So, she had known all along.

Martha abruptly pulled her hand back. She looked at Macy with nothing but resolve in her eyes.

"Go," she turned her head away, no longer looking at Macy. "Leave this place. Don't ever appear before me again."

"Mom?" Macy felt as if struck by lightning, unable to believe that the mother who always cherished her most would say such heartless words.

She turned frantically to the silent Arthur. "Dad! Say something! Is Mom just confused because she's angry?"

Arthur sighed deeply. His gaze toward Macy was filled with complex disappointment and heartache. Ultimately, he just turned his face away and waved his hand, his meaning more than clear.

Macy’s heart turned cold. She then looked at Julian, who had been standing by the window with his back to them. She rushed over and grabbed his arm: "Julian! Help me persuade Mom and Dad! They just can't accept it for the moment. We've had so many years of feelings; help me say something! You know me best!"

Julian slowly turned around.

One by one, he pried Macy’s fingers off his arm.

"Macy," he began, "we grew up together. I remember that friendship."

A flicker of hope ignited in Macy’s eyes.

But Julian’s next words were: "I didn't kill the innocent, but the innocent died because of me. Andrea’s death... you, I, and everyone in this family—none of us are innocent."

He looked at Macy’s instantly ashen face and continued: "Out of consideration for our many years of knowing each other, and because you did call them Mom and Dad for so long... I will take responsibility for settling your remaining expenses for studying abroad. After that, you'll have to find your own way."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over his mother-in-law, who was weeping with closed eyes, and his father-in-law, who sat dejectedly, before finally fixing on Macy’s face.

"Don't come back."

Macy let go, lost and soul-shattered. She stumbled back two steps, didn't look at anyone again, and turned to rush out of the ward.

In the room, only a deathly silence remained.

Chapter 17

Julian lost consciousness amidst a violent sensation of suffocation.

The empty bottle of sleeping pills next to Andrea’s urn, the suicide note spread out on the table filled with repentance and despair, and his final gaze toward the wedding photo filled with endless agony.

He thought he could finally go to see her, even if he could only kneel before her to say a belated "I'm sorry."

However, the expected eternal darkness did not arrive.

Instead, after a pulling sensation, Julian snapped his eyes open, gasping for breath.

He found himself sitting in a driver’s seat. Outside the window was a torrential downpour. The windshield wipers were swinging frantically, yet it was still difficult to see the road ahead.

Familiar street scenes retreated rapidly in the curtain of rain.

Where... is this?

He looked down blankly at his hands gripping the steering wheel; they were young. The clothes he was wearing were the dark grey trench coat he often wore three years ago.

The date and time on the car's display screen left him stunned.

Three years ago!

The very evening when Andrea’s family went bankrupt and Macy went abroad—the evening he drove out to find Andrea.

Rebirth?!

This absurd thought was accompanied by wild joy. His heart thundered frantically in his chest, nearly leaping out.

He had been reborn!

He had returned to the time before the tragedy began! Returned to when Andrea was still alive and everything could still be redeemed!

Immense relief and excitement made him tremble. He floored the accelerator, speeding toward that bus station according to his memory.

There! That was the place!

Through the misty curtain of rain and splashing water, he saw that thin, curled-up figure under the shelter at a glance.

Exactly the same as in his memory, soaked to the bone.

Julian’s heart felt as if gripped tightly by a warm hand, aching and swelling until he nearly shed tears.

He slammed on the brakes, not even bothering to take an umbrella. He pushed open the car door and rushed into the icy rain.

The rain drenched him instantly, but he didn't care; his eyes were only on that figure.

"Andrea!" he shouted her name. The figure crouching on the ground moved and slowly lifted her head.

It was her! It was really her! A young, living Andrea!

Julian could no longer control himself. He rushed forward in a few steps, opened his arms, and used all his strength to pull that small, soaked body into a tight embrace.

"Andrea," he buried his face in her wet hair, his voice hoarse. "Andrea, I found you. Don't be afraid, I'm here. Come home with me... let's go home."

However, the person in his arms did not break down in tears or hug him back tightly as she had in his memory.

She gently pushed him away.

Julian was stunned by the push and looked at her with a loss of what to do.

Andrea lifted her eyes, rain sliding down her cheeks.

"Julian?" she called his name. "Thank you. But, I'm waiting for a car."

Waiting for a car?

The wild joy on Julian’s face turned into confusion and bewilderment.

He subconsciously repeated: "Waiting for a car? Waiting for what car? Andrea, stop joking. It's hard to get a taxi here on a rainy day. I'll take you back. Let's get in the car first, okay?"

He tried to take her hand, but a trace of unease began to surface in his heart.

Andrea avoided his hand and looked toward the road behind him.

A black sedan slowly approached. The driver's window rolled down, revealing a face Julian didn't recognize at all.

The man looked at Andrea and nodded: "Ms. Andrea, the traffic was a bit heavy; I'm late. Please get in."

Andrea nodded politely to the man: "It's alright. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Chen."

Then, without giving the frozen Julian another look, she picked up her old backpack, opened the car door, and sat into the back seat of the sedan with a decisive motion.

The car door closed with a click, isolating the wind and rain outside, and also isolating Julian’s look of disbelief.

Why...

Why was it different?

What exactly had gone wrong in this life?

Chapter 18

The car door closed, and Andrea leaned back against the soft seat, exhaling softly.

The soaked clothes clung to her skin, bringing an uncomfortable chill.

But her heart was unusually calm.

She closed her eyes, and the image of Julian rushing into the rain to embrace her surfaced in her mind—the surging joy and excitement in his eyes, as well as the terror of a narrow escape and the lingering fear of loss.

That kind of gaze was definitely not something the Julian of this timeline should have.

At that moment, Andrea understood.

Julian had been reborn too.

Four months ago, when she struggled awake from the agony of late-stage cancer and the icy edge of death, she found herself lying on a bed in her university dormitory from four years ago. Sunlight streamed through the window, and her roommates were chirping about lunch and the afternoon class schedule. At first, she thought she was dreaming—a desperate hallucination before death.

It wasn't until she pinched herself hard, confirmed the date on her phone, and ran to the library to check records of news that had not yet happened that she slowly accepted this fact amidst the immense absurdity and shock.

She had been reborn, returning to the starting point before the tragedy began, when everything could still be changed.

The family had not yet gone bankrupt. Although her parents had found Macy and their attitude toward her had begun to shift subtly, it had not yet reached the level of cold partiality it would later become.

Julian was still the older brother next door who had Macy in his heart.

And she still had a healthy body, time, and the chance to change her destiny.

She quietly continued her studies, working even harder than in her previous life.

She began to use her spare time to work multiple part-time jobs.

With her excellent grades, especially in science and foreign languages, she quickly found a well-paying tutoring job through a classmate’s introduction.

She was tutoring a boy in his senior year of high school named Leo, whose family was quite wealthy.

Leo was the young master of the household where Mr. Chen, the driver who had just picked her up, was employed.

Leo's parents were successful businesspeople who traveled abroad year-round; they had high expectations for their only son but lacked the time to accompany or discipline him.

Leo was intelligent but rebellious, and his grades fluctuated wildly.

When Andrea took over, he was in a stage of extreme resistance to learning.

However, Andrea possessed a level of patience far exceeding her peers, honed from her previous life. She didn't use high-pressure tactics or resort to flattery; she simply broke down complex knowledge points and guided him step by step, incorporating topics he was interested in, such as game models.