Chapter 330

He didn’t flinch. Just stood there, staring.

“Do you know me?” I asked, without a smile.

“No.”

I gave him a once-over. He wasn’t immediately striking, but the more I looked, the more attractive he seemed. He’d traded his hoodie for a light blue T-shirt, looking clean and relaxed. Casual, but it suited him.

“So, we just keep bumping into each other for fun, huh?” I retorted, disbelieving his denial.

“We don’t know each other,” he said, then added, “but you look a lot like someone I know.”

I laughed. That line was ancient.

Seeing my amusement, he blushed. “I’m serious. I can show you.”

Before I could respond, he produced his phone and showed me a picture. My breath hitched. A girl with a bright smile and her hair in a perfect bun stared back at me. She was my double, eerily similar. The only difference was a small beauty mark by her eye, which I lacked.

I stared at the photo for a long moment before meeting his gaze. “She does look like me. But I swear, I don’t know her.”

“I know,” he said, pocketing his phone, looking almost sad.

“Then why are you following me?” I asked, glancing at his sneakers. He didn’t seem like a creepy stalker, more like a gym teacher or maybe a grad student.

He remained silent.

I decided to be direct. “Dude, this is stalking. I could call the cops.”

His eyes widened. “I–I don’t mean any harm. I swear.”

“Look, even if you’re not trying to be creepy, following a girl around? Not okay. It’s sketchy, and it makes me feel unsafe. You understand that, right?” My tone hardened, like I was addressing a colleague making a mistake.

He hung his head. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “Look, you don’t seem like a bad guy. But yesterday and today? Not okay. Don’t do it again.” It was a warning.

He didn’t argue, and I started to walk away.

“Wait,” he called.

I paused, turning back.

“My name’s Wade Smith. I’m a PhD student,” he said, showing me his student ID.

My eyes flicked to the school name: Kelhmark Royal Academy. Whoa. That was the elite school in Kelhmark.

Suddenly, he wasn’t just some random guy. Yesterday, his hasty departure had hinted at something different. Now, my instincts were confirmed.

“KRA was my dream,” I admitted, laughing slightly, returning his ID. “Didn’t get in though. Guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

It was true. I hadn’t gone to KRA because of Jace. He hadn’t wanted to, and I, being a lovesick fool, had followed his lead instead of pursuing my own plans. Neither of us ended up there.

Thinking about it, I rolled my eyes at my past foolishness.

Wade’s expression shifted, becoming serious. “The girl in the photo… she’s really sick. She might not make it much longer.”

I blinked, surprised. “Is she your girlfriend?”

He swallowed, his jaw tightening. “No. She’s my advisor.”

She sounded brilliant, but something terrible had happened.

“What happened to her?” I asked gently, unsure if I should.

His face crumpled, as if he were holding back tears. “It wasn’t an illness. She was in… in a car crash. About a year ago.”

A heavy silence followed. His words were fragmented, but I understood. I saw his sadness and blurted out, “Was the accident your fault?”

His head dropped lower, and after a long pause, he whispered, “Yeah.”

Suddenly, everything clicked—the sadness, his gaze. He saw his advisor in me, or at least, who she used to be.

I didn’t know what to say, so I asked, “She’s not going to wake up, is she?” He wouldn’t be talking like this if there were any hope.

Wade shook his head, his voice breaking. “No. She’s only alive because of the machines.”

A knot formed in my chest.