Chapter 2

Their blatant defense of Ethan chilled me to the bone.

I had grown up with them. For as long as I could remember, Jessica and Megan had been like family to me. They once swore they would treat me well for a lifetime—that no matter who I chose in the future, the other would sincerely support me.

But everything changed in our second year of high school, when Ethan transferred to our school.

He told me he was a poor student my family had been sponsoring all along, and even brought me sweet potatoes from his village as a token of gratitude.

He seemed honest and sincere, so I introduced him to Jessica and Megan. I never expected that from that moment on, everything would change.

They shifted all their attention and care to Ethan, repeatedly using our bond as leverage to pressure me into yielding to him.

Back then, I was foolish. I still held onto hope in them, and that was how I ended up losing my life.

Now, I only wanted to stay as far away from them as possible.

"Then from now on, let's stop contacting each other. You can go to your community college, I'll go to the university of my choice. Let's pretend we never knew each other."

Jessica and Megan clearly hadn't expected such an answer. Both of them stiffened.

Without looking at them again, I picked up my laptop bag and turned to leave. But suddenly, Ethan snatched it from my hands.

"Ryan, I know you've always liked Jessica and Megan. You're just saying this out of anger. Just so you won't regret it later, I'll fill out your application for you."

He opened my laptop and logged into my account, preparing to submit my choices himself.

Panic flared in me immediately. I rushed forward to grab it back, but he quickly hid behind Jessica and Megan, using them to block me.

Alone, I couldn't get past them. I could only watch helplessly as he filled in a community college as my choice.

Once the application was submitted, he handed the laptop back to me, his eyes brimming with smug satisfaction.

"You only get three chances to modify your application. I've already used them all. Now, you have no choice but to go to community college with us."

Rage surged through me. I raised my hand and slapped him.

"How dare you make decisions for me without my permission!"

Jessica seized my wrist and shoved me hard to the ground, snapping, "Ethan was doing this for your own good. I can't believe you not only refuse to be grateful, but actually repay kindness with ingratitude!"

Megan looked down at me from above. "It's done now. The application is finalized. Just accept it and attend community college with us."

"Ethan has already agreed that after school starts, he'll choose one of us to be his girlfriend. The one he doesn't choose can reluctantly be your girlfriend instead."

I stared at them coldly. "Do you think I'm a trash bin? Picking up whatever he throws away?"

Jessica and Megan glared at me in fury. Ethan quickly stepped in to calm them.

"Jessica, Megan, don't be angry. Ryan will eventually understand that we're doing this for his good. The movie is about to start. Let's go."

The three of them turned and walked toward the cinema upstairs together.

I looked at the submitted application on my laptop, a hollow coldness filling my chest. Had I really been reborn just to end up entangled with these three again?

Clutching the laptop, I went home to find my parents.

The moment they saw me, all the grievance I had been holding back surged up. Tears fell uncontrollably from my eyes.

My mother reached out and gently wiped them away. "Ryan, what happened?"

My voice broke as I told them everything that had just occurred.

My father slammed his hand on the table, his face dark with anger. "Outrageous! That ungrateful bastard! After everything our family did to support his education, this is how he repays us?"

My mother was equally anxious. "Now that Ryan's application has been submitted, what do we do?"

Without hesitation, my father picked up his phone and called the teacher, asking whether a wrongly submitted application could still be revoked.