After His Awakening

It sounded like Jason Wade had stood up abruptly. Amid the noise, his voice was unusually anxious.

"Why did you suddenly agree, Dawn? Did something happen?"

My nose suddenly stung.

In the original story, Jason was the devoted second leading man. His role was to have "a little bit of falsehood mixed into his true feelings", making Stanley's wholehearted devotion to me stand out even more.

In this world, Stanley was the all-powerful, domineering CEO.

I was the poor, stubborn girl who strived to get into Eastvale University and ended up getting saved by him.

The only one who could rival Stanley was Jason, who was almost his equal.

I was 70% similar to Jason's first love from his childhood, and he wanted me as a stand-in to stay by his side.

In my past life, I would rather die than be humiliated, so I firmly rejected Jason.

He disappeared from my life after that, but after my death, he came to my grave and smoked half a pack of cigarettes.

I recalled that he always carried that girl's photo with him, and that his obsession ran deep.

In this life, I had no choice but to use his genuine feelings for someone else. It was shameful, but at least we would both survive.

After all, after my death in the previous life, Stanley still wasn't satisfied. With the leading man's plot armor protecting him, he had harmed many people like a madman.

Stanley eventually shot Jason. Jason died in front of my grave.

My thoughts wavered for an instant. Just now, in the private room, the diamond on Tina's ring finger had gleamed blindingly.

Compared to her warm, bright personality, I was indeed bland and boring. I could never hold onto anything.

At least, my grandmother's emerald pendant was entirely mine.

…

I drove back to the Meyer residence, and the moment I pushed open the door, I froze in place.

Tina spun around to face me. What hung around her neck was a familiar emerald pendant!

This scene overlapped with the one from my past life.

I stood there rooted to the spot and pale-faced.

Tina sneered mockingly. "Dawn, you just can't let it go, can you? Did you want to come back and seduce Stanley? Too bad he's already kicked you out."

Tina clapped her hands smugly. The maids filed out in unison and threw my things out like trash.

I endured her arrogant humiliation and said calmly, "The pendant around your neck is mine."

Tina clutched her chest dramatically, and her voice was sharp. "Dawn, what ridiculous fantasy are you having? This is Stanley's welcome gift to me, you—"

No—that was something my grandmother, while on her deathbed, asked me to give to Stanley.

Back then, Stanley had gripped the pendant tightly and sworn he would treat me well for the rest of his life.

Now, it had become another toy he casually used to make Tina smile.

Shaking with anger, I pulled up a photo on my phone and showed it to Tina, cutting off her bragging.

"This is my grandmother's last keepsake."

Tina stiffened as if someone had a hand around her throat. She glared viciously at the photo, as if she wanted to tear me apart.

After a long moment, she yanked the pendant off her neck and held it in her hand. "It's a piece of junk. I didn't want it anyway. But if you want it, come up here and get it yourself."

I could see the cunning and malice in Tina’s eyes, but I couldn't care less about that anymore.

Without hesitation, I ran upstairs and clutched the pendant tightly to my chest. For the first time since being reborn, I finally felt a sense of peace.

The next second, a piercing scream rang out in my ears, followed by the sound of something heavy falling.

My eyes went wide with shock as I spun around. I couldn't believe what I saw.