Chapter 1

I waited at the high school gate for two hours with my bag. Today marked the start of the new term for me and my girlfriend, Rachel Ivey, as we decided to re-study for the college entrance exam together. The breakfast I bought for her, which I had queued up for at 6:30 AM, had already gone cold, but Rachel was still nowhere to be seen.

I called Rachel for the tenth time, and she finally answered.

Her voice was light and cheerful. "Zoran, are you at the school gate?"

"I am. Where are you? Did something happen on the way?"

Rachel sent me a photo. "I'm at the school gate too! But it's MIT's school gate!"

My smile faded, and the breakfast slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. I managed to say, "What are you doing at MIT?"

Rachel said smugly, "Zoran, I've been holding it in for so long, but I can finally tell you now! I overperformed on the exam and scored 1540! I finally got into MIT! Aren't you happy for me?"

"Didn't you say you only got 1070 and we were going to retake the exam together?"

Rachel giggled. "I was just testing you. I wanted to see if you really loved me. Congratulations, you passed!"

Feeling suffocated by my emotions, I asked, "Why are you only telling me this now?"

"This is my second test for you, to see if you'd get mad when you found out I was lying."

Her voice was casual and nonchalant, as if this test was just a trivial matter.

When I remained silent for a long time, Rachel's voice turned unhappy. "Don't tell me you're mad, Zoran Faraday? With your grades, you could spend a year without studying and still easily get into MIT next year. Do you have to be mad at me? If that upsets you, then let's break up!"

I reluctantly accepted the fact that I would be retaking the exam. Besides the wasted time, retaking the exam wasn't too stressful for me. I even found time to get a driver's license.

Time flew by, and it was finally time to take the exam again a year later.

Five days before the exam, Rachel came home early for the summer holiday in order to keep me company throughout the exam.

To make it easier for me to study, my family had rented an apartment near the school.

Rachel was on her best behavior. She got up early every day to make me breakfast and took care of all my meals.

When I was studying, she would sit next to me with her laptop and deal with her schoolwork.

When I got tired, she would go downstairs with me for a walk or to play sports. At night, she would give me a shoulder massage before bed.

The days were warm and peaceful, just like the married life I often fantasized about.

I had already discussed with my family my plan to propose to Rachel once the exam was over, and we would marry right after college graduation.

On the day of the exam, Rachel made breakfast for me as usual. Knowing that my stomach was delicate, she made me a special porridge.

We set out together. She wore a cyan dress with a slit on the side that went all the way up to the root of her thigh, outlining her graceful curves. She hoped it would bring me good luck.

Right after we left the apartment, Rachel suddenly received a call from her family. After hanging up, she told me in a hurry that there was an emergency at home and asked me to go to the exam venue without her.

With a knot of worry in my heart, I drove to the exam venue. Just as I was about to go through the first security check, Rachel called.

"Zoran, help! My mom locked me in the room and is forcing me to marry a forty-year-old divorced man in the countryside! I'm so scared! Can you come save me?"

I took back my ID that was being checked and ran out of the school, ignoring the shocked and confused gaze of the proctor.

I asked Rachel to send me her location. I also told her not to hang up and to keep updating me of her current situation.

However, following a scream, the phone hung up. When I called back, the phone was turned off.