Chapter 3
I clenched my clothes tight.
Not wanting to cause a scene and miss my flight, I simply asked:
“What do you want?”
Jaxon hurled a thick notebook at me.
“You know damn well what you did!”
“The whole thing’s crossed out with red pen–not a single page is readable!”
“Ruining the notes is one thing, but why the hell did you write ‘bitch‘ and ‘slut‘ all over it!”
A sharp pain shot through me.
I rubbed my shoulder, wincing, and flipped through the notebook.
My expression turned cold, heart filled with resignation.
“She staged this whole thing herself. What’s it got to do with me?”
What a hopeless case.
A perfectly good study guide turned into her tool for playing victim and marking territory.
Right as I finished speaking,
Scarlett’s pitiful voice piped up.
“Kai, Jaxon, I didn’t…”
“I don’t know what I did wrong to make Winter treat me like this.”
“I’ve never been humiliated like this in my life. I can’t even eat–how am I supposed to study?”
Kai was shaking with rage.
“Get on your knees and apologize!”
“Then go to the school broadcast station and confess what you did in front of everyone!”
Jaxon tossed me a pen.
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Reborn Losers? Now I’m the CEO They Can’t Unsee!
Chapter 3
“And you’re writing a guarantee!”
“If you screw up Scarlett’s college entrance exams, you forfeit your right to go to college!”
My fingernails dug deep into my palms.
Fighting back my anger, I said:
“I already gave that up.”
“Look closely–this is a 1 PM flight. I’m going abroad for college.”
Kai frantically grabbed the plane ticket from my hands.
“Abroad?”
Both of them scrutinized it, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
“Holy shit, it’s real…”
I snatched it right back.
“If you don’t mind, please don’t mess with my future.”
I noticed Scarlett looking a bit deflated.
Soon enough, Kai’s face returned to its cold mask.
“Never thought you’d get this jealous.”
“Showing up late on purpose to make me come find you, then pulling out a plane ticket to force me to leave Scarlett and chase after you instead.”
Jazon had his eureka moment too, sneering:
“Going abroad, huh? Nobody’s stopping you.”
“Give it three days and you’ll come crawling back home. Don’t come crying to me.”
[ignored them completely.
Didn’t even spare them a glance.
Just rushed to flag down a bus and hopped on.
Through the transparent window,
I caught a glimpse of them looking at Scarlett with something different in their eyes.
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Chapter 3
Different how?
I couldn’t tell, and I didn’t care to figure it out.
Not having to analyze their feelings anymore–what a relief.
Seriously, I was capable and strong.
Soon, I adapted to life at Cambridge quickly.
Every day brought new challenges and excitement.
News from back home barely reached my ears.
I almost forgot.
Forgot that there were once two men who’d consumed my thoughts, men I’d begged to see again in my dying breath.
Until Christmas, a few months later.
An international package arrived at my apartment.
When I opened it, it was that yearbook I’d thrown in the trash.
All the stains had been carefully cleaned off, and it even smelled of my favorite pine incense.
As for those mocking words about me–they’d been scraped away with a blade.
In their place were two lines written in elegant handwriting:
[Cambridge, heavy snow.]
[You always get sick when seasons change–stay warm.]
My name had “winter” in it, but I hated the cold most of all.
Back when I was starting my business, living in a drafty rental during winter, Jaxon would rush over to patch up the gaps, then always warm up a hot water bottle for me.
He used to say, “Winter, I’ll always be by your side. I won’t let you freeze.”
Thinking of this, I lowered my eyes.
After a moment’s thought, I lit a match and burned the yearbook to ash.
It had already become trash.
No point trying to restore it to perfect condition now.
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Chapter 3
I thought that would be the end of it.
A few days later, another international call came through.
It was Kai’s voice.
“Are you… doing okay?”
“If you’re really not, I wouldn’t mind if you came back.”
I just shook my head.
My voice was completely flat.
“Whether I’m good or bad–what’s that to you?”
‘Please don’t interfere with my life, okay?”
Kai paused, his tone getting frantic and distorted.
‘Look, you’re just pissed I chose Scarlett instead of going to Columbia with you, right?”
‘If I promise you I will, would you come back?”
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