Reborn, I Refused Love and Chose Power Instead

In this life, he could date whoever he wanted. I was done. I would focus on my research. Whatever existed between us was long gone.

But just as I returned home after a farewell drink with my girlfriends, I found my doorway swarmed with over a dozen people.

Michael stood right in front of my computer, coolly commanding his subordinates, “Delete everything.”

I watched in horror as my application form vanished into a blank screen. My heart seized, and I lunged forward like a madwoman.

“Michael! The deadline’s almost here! What are you doing?!”

But the bodyguards had been ready. They pinned me down at the doorway with ease.

Michael held up the small notebook where I’d written my password. His smile was icy, cruel.

My voice trembled, “Michael, I didn’t apply to Roosevelt. There are still three minutes left; please put it back. I won’t fight Emily for her place, I swear.”

“What a performance.”

He pinched my chin.

“You think I don’t know you threatened Emily to make her withdraw her Roosevelt application just to squeeze yourself in?”

“You came back just to change it again, didn’t you?”

I stared at him, wide-eyed. “What threat? I’ve never even met her!”

Michael ignored me. He pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Baby, I’ve erased her application. You can go ahead and apply to Roosevelt now.”

“Michael!”

Tears streamed down my face as I pleaded, “My application’s blank now! If you won’t let me go to Roosevelt, at least restore my original choice, the Illinois Institute of Technology! It wouldn’t affect your relationship!”

“Abigail.”

He forced my face up to meet his eyes, gaze unrelenting.

“When you’ve made a mistake, you pay for it. This life, the last one, you owe Emily.”

The alarm blared.

I screamed in despair. “No!!”

The deadline had passed.

And then came a soft voice from the door.

“Brother Michael?”

Emily rushed in, straight into his arms. “You really did all this for me… I’m so touched…”

The cold sharpness in Michael’s eyes instantly softened into something tender.

“Standing up for you… that’s what a partner should do.”

“This year, we’ll go to Roosevelt together. Once we graduate, I’ll marry you.”

Emily’s body tensed.

Michael sensed something was wrong. His brows furrowed as he looked at her.

“What’s wrong? Couldn’t submit the application?”

Emily bit her lip hard. “Actually… my score… wasn’t high enough for Roosevelt…”

Michael’s frown deepened.

“698 should be enough to try. Why not?”

Emily’s face turned even paler.

“Not 698… it’s… 268…”

“What did you say?”

Michael stared at her in disbelief.

“Didn’t you say your score was high, and you only gave up applying because Abigail threatened you?”

My eyes, still red, slowly lifted as I looked straight at him.

So, because of someone who never even stood a chance at Roosevelt, my entire future was destroyed?

“Brother Michael, I… I…”

Emily’s eyes turned red, and she dropped to her knees. Pointing at me, she cried out, “It wasn’t just the application! She threatened me before the exam, too! She said if I scored over 300, she’d have the hospital pull my grandpa’s oxygen tube!”

“You liar!”

I swung my hand across her cheek with a sharp slap.

“You only managed those scores because Michael fed you the answers! 268, that’s your real level! You couldn’t get in, so now you’re dragging me down with you?!”

Emily curled up on the floor, sobbing in fear.

Michael stormed over, grabbed me by the wrist, and slapped me hard across the face.