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Chapter 2

Author: Anonymous
Maxwell handed me a glass, but I didn't drink from it.

"Change of plans," I said.

"Because of me?" He lowered his voice and added, "If this is about Angelica and me…"

"Don't flatter yourself," I replied, setting the glass down and meeting his eyes. "I just think Stonewick University suits me better."

Maxwell looked stunned. In my previous life, I'd never had the guts to look him in the eye like this. I was constantly second-guessing myself, trying to read his mood.

"Actually…" He trailed off before continuing, "I already broke up with Angelica."

I almost laughed at his words. History was repeating itself. He'd dropped this same bombshell at the exact moment in my previous life.

I'd immediately changed my college choice because of it. Just when I'd worked up the courage to confess my feelings to him, he'd gotten back together with Angelica.

I just replied curtly, "Oh." Then I stood up and added, "That's none of my business. I wish you all the best, Maxwell."

I turned and walked toward Yvonne, leaving Maxwell staring after me in complete disbelief.

This time, I wasn't putting my life on hold for him. I cut off all contact with him and took a short trip around the country with Yvonne.

At the Highland Lake, she took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air.

"This view is incredible, Jocelyn. We're so lucky to be here today. I heard it's usually cloudy up here, and most people never get to see the lake," she commented.

"Yeah, we really lucked out," I replied, though inside I couldn't help thinking how lucky I was to get a second chance at life. This time, I wasn't going to waste it.

"I heard Maxwell is traveling abroad. It must be nice to have that kind of money," Yvonne said casually.

I said nothing.

With the new semester at university just around the corner, I was packing when an email popped up.

"Jocelyn, I brought a gift back from my trip for you. Do you want to grab dinner?"

I briefly glanced at it and deleted the email immediately.

"I won't be seeing you again, Maxwell," I muttered.

Stonewick University was even more beautiful than I'd imagined. The red-brick buildings with green roofs stood tucked beneath the thick canopy of oak trees.

"We actually made it," Yvonne said excitedly, grabbing my hand and running across the campus.

Watching her smile filled me with a warm, unexpected happiness. In my previous life, I'd been so obsessed with Maxwell that I did whatever he wanted and pushed everyone else away. This time, I had the chance to make different choices.

"What clubs are you joining? I want to sign up for the street dance club," she said, flipping through the recruitment flyers.

"Entrepreneurship Club," I replied, pointing to a booth not far away. "And also Finance & Investment Club."

Yvonne's eyes went wide. "Wow, that's intense. Since when are you so serious?"

I smiled, but I didn't bother explaining. I'd wasted my previous life chasing a romance, letting my studies and ambitions wither. This time, I would take back everything I'd lost.

Time passed in a flash, and I was already a sophomore.

Together with a few clubmates, I developed a second-hand marketplace application for the campus. It started as just a class project, but it quickly rose to popularity across the school.

"Ms. Leigh, do you mind if we chat?"

After class one day, a man in a sharp suit stopped me in the hallway.

"I'm Zachary Cole from Apex Ventures. I'm very interested in your project."

His name hit me like a bolt of lightning. In my previous life, he had been a rising star in the technology investment industry, making the Billionaires List in his 30s. And now, here he was, standing in front of me, handing me his business card.

"Nice to meet you," I replied, taking his business card and trying to keep my composure. "But there are five of us on the team…"

"I want to talk to you specifically," Zachary said with a smile. "It's your idea, right?"

He'd clearly done his homework.

My heart raced, not from nervousness, but from excitement. This was a pivotal opportunity I'd missed entirely in my previous life.

Zachary's office was on the top floor of downtown Stonewick's tallest building. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view of the entire city.

"I'll invest two million dollars for a 20% equity stake," he said, sliding a contract across the table.

He continued, "With one condition that you commit full-time after graduation. You major in software engineering, right? That lines up perfectly with what we need."

I read through the terms carefully and put the business knowledge I'd gained from the clubs to good use.

"That's a reasonable offer, but I want to retain ownership of the core technology patents."

Zachary raised an eyebrow.

"You know about patent law?" he asked.

"I've done some reading," I said, closing the folder. "Also, I want a seat on the board."
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  • Reborn to Walk Separate Paths   Chapter 10

    Zachary pushed through the door while balancing two coffee cups. "Sorry to interrupt, Ms. CEO, but your investor's here in three minutes.""Investor? You didn't tell me we had a meeting today.""I wanted to surprise you," he said, winking playfully.When I walked into the conference room, I froze. Sitting there were partners from one of the country's top venture capital firms and my parents."Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?""Zachary invited us," Mom said, pulling me into a tearful hug. "He said today was a big day for your new venture."It turned out Zachary had been talking to my parents behind the scenes, showing them a year's worth of performance reports to prove their daughter had made the right choice.I'd been so busy building the company that I hadn't seen them in over a year. I held them tight, soaking in that sense of safety I'd missed."There's something else," Dad said, handing me an envelope. "The one you always wanted."Inside was an old photograph. It was t

  • Reborn to Walk Separate Paths   Chapter 9

    Angelica suddenly laughed. It was so chilling that it made my skin crawl. "How pathetic. You're nearly dead, and you still don't know why. Jocelyn, you're such a fool. Maxwell's been planning to get rid of you since high school. "Your dad reported his dad for embezzlement back then. Mr. Sutton went to prison, while his mom couldn't handle the humiliation and abandoned him. But your dad got promoted for exposing the corruption. You're the one who ruined his family."The truth hit me like a freight train. What I had thought was love in my previous life had been nothing but a meticulously planned act of revenge from the start."He pursued you, then planned to marry you. All of it was for revenge," Angelica said, her eyes gleaming with malice. She continued, "And me? I just liked taking things that belonged to you. Life isn't fair. Why did you get the grades, the friends, and the rich dad? Am I not prettier than you?"But what's the use of being pretty? You could sit in your offic

  • Reborn to Walk Separate Paths   Chapter 8

    The ambulance arrived with sirens blaring, and paramedics loaded Zachary onto a stretcher. Angelica was also seriously injured since the driver's seat was stained with blood. They took her away in the ambulance as well.While waiting outside the operating room, I called Luke. He and his team arrived shortly after."Try not to worry too much. Let's wait for the doctor," he said, trying to calm me."Angelica has to pay for what she did," I said, my eyes red as I dropped to my knees and clutched at his pant leg."Get up," he said. "The law will handle this. I promise you that justice will be served."Half an hour later, a doctor emerged from the room."Mr. Cole is out of danger. We just need his family member to sign some paperwork."Zachary's parents had arrived ten minutes earlier. When they heard he'd pull through, the relief was visible on both their faces. His mother came over and took my hand."You must be Jocelyn. Zachary's always been the stubborn type, even as a kid. He

  • Reborn to Walk Separate Paths   Chapter 7

    "This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing," the police officer, Luke Sawyer, said grimly. "This was premeditated over a long period."What made my stomach turn was Angelica's message to Maxwell."The poison's in place. Six months from now, she'll die of liver cancer, and nobody will suspect us."So that was how it had happened.In my previous life, I had thrown myself completely into married life with him. Every day, all I cared about was keeping him happy and living a good life. I never imagined the man sleeping beside me had been plotting to murder me all along.Angelica was pregnant, so the police allowed her to stay at home while waiting for further notice. Maxwell got dragged into the interrogation room. Even with the evidence staring him in the face, he kept denying everything."Officer, I have a business trip coming up. This is all a mistake. I barely know Angelica, and she's just some crazy woman who won't leave me alone."He looked genuinely panicked. If I hadn't known

  • Reborn to Walk Separate Paths   Chapter 6

    The next day, I pretended to take the vitamins and secretly pocketed the pills instead. The lab results were horrifying. It turned out those pills contained a slow-acting toxin that caused liver damage."That's enough to press charges," the lawyer Yvonne introduced said. "But we need a more solid chain of evidence."I decided to bait them.At the quarterly company meeting, I announced a completely fake "breakthrough technology" that I claimed would revolutionize the entire industry. When Maxwell heard that, his eyes lit up immediately.After the meeting ended, I watched him hurry over to the reception desk and whisper something to Angelica, who immediately started furiously typing on her phone."They took the bait," Zachary murmured. "I've also found out he has a small startup in the city. It's set to go public later this year. What's your next move?""We wait," I said calmly. "Let them walk into the trap themselves."On Friday night, our system showed someone had logged in us

  • Reborn to Walk Separate Paths   Chapter 5

    "Reborn? I have no idea what you're talking about," I said.My eyes darted around, and the cramped space inside the elevator was making it hard to breathe.Maxwell's smile turned creepy.The second the doors on the ground floor opened, I bolted.While lying in bed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about what he'd said. I wondered if he also had been reborn.I woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. Standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows in my office, I spotted Maxwell chatting with a female employee at the coffee shop downstairs. Even from behind, I recognized her immediately—Angelica.She'd applied to Zachary's company for a receptionist position. With her looks, she was perfect front desk material."What are you looking at?" Zachary asked, standing beside me and following my gaze. "Isn't that the new admin intern, Angel Lockwood? She seems pretty friendly with Mr. Sutton.""Angel Lockwood? Pull her resume for me," I said, keeping my voice calm. "I want to see

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