Nouvelles Reborn & Romans Best Friend Cheating

On the day of my birthday, my best friend, Bella Johnson, gifted me a polaroid camera. I took that to the zoo. I took some photos of the animals in the zoo. In my past life, I took the polaroid camera she had gifted me and happily took photos for my whole family. Unexpectedly, after a week, my mother got into a car accident and passed away. My father suffered from a stroke, which left half his body paralyzed even after treatment at the hospital. The company that I was managing ran into problems and almost went bankrupt. In merely a month, my hair had gone gray. There were wrinkles and red marks on my face. I gained a lot of weight due to the stress. My boyfriend felt that I was jinxed. He claimed that it was my bad luck that had caused my family to fall apart. He broke up with me. I was ranting to Bella when I accidentally discovered that she had suddenly become a millionaire. Her parents, who were hospitalized, suddenly became healthy again. It was as if they had not been sick to begin with. I almost lost my mind when I found out about that. On my way to the hospital, I was run over by a car and died. After I died, I found out that everything had happened because of the polaroid camera that Bella had gifted me. She had already been having an affair with my boyfriend for a long time. When I opened my eyes again, I was transported back to the day Bella gifted me the polaroid camera.

After I got a second shot at life, the very first thing I did was enroll in an intensive weight-loss boot camp. In my past life, my boyfriend was always on my case about my weight. He flat-out told me he wouldn't put a ring on it unless I got down to a hundred pounds. I tried every diet and workout plan out there—I pushed myself to the edge—but instead of losing, I packed on even more pounds. Meanwhile, my so-called best friend ate cheeseburgers, fries, and pizza like it was her job and still dropped from 130 pounds to a hundred in less than a month. The second she hit that magic number, my boyfriend's head turned. They started sneaking around behind my back. When I finally confronted them, they shoved me off a rooftop. It wasn't until after I died that I discovered the truth: my "best friend" had linked herself to a weight-transfer system. Every single pound I struggled to lose went straight to her. And every ounce of fat she should have gained? It landed right back on me. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day my boyfriend gave me his hundred-pound ultimatum. With every memory of my past life intact, I couldn't help but smile. My best friend wants to be skinny, does she? Well then, let's see how she likes being nothing but skin and bones. Let's see if forty-five pounds is skinny enough for her.

I start a livestream in the middle of the road before torching down my luxurious mansion that's worth ten million dollars in front of the entire Internet. Everyone claims that I've gone nuts. "I can't believe she actually burned a mansion that's worth ten million dollars! She must have gone cuckoo in the head!" I watch the inferno from my spot on the street, feeling extremely pleased. When the firefighters and the police arrive at the scene, I honestly admit to having burned down the mansion. Then, I request the police to arrest me on the spot. "I'm an arsonist, you see. I have mental health issues, so please arrest me as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll burn down more houses." In my previous life, I had bought this mansion as an engagement gift for me and my fiance, Nigel Taylor. But this was also the very same mansion that ruined my life permanently. Nigel and my best friend, Olivia Williams, had gotten together behind my back. Those bastards betrayed me. After they spent the first half of the night drinking, they sped down the road in a car. But after hitting a few pedestrians, they fled from the scene. Then, they hid the offending vehicle in the garage of the mansion before spending the rest of the night together in bed. The next day, Nigel and Olivia cleared the scene of all traces and made me the perfect scapegoat for their crimes. I couldn't even defend myself when I was faced with all solid evidence that pinned the crimes on me. In the end, I was thrown behind bars. My reputation was instantly ruined. Not only did my company go into bankruptcy, but my parents also fell ill. In the end, they were beaten to death by the debtors who showed up on their doorstep. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the night Nigel and Olivia are about to commit the crimes. This time, I won't give them a chance to falsify any clues.

Jake Carter called and asked to meet. We settled on the small hometown diner we used to hit up. He couldn't look me in the eye the entire time, and we didn't exchange a word during the meal. It wasn't until we were about to leave that he finally pulled a property deed from his bag. "This is for you," he said. "I accept my defeat. Consider it compensation for your emotional distress. Your name is already on it." I didn't bother with polite refusals. I took the deed, mumbled a quick thanks, and got up to leave. Jake scrambled to his feet, calling out from behind me with the one question he'd been burning to ask all along. "If you loved me back then, why did you let Brenda get to me first?" I turned around, looking him in the eye for the first time all day. "Are you really going to pretend you never knew how I felt? You were just playing dumb the whole time." "I-I'm sorry," he stammered. "Can we still get dinner together tomorrow?" "Forget it. I don't need your apology," I said blandly. "You were a victim in this mess, too. As for dinner, don't bother. I'm resigning from the company tomorrow, and it's best if we don't see each other again." The iron wire ring I once treasured as proof of love had turned out to be a cage. Stepping out of the diner, I threw the rusted ring straight into the trash. From now on, I would live for myself.

My husband, Jared Casey, and I decide to host another wedding ceremony on our 20th wedding anniversary. Just before the ceremony begins, my best friend, Noelle Stark, and Jared are suddenly nowhere to be found. They don't pick up their phones when I call them. I search every nook and cranny and finally hear them arguing inside a private room. "I'm going to come clean to Lilian after the ceremony is over. The children need their father," Jared says. "Don't you dare!" Noelle hisses. "You already secretly tampered with her university application form all those years ago for my sake. I even gave birth to your children. We've already wronged her too many times. We can't hurt her again." The blood in my veins turns to ice. There's a loud buzzing in my ears. The door swings open in the next second. The bewildered look in Jared's eyes is swiftly replaced by indifference when he sees me. "So, you've heard everything. Noelle didn't give birth to her two children via IVF. They belong to me. It's up to you whether you still want to go through with the wedding ceremony." The ground suddenly starts to shake. When Jared realizes that it's an earthquake, he reflexively lunges at Noelle and protects her with his own body. The chandelier that's hanging from the ceiling loosens and comes crashing down on my head. "Lilian…" I have a splitting headache when I force my eyes open and come face-to-face with an 18-year-old Jared. My university application form is tucked under my arm.