No Return Shattered by the Heir I Loved

Three hours before the college application deadline, I got a video call from my boyfriend claiming to be five years in the future.

His eyes were bloodshot, his voice shaking.

“Joy Simmons, change your application back to Riverside City right now. The plane you take to your school orientation crashes. You'll die!”

“Just listen to me this once. Stay in Riverside City. I'll protect you for the rest of our lives!”

I didn't think twice. I changed my application right before the cutoff.

The second I submitted it, shrill laughter erupted from the other side of the video call.

Andrew Curry's childhood sweetheart was clapping her hands.

“So stupid. She actually believed the time-travel thing. And this is the brain that got into an Ivy League school? I'm dying.”

Watching the color drain from my face, Andrew raised an eyebrow.

“Come on, it was just a joke. Is it really that serious? What's wrong with going to a state school in Riverside City? Would you rather do long-distance just to prove a point?”

“You're an orphan. You'd get eaten alive in the capital. Vivienne was looking out for you. This should prove there's nothing between her and me, right?”

I hung up, numb. My hand tightened around the mouse, and I opened another browser tab.

The page read clearly：

【Confirmed Admissions List: Guaranteed Scholarship Recipients, England——】

——

When I found Andrew, Vivienne Forbes was lounging in a private room with a soda in her hand, laughing in that sly, knowing way of hers.

“Don't let Joy fool you. She looks furious about losing her Ivy League spot, but deep down she's relieved she doesn't have to go.”

A few of them glanced at Andrew's face,

still remembering freshman year, when someone had called me an orphan and Andrew knocked out three of his teeth for it.

But right now, Andrew's expression was blank.

Vivienne kept going.

“Joy can't even buy her own pads without Andrew's money. She's an orphan. What other shot does she have at climbing the ladder besides marrying rich?”

I kept waiting for Andrew to say something. Anything.

After all, he was the one who waited for me at the back door of the cafeteria every night after my shift so we could walk home together.

But today, he said nothing.

Someone snickered.

“So that lace bikini under her desk during study hall was actually hers, huh? And people in class believed her when she said Vivienne planted it.”

Vivienne pouted and leaned against Andrew.

“How could that have been me? Andrew, you believe me, right?”

“Oh, and you just lost the bet, so you owe me a kiss!”

Everyone cracked open their drinks and started cheering them on.

That was the moment I pushed the door open.

A bucket mounted above the doorframe tilted, and ice water crashed down over my head.

Shards of ice cut into my scalp. Cold water ran down my face, streaked pink with blood.

Vivienne's laughter was piercing.

“Told you Joy would come running to Andrew. I win again!”

“Kiss her! Kiss her!”

“Andrew, you lucky dog!”

I wiped the water from my face. My voice came out trembling, my whole body shaking from the cold.

“The jade pendant I gave you. I want it back.”

My mother's jade pendant.

It was so small, so plain, it couldn't even cover the bite mark beneath Andrew's collar.

And he no longer deserved to wear it.

Andrew stared at me in disbelief.

“Vivienne and I were just playing a game. Are you trying to make me look like a sore loser in front of everyone?!”

He really did love games.

Tricking me into ruining my college application with Vivienne was a game.

Kissing her without a care in the world was a game.

Letting her rip up every page of my study notes and flush them down the toilet before the review session was a game.

But I couldn't afford to play anymore.

I swallowed the wave of bitterness rising in my throat.

“Give it back.”

Vivienne scoffed, pulled out a small knife, and sliced the cord around Andrew's neck.

“You think Andrew actually cares about this cheap piece of junk?!”