“So I was just the sidekick, making your side chick look all dazzling? You’ve got some nerve.” I slapped him hard. Jared’s face turned to the side, but he just calmly took off his glasses, set them on the table, and said, “Go ahead, hit me, yell at me–whatever helps you vent.”

My palm stung like hell–hurting him hurt me too. It was a lose-lose situation.

I dropped my hand. No more hitting.

Jared braced himself for another slap but just looked at me gently. “Victoria, you remember every stroke of my writing, even at the very end of our previous life. You still loved me, didn’t you?”

My heart felt like it’d been stabbed. I shot him a look full of hate. “You’re dreaming. The moment I died, you were nothing to me.”

‘Then why do you remember even the tiniest quirks of my handwriting?’ Jared’s eyes gleamed with a crazed delight, like he’d just uncovered some dark secret. ‘You must have been hopelessly in love with me your whole life.’

‘Just shut up,’ I muttered, too drained to even argue anymore.

Jared actually listened, clamping his mouth shut and just standing there, gazing at me with a dazed, lovesick look.

“What do you want?” I finally asked, forcing myself to accept this crazy reality.

Jared just gave me a helpless look. “What else can I do?”

“What do you want with me?” I shot back, my voice icy.

Jared paused, then said, “I want to make up for the mistakes I made in our previous life. I want to raise our daughter right, so she doesn’t end up being a little debt collector like she was before.”

I was stunned, staring at him. “You actually know Yvonne was like a little debt collector in our previous life?”

“It was Tracy who messed her up,” Jared said, his voice heavy with guilt. “She spoiled Yvonne rotten. Not long after you died, Yvonne was street racing and ended up killing someone. It turned into a huge legal mess.”

I kept my face blank. “In our previous life, she didn’t even see me as her mother anymore. I don’t care what she became.”

“If we’d just followed the proper procedures, there wouldn’t even have been a lawsuit,” Jared said, squeezing his eyes shut, his body trembling. “But the first person Yvonne called was Tracy. Tracy told her to run and said she’d handle the rest. Yvonne listened, and that was when my business rival pounced. The accident made the news, and things got way worse.”

I let out a cold laugh. “This all happened because you spoiled Tracy so much she thought she could call the shots with your daughter.”

“When I found out Yvonne had killed someone in a hit-and-run, it felt like I’d been struck by lightning. That was the moment I finally realized how I’d neglected to discipline my kid all these years,” Jared said, his voice thick with regret.

“Tracy came running over, bawling and apologizing, but the sly look in her eyes just made me hate her.” Jared lowered his gaze, voice barely audible. “I was the one who screwed up, but you and Yvonne paid the price. I really was a piece of shit.”

“Spare me the guilt trip,” I cut him off coldly. I didn’t want to hear his apologies–they meant nothing to me.

“I know no matter how many times I die, I can never make up for what I did. Yvonne didn’t get the right upbringing in our previous life, and she ended up going down the wrong path. It cost my company a fortune,” Jared said, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. “I guess I deserved it.”

I shot him a look. “So what’s your plan now? You gonna take care of Yvonne yourself?”

“Yeah, I can’t let what happened last time happen again,” Jared said, then glanced at me. “But Yvonne needs her mom too.”

I pressed my lips together, staying silent.

“Victoria, I let you down for a whole lifetime before. This time, I won’t try to control you. If you want to be with someone else, I’ll accept it,” Jared said, stepping closer and held my arm gently. “Just promise me you won’t put yourself in harm’s way, alright?”

“And what exactly do you know?” I replied coolly.

“Edward likes you,” Jared said, dropping a bombshell.