Say No To PUA

As I head out the door, Patricia handed me my umbrella. "Keep on studying hard, Ellie. You're the only one for me."

I felt upset.

My dad had passed away a long time ago. Patricia could have remarried, but she was worried that my stepfather wouldn't treat me well, so she worked desperately to bring me up on her own.

In my previous life, I should have given Patricia the best life possible, but I was mentally brainwashed by Ian and fought with her constantly, even leaving my hometown in anger.

As I got the call to return home, Patricia was lying in the hospital bed, looking as thin as a lath, but I couldn't get the money to give her radiotherapy, just seeing her getting weaker day by day.

I hated Ian, and I hated myself even more for being stupid, so I finally chose a fire to end my short life.

I rushed over and hugged Patricia, holding back my tears. "Mom, you'll be fine."

Ian came to me much less frequently, seemingly realizing that I wasn't as controllable as I used to be, so he didn't dare make any more rash moves.

I enjoyed my leisure time, but I didn't realize that I would accidentally discover the truth that I had never discovered in my previous life.

I hadn't studied in over ten years. In order to maintain excellent grades, I had to study late every day.

I couldn't figure out a problem no matter what.

I got up from my dormitory and walked to the playground, but I didn't realize there were couples on secret dates this late.

"Didn't you say you just love me? Why did you date her again?"

The sound seemed to be from Christina Reed, who lived in the dormitory next to mine.

She whined with a sobbing tone, her voice full of grievance.

"She has excellent grades, and it's only when I'm with her that I can keep you safe."

I was incredibly familiar with the male voice, which was none other than that from Ian, who had been mentally controlling me for over a decade.

"I don't care if the teacher will find out, and I just want to be with you openly and honestly!"

"But I care, I care about your safety! I'm really tired of you not trusting me. I'm not going to argue with you, so break up as you wish."

Their clothes rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound, and Christina seemed to hold Ian's hand.

"I trust you. I do trust you!"

I was furious.

Ian showed me his affection, gave me gifts in public, and used me as a disguise.

On the other hand, he flirted with Christina, constantly controlling her mentally. He enjoyed his secret dating with her every night in the name of protecting her.

I suddenly remembered that Christina jumped from the school rooftop to her death during the second semester of our sophomore year of high school in my previous life.

After several investigations, the school concluded that her grades were slipping, and she was stressed out about her schoolwork.

The school had since locked the rooftop and added an additional guardrail at the rail of the hallway that was 6.6 feet high.

I clutched the corner of my shirt tightly and thought, "Ian is eighty percent responsible for her death."

I asked the teacher to move the seats for the entire class once so that I could sit beside Christina.

I had always been a top student, and I would help Christina improve, so of course the teacher wouldn't reject me.

At the end of class, Ian came back to me with lunch.

Christina glanced at him silently before quickly lowering her head, her eyes gloomy.

Ian would mentally control her at night, so I would chat to Christina like crazy during the day when I was pretending to talk to someone else.

"Boys are naturally impulsive, and they won't always be afraid of anything. He just doesn't love you that much.

"If a man really loves you, he will do anything to try to show it to the public."

Christina started getting into trouble and fighting with Ian.

I also tried everything I could to mentally control Ian while I was dating him.

"Look at your outfit. Honestly, it looks like it's made of plastic or curtain fabric.

"You're so skinny that it looks ill-fitting in a sweatshirt. People don't tell you because they're afraid you'll get mad.

"Look at you, you have an average school performance, and you don't dress elegantly. Hey, I'm saying this to you because I wish you'll look better when you walk with me!"

After that, I heard that he asked Christina about his outfit more than once in the playground at night.

"Do I really look unattractive in this? I want to hear you be honest.

"You're only saying that because you love me. When I think about it for a second, I really don't look good in a sweatshirt."

Ian was only seventeen, and he was at the age when he cared most about what other people thought.

Christina was sitting next to me, and her temper was getting increasingly irritable.

She had no hostility towards me at first, but now she was insanely jealous just looking at me and Ian.

Christina's jealousy was because she had begun to sense Ian's deception.

She began to see me as a rival and adversary in love, not just a disguise to hide for them.