บททั้งหมดของ This Time, I Won't Be His Dead Weight: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 8

"Who is this dead weight you're talking about?"Staring at the screen, I took a deep breath and typed out the words.Luke Spencer's reply appeared just seconds later."Someone I grew up with," he wrote. "To be exact, she's someone I owe half my life to. Her parents died saving my life, so my parents adopted her to repay them. However, she takes advantage of my family's guilt and clings to me all the time, making everyone think she's my future wife. I don't want to be tied to her."I blinked. Tears fell onto the screen as I remembered my parents, who had long since been gone.In that horrific landslide, Dad had thrown himself in front of Luke to push him out of the way, only to be crushed to death by a boulder.Mom had used the last of her strength to push him up to safety before the mud swallowed her whole.Luke had once told me to treat the Spencer family as my own. He had promised to stay by my side and protect me for the rest of my life.It turned out that, in his eyes, I

My breath caught in my throat, and my blood ran cold.Dead?So, I would be dead ten years later?I tried hard to stay calm. Then, I probed him about my death.Luke didn't seem interested in hiding the truth either. He took his time before typing back. "Because she was stubborn.""After I forced her to call off our engagement, her grandmother died anyway," his next message read. "It was just an accident, though. One day, the woman I loved went to visit her grandmother and accidentally let slip what was going on between us.""Her grandmother got too worked up, and the doctors couldn't save her."A chill ran through me. I bit down hard on my lower lip, forcing myself not to sob.I already knew who he meant by "the woman I loved". It was Anna.My grandmother was the only family I had left in this world."She didn't do it on purpose. She just wanted to invite her to the engagement party.""And you just believed whatever she told you?" My fingers flew across the screen, unable to

Luke felt as though he were trapped in a dream. He didn't know where he was, but in his dream, he had already arrived at college.Everything was unfolding according to his original plan. I hadn't left after all. Instead, I kept chattering as I made him carry my heavy suitcase.He helped me take everything to my dorm. Once he finished settling into his own room, he met up with me to register, pick up our campus cards, and join the same class group chat.Everything seemed perfectly normal.After the day's rush was over, Luke found himself staring blankly at the orientation photo of the Psychology department. Something about it left him distracted.An hour later, Anna called to ask if he wanted to join her for dinner. He agreed without a second thought.It wasn't until he arrived that he realized it was a gathering for the Psychology department. He was the only student there from another department.I had promised to come with them, but I didn't show up. Anna told him that I wasn't

Luke's parents had no idea what had happened. They assumed I had left without a word, leaving him heartbroken."It's okay. Zoe isn't leaving for good. If you miss her, you can always go visit her overseas, can't you?" Kate reassured him.Luke's face was deathly pale. His heart ached so badly that he could barely breathe.How could he possibly face me again?He spent more than ten minutes typing, deleting, and rewriting his message over and over. In the end, all he could bring himself to send was two words—"Safe trip."He was surprised that I hadn't blocked him. Instead, I replied almost immediately."Thanks. I won't be using this number anymore. If you need to reach me, you can ask your parents to contact me."By then, I had already landed at an airport overseas. I was helping Grandma into a cab to our apartment when I saw Luke's text.Just as I had expected, he hadn't shown the slightest hint of reluctance to let me go. After everything that had happened, he had only sent me t