chest compressions on Kendall with frantic force.

"Wake up! You can't die! Your whole future's still ahead of you!"

It didn't take long for everyone around him to be moved.

With only 15 minutes left before the SAT started, people began urging him to leave.

"Kid, the SAT matters more! We'll stay here with her. You need to go!"

But Terence shook his head stubbornly and insisted on waiting for the ambulance.

"No! If I don't see her safe with my own eyes, I won't be able to focus on the test anyway! It's just the SAT. I can always take it next year. But a person only gets one life. I can't just turn my back on her!"

Just then, an ambulance stationed near the test center arrived at the scene after receiving the call.

A flicker of satisfaction crossed Terence's face before he quickly replaced it with that same anxious expression.

He shouted at the medical staff rushing over, "She's losing a lot of blood! If she needs a transfusion, take mine! Save her first! Take however much you need!"

I smiled.

Now that I had been given a second chance, I wasn't about to throw it away. If he was determined to ruin himself, I would gladly help him do it.

I sent every video of Terence rescuing Kendall from my phone to major media outlets. That way, the Lawsons would have no trouble finding him.

After finishing all that, I turned and walked calmly into the test center.

When I came out after finishing the exam, my phone was already exploding with notifications.

In just two hours, the story about Terence giving up the SAT to save someone had spread across the entire internet.

Some reporters even chased him to the hospital and crowded around him with microphones.

"What's your name?"

"Do you regret missing the SAT to save someone?"

"Have you thought about what you'll do in the future?"

"By the way, did you know the person you saved is the daughter of the Lawsons, the family behind Lawson Corporation?"

"We heard you donated two full bags of blood before she finally stabilized. Are you expecting compensation from her family?"

Hearing that, Terence immediately put on a panicked expression and covered his face with his arm.

"Saving people is the right thing to do, especially when it's your classmate. I don't regret it at all! Please stop filming me. I don't want attention. I just wanted to help her."

Suddenly, the cameras shifted direction.

"Mr. Lawson is here!"

The moment Terence heard that, he shoved through the crowd and hurried toward the exit.

"She's okay now, so I'm leaving! Please don't reveal who I am!"

I almost laughed.

There were countless videos of him rescuing her, and he had even "accidentally" left his SAT admission ticket by the riverbank.

Who wouldn't know he was Terence?

He just wanted more sympathy and public support.