Valentina was curious about Keeley's telenovela idea and had questions.

“Where’s the childhood sweetheart now? Is she still trying to seduce the heir, even though he’s not married?”

Keeley had no idea what Lacy Knighton was up to. She didn't even know if Aaron was single. Surely his parents had arranged a marriage for him by now.

“I haven’t developed that part yet. I was wondering what viewers would think about the heir constantly pursuing the girl he rejected in his past life. He was cold to the childhood sweetheart but nice to her.”

“Hmm…a change of heart…ooh, what if he was reincarnated too? Maybe he’s trying to make amends,” Valentina suggested.

That was ridiculous. Even if Aaron were reborn as a high school senior, he would remember everything. He despised Keeley long before she died, choosing Lacy and their child. If reborn, wouldn't he go straight to Lacy? Why would he treat Keeley so poorly while pestering her? He'd initiated the divorce, not her. She would have remained in that marriage indefinitely if he hadn't ended it. He wouldn't change his mind so easily.

“Too much reincarnation is unrealistic,” Keeley said dismissively. “There has to be another reason for his behavior.”

“Love at first sight? Fate? It’s your telenovela; the possibilities are endless! I’d definitely watch it. You should submit it somewhere.”

Keeley laughed. “Where?”

“My cousin works for a TV network in Peru. I could ask him if he can help,” Valentina teased.

“Go ahead.” It would be both hilarious and sad to see her life on television.

“I’ll call him, and you’ll be famous!” Valentina declared. “Let’s call it ‘Rico y Reencarnado’—’Rich and Reincarnated.’ It’ll be a hit!”

“Whoa, who said they were love interests?”

Valentina gave her a quizzical look.

“You said they were married. Don't they usually end up together in these stories? Or will you introduce a new love interest for the female lead?”

End up together? No way. Keeley would rather endure a thousand tortures than be with that man again.

“Like I said, I haven’t gotten that far,” she said gruffly. Her friend thought she should return to the man who destroyed her!

“I’ll pitch your idea to my cousin; he’ll pass it on to screenwriters. A popular telenovela featured a dead man's soul inhabiting another body to reunite with his wife—people love this stuff!”

Why did people love this stuff? Keeley didn't see the appeal, having lived it. Rebirth was complicated. She should have phrased her question more clearly.

“I’m interested to see how this goes,” Keeley said quietly, turning back to the telenovela featuring Jorge and Ana Maria.

Three hours later, Jennica, exhausted from rehearsals, saw her roommates watching the telenovela. Shaking her head, she went to her room. She'd never been a fan.

“Your initial idea is promising, Keeley,” Dr. Kim said, reviewing Keeley's research notes. “You'll need a formal proposal, but you’re on the right track.”

Keeley was relieved. She wanted her dissertation to be about cystic fibrosis, to make her mother and Kaleb proud.

“Thanks, Dr. Kim! I’ll get it to you by the end of next week.”

The professor smiled. “Good. Now check on the rats; it’s time for their afternoon data.”

“On it!”

She hummed happily, recording the data. She had much work to do—research, a proposal, a research plan—but she was on her way. The next two weeks would be very busy, including extra homework. Sleep would be minimal.

Later that night, her phone exploded with text notifications. Annoyed, she checked to see who was bothering her.

Of course, it was Aaron! What did he want?

Keeley opened the messages, surprised to find not words, but pictures of Dinah doing cute things, like sleeping against the coffee machine.

Confused, she texted back: “What are these for?”

His reply: “Dinah is encouraging you to do well on your dissertation research.”

Her jaw dropped. She’d mentioned being busy, but hadn’t expected this. To be honest…it was pretty cute. Aaron…who are you anymore?

(Note: I removed the suspicious website link.)