Goodbye. And Never Again
The day the campus queen got caught shoplifting at the convenience store, I was reborn.
This time, instead of pulling her into the back room for a private talk, I called the cops without a second thought.
The cops locked up my childhood sweetheart, the campus goddess Samantha Creighton, for fifteen days. During those fifteen days, I cut every tie between us.
After that, I dodged her completely.
Whenever she organized a class gathering, I fell deathly ill. Whenever she traveled to the southern coast, I flew to the far northwest.
When she went to a reunion, I got sick. When she went home, I went abroad. When she returned to school, I dropped out.
I avoided every situation that might bring me near her.
In my past life, I loved her for twenty years. But in all that time, she never once treated me with any real kindness.
I finally found out why during a fire at our house.
I held her and our daughter outside the window, shielding them until rescue came. They got out without a scratch. But my entire body was burned beyond recognition.
Then my own daughter—the one I raised with everything I had—pulled her mother's one true love close and said, "He deserves this. Back then, he tore you and Mom apart. He should die for it."
My wife stood beside them and sobbed uncontrollably.
"I almost thought I'd never see you again."
I died full of hatred.
Now that I'd been given a second chance… since she loved her first love that much, I'd make sure they could stay together.