Chapter 2

"Victor, if you're struggling, you can apply for a tuition waiver."

"No need, Mr. Harrison. Alice will pay it for him."

I opened my eyes abruptly. I wasn't on that blood-stained hospital bed anymore. I was sitting in a university classroom.

Right now, our professor, Mr. Harrison, was trying to convince Victor to apply for financial aid.

My classmates were smirking, expecting me to jump in and pay Victor's tuition like I always did.

I pinched myself.

The sharp pain told me everything. I had been reborn, back to fifteen years ago.

Back then, I was Victor's ultimate simp.

I followed the cold campus heartthrob everywhere, throwing money at him.

Not only did I cover his tuition and fees, but I even begged my parents to get the city's top surgeons for his sick mother.

In my past life, I was helplessly infatuated with him.

I gave him my heart and my wealth, but all I got in return was his cold shoulder.

Yet, after ten years of my relentless chasing, he finally agreed to date me.

I thought my love had finally melted his icy heart. In reality, he only did it because Vivian was injured and desperately needed money for surgery.

Once I found out, I cried my eyes out and tried to let him go.

But his eyes went red. "Alice, don't leave me."

He promised over and over that we would build a real life together. He started treating me like a queen.

Stupidly, I forgave him.

Later, Victor took over my family's business. I stepped back to focus on our home and soon got pregnant.

But the day Vivian’s wedding invitation arrived, my beautiful dream shattered into a million pieces.

When I had a difficult labor, Victor refused to sign the C-section consent form.

As I was dying of pain on the delivery table, Victor leaned down, his eyes bloodshot, and whispered in my ear:

"This is your punishment, Alice."

"If you hadn't used your money to force me, threatening me with Vivian's life and my mother's medical bills, Vivian and I would never have broken up."

"Just die. Once you're gone, I'll inherit the Bowman family fortune and be with Vivian."

"Consider this your compensation to us!"

The labor went on too long. My twins suffocated inside me, and I drew my last breath in agony.

Three lives gone, just like that.

I paid with my life to learn a lesson: some things can never be forced.

Recalling my horrific death, I pulled back my hand just as I was about to hand over my credit card.

I looked up at Victor, who was standing tall and proud.

He still had that arrogant, aloof expression, rejecting Mr. Harrison's suggestion to apply for financial aid.