Reagan's face went dark, her eyes darting back and forth between Harper Sinclair and me. Then she lunged forward, gripping my hand. "Why are you here alone with her?"
I shook her hand off instinctively. "This is my fiancée. If I'm not beside her, should I be with you instead?"
Reagan was stunned dizzy by those three words. My fiancée.
The dim lights in the room couldn't hide her deathly pale face. After a moment, she went completely limp, laughing bitterly.
"Vincent Dante, I know you're with her just to make me jealous. Even if we start over from the beginning, I'll still be tangled up with you endlessly." She turned away, biting her lip. "You win. You really win. I agree to be your girlfriend."
"Wait." I spoke up to stop her. "Have I ever asked you that?"
Reagan closed her eyes. This time she had to gather all her courage.
"You know, I'm someone reborn from a past life. In that life, you gave me your black card, told me to be your girlfriend, and gave my mother a million for treatment. Even that Porsche Cayenne was your gift to me. We were together for six years. You had a hot temper, but I always endured it. Even though Callum always lingered in my heart, being reborn made me realize my true feelings. I still love you."
Reagan probably didn't realize there was nostalgia in her tone that even she didn't notice.
Comments started teasing the female lead.
This relationship really pays dividends. Dating with this many benefits, what could be better? Young master, please look at me. Don't be so rigid about gender. Suddenly discovered the second male lead is incredibly clear-headed. In the past life, he loved the female lead. As long as she obeyed, she got resources. Definitely not stupid enough to hand over his entire fortune. This life, the female lead confessed to someone else first. The second male lead immediately let go, never clinging.
That last comment jolted me awake.
So Reagan's lingering resentment from the past life was because I didn't hand over the entire Sterling fortune to her. In her mind, she thought I should have offered up the entire Sterling family fortune with both hands, then become someone kept alive at her whim, living off her every breath. A real piece of trash.
But though I'm domineering and arrogant, I'm not that stupid. Yet Reagan saw me as something in her pocket. If she couldn't have it, she resented it to the bone. I haven't even dreamed of touching my father's assets, and here she was calculating them.
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy. Harper Sinclair hesitantly stood up.
"I know being the female lead requires the combo. Gambling addict father, mother with serious illness, younger sister in school, and protagonist in poverty. But I never expected it would come down to competing over misery too."
She turned to look at me, looking pitiful. "Vincent Dante, I don't have such a tragic background. My parents are both healthy. My younger sister is studying abroad just fine. I'm not reborn either. No revenge buff. Do I still have a chance to rise up?"
"Of course you do." I seriously patted her shoulder, reassuring her.
Finally, Reagan was dragged out by several security guards. Before leaving, she shouted, "Vincent Dante, the person you love most is clearly me. You shouldn't choose someone else. We truly were together in our past life."
After the marriage was confirmed, both families quickly organized an engagement party. My father even prepared study abroad paperwork for me, sending me overseas to study finance. Before we parted, he gripped my hand, reluctantly instructing me.
"Kid, now that you're engaged, you can't just attend some random university to kill time anymore. You need to study seriously. The Sterling family fortune will depend on you later."
I tested the waters, making a big request to see if Dad would fork over money. "I just need a small amount to start with."
My father immediately jumped up. "I already told you."
I hadn't even dreamed of touching my father's assets. And he had already calculated everything.
The day I left, Mason cried like he was dying. "Brother Sterling, how will I survive after you leave?"
"Don't worry. I already paid your tuition and left you living expenses. Stop wearing rags around and embarrassing me."
"Brother Sterling, I really can't bear to see you go. After I graduate, I'll definitely pay you back everything. Oh, and I'll miss you every single day."
"Hey, stop crying. Your crying sounds so grating."
The day of parting, comments that had been quiet for so long started flooding nonstop.
Reagan's going crazy, searching everywhere for Vincent Dante. Searching for what? She's looking for Dante. She's looking for her money tree. Everyone look quick. She still remembers Vincent Dante's phone number from the past life. Does she want to call him?
I looked down at my phone. About to go abroad, of course I had to change my old number.
Comments continued updating Reagan's current situation. She was anxiously pacing below the dorms. Now everywhere was a money pit waiting to be filled. Hospital medication costs couldn't be delayed anymore. After thinking for a long time, she came up with a plan. Taking the initiative to borrow money from Vincent Dante, conveniently using this opportunity to suggest they date. After all, in the past life, when he knew she couldn't afford tuition, Vincent Dante had generously pulled out his black card, smiling brightly and asking.
"Classmate Shaw, I can sponsor your tuition and living expenses, but you have to agree to be my girlfriend. Okay?"
Reagan clenched her fists. This time, if Vincent Dante made that request again, she would definitely agree without hesitation.
But she waited for days and never saw Vincent Dante's shadow, until Mason impatiently told her to stop waiting.
"The day right after Vincent Dante got engaged to Harper Sinclair, he'd already gone abroad to study. He won't be coming back."
Reagan's ears rang like thunder. They had never gotten engaged in the past life. Study abroad was even more unthinkable. They had been together for six years, going through their college years together, gradually maturing with time. She had only just been reborn and confessed to Callum. Why were the past and present lives so completely different?
Reagan tremblingly pulled out her phone, entering the number carved into her mind over six years. The moment the call connected, a robotic female voice cut through her thoughts.
Sorry, the number you have dialed does not exist.
She froze in place. Vincent Dante's number was now nonexistent. She looked carefully at the phone number again. No mistake, it was the number carved in her mind for six years. Yet in this life, it had become nonexistent.
Reagan stood dazed for a long time. So long that Callum behind her had to shove her hard.
"Reagan, pay up. That twelve hundred and eighty meal you owe me still hasn't been paid back."
The childhood friend before her had become sour and bitter, without a trace of the gentleness from the past life.
Reagan wearily rubbed between her brows. If on the first day of rebirth her heart was still full of feelings for her childhood sweetheart, then after over a month of being crushed by reality, in her heart only Vincent Dante remained.
But now she only had just over a thousand dollars on her. Money earned from part-time work at the bar. Not even enough for medicine.
Reagan was about to open her mouth to beg for a few more days, when suddenly a girl grabbed her hair and cursed at her. "Damn it, pay back my boyfriend's money."
Reagan's head rang again. Vincent Dante said he had a fiancée now. Even Callum had a new girlfriend. Everything felt like someone had hit fast forward, so fast it was hard to believe.
Reagan Shaw glanced at the woman before her, amazed to discover she was Lucas Callum's wife from the past life. In this life, Lucas Callum had no money, so he worked part-time, never expecting to meet her four years early.
Round and round, Reagan Shaw's rebirth had instead caused Vincent Dante and Lucas Callum to meet their true loves much earlier.
Reagan Shaw shakily pulled out the meager amount of money left on her. Lucas Callum just snorted coldly, wrapping his arm around that girl and leaving.
The phone suddenly rang. Reagan Shaw excitedly pulled it out, discovering it wasn't Vincent Dante's number. She answered dejectedly. An elderly female voice came from the other end.
"Little Reagan. The hospital's pressing Mom to pay for medicine again. You need to figure something out."
Frustration surged up, tearing through Reagan Shaw's already cracked heart. All the troubles since being reborn left Reagan Shaw tangled in chaos. Reagan Shaw irritably shouted into the phone.
"If there's no money, then figure it out yourself. Other people's parents work hard for their children. Why does Mom keep clinging to me demanding money? Look at Vincent Dante's parents. They give him spending money of tens of millions every month. And what about you?"
Sobbing came through the phone, along with endless complaints. "Mom's life is so hard, raising such an ungrateful daughter like you. Haven't visited Mom in a whole month. Haven't spent a single cent."
Reagan Shaw decisively hung up.