After the car crash, my wife, Sarah Knowles, and I were back in high school. Last life, we were married for ten years, but she never wanted to have a kid with me. I knew she couldn't let go of her childhood sweetheart. So, after we woke up, we both silently deleted each other's numbers and applied to colleges on opposite sides of the country. Then, ten years later, she was at our high school reunion, successful and on the arm of her old flame, Mark. She saw me standing there, alone, and couldn't help but sneer, "Is this what your life is like without me?" Just then, my son ran over, jumping into my arms. "Dad, can we go home?" The air froze. Her eyes were glued to the kid, her voice shaking. "You…you have a kid?" 1 My reunion with Sarah Knowles was at the ten-year high school thing. She was wearing a fancy dress, soaking up all the attention. "Sarah, you're killing it! Just a few years out of school and you're the youngest analyst on Wall Street! Makes the whole school look good!" "Tell me about it! I heard Sarah's consulting fee is, like, a million bucks a minute! That's more than my whole year's salary!" "And she looks amazing! You can tell Mark spoils her rotten! She's got it all, career and love!" "Speaking of Mark, isn't his company just got Series A funding? Making millions a year, and so good to his wife. Sarah, you are one lucky woman!" Sarah blushed, all shy. "Don't say that. Mark and I haven't even had the wedding yet." Mark wrapped his arm around her, eyes full of adoration. "That's just 'cause her custom dress isn't finished. I want her to have the perfect wedding." "Everyone's invited, of course! Come celebrate with us!" More congratulations followed. Then someone had to open their mouth. "Hey, wasn't Sarah head-over-heels for Chris Harding back in the day? What happened with that? You guys still talk?" Sarah's smile froze solid. Mark just rolled his eyes, like he'd heard it all before. "That was a lifetime ago. Sarah was young and foolish. Chris probably sweet-talked her." "Let's focus on the present, okay? No need to dredge up old history." Sarah nestled into his side, all coy and grateful for the rescue. I walked in, calm as you please, like none of that bothered me. Some eagle-eyed classmate spotted me. "Chris Harding, you're late! What kept you?" "And dressed like... that? Guess the last ten years haven't been good to you!" "Probably just got off work, huh? Slaving away for someone? Come on, we're all friends here. Maybe Mark can hook you up with a better job?" Everyone laughed. I smiled back, unbothered. "I'm good." Sarah's eyes were locked on me. Hearing my rejection, she let out a snort. "Chris, I'm just trying to help you! You can't even get a decent job, don't be so stubborn!" "Yeah, Chris, don't be so proud," Mark said, patting my shoulder, showing off his Rolex. "We're all old classmates. If you need anything, just ask. Sarah and I would be happy to help." He was practically dripping with smugness. I stepped aside, not wanting him to touch me. I'd been prepping for court all last night, barely had breakfast, and just threw on some casual clothes for work. So, yeah, to them, I looked like a loser. But I kept my composure and declined, smiling. "No, thanks. I like my job." Sarah's brow furrowed, and she stormed over to me. "What a waste of a man!" "It's been ten years already! How long are you going to let me ruin your life?" I looked at her, surprised. Where did she get that idea? Like I'd been pining away for her for a decade. That was ridiculous. Last time, I really did throw everything away for her. I'd even gotten accepted to a top-tier law school, but seeing how upset she was, I turned it down and stayed by her side. Our married life was boring. I didn't make much, but we were comfortable. I'd buy her little gifts to cheer her up, but she always wanted more. Things got more and more expensive, until I couldn't keep up. I worked extra jobs to try to make her happy. But she just got more and more resentful. She was always angry at me. I thought maybe having a kid would fix things. Maybe she'd change. But when she found out I wanted kids, she laughed. "You want kids? With your life? "Dream on! "I'm never going to have a kid with you, you loser!" I looked at her, heartbroken. I knew things would never be the same. I thought I'd spend the rest of my life miserable, but then the car crash took us both. Next thing I knew, we were back in high school, wearing our old clothes. We both silently agreed not to mention the last life. Instead, we deleted each other's contacts and applied to colleges as far apart as we could get. This time, I wasn't going to give her a second thought. I looked at her, serious. "Don't worry about it." "It's none of your business." 2 Sarah frowned deeper. "Are you trying to get my attention with this whole 'playing hard to get' thing?" "Let me tell you something, don't get any ideas about things you can't have!" I sighed, calmly. "I'm not interested. Don't flatter yourself." The whole room went quiet. Things got awkward, fast. Sarah's face went red. She bit her lip, eyes getting watery, like she was the one getting screwed over. Mark came up behind her and put his arm around her. Then, turning to me, he sneered, "Chris, Sarah was just trying to help, and you're twisting it into something nasty." "What a jerk. You always look for the bad in everyone!" I ignored him and started eating. After a long day in court, I was starving. Seeing that, my classmates joined in, scolding me for being ungrateful. "Chris, who do you think you are! Sarah's trying to get you a job, and you act like this!" "You're a mess. Get off your high horse. Your pride isn't worth anything!" "Just apologize while she's still willing to help!" "You're putting on airs? Look at yourself!" I said nothing. Mark pulled out a checkbook, scribbled something down, and slid it under my glass. "Here's a hundred grand. It's from Sarah and me. We opened a shop on the East Side. You can buy yourself some decent clothes." "And you can use the rest to start a small business. Maybe a breakfast joint on the first floor. Not a lot of money, but maybe eight grand a month. At least you'd have a trade. Better than whatever you're doing now." I pushed the check away. I didn't understand why they were so eager to get me a job. "I like my life. Thanks, though." Sarah grabbed the check and snapped. "No wonder you're broke! You are so ungrateful!" "Mark, let's forget about him! Let him rot!" But after the insults, the other classmates swarmed in. They had drinks in their hands, ready to get me drunk. "Chris, let me buy you a drink." "We haven't had a fancy drink like this in years! Drink up, you might not get another chance." "Yeah, yeah, I'll give you a hundred bucks to drink it!" The guy was grimacing, trying to pour the drink down my throat. I was about to call security, but Sarah grabbed his arm. "Back off, alright?" Mark froze, putting his arm around Sarah's waist. "Sarah, what's wrong?" Her face was cold and stiff. "Just don't like people starting trouble." I never thought she'd stick up for me. But even though Sarah was quick, some of the wine splashed on me. The sour wine dripped down my face, making me look even more pathetic. I swallowed hard and headed to the bathroom to clean up, ignoring the snickering around me. Then my phone rang, and the irritation faded. "Dad, when will you be done?" Hearing my son's sweet voice, I smiled. "Dad will be done soon. Can you wait a little longer?" He sounded a little sad. "We were supposed to have a family dinner tonight, but you're not here!" "I'll be there soon, I promise." Just thinking about seeing my son made the whole night better. I came out of the bathroom and bumped into Sarah. She looked me up and down, sneering at my clothes. "Is this what life is like without me?" "Look at you, wearing off-brand stuff and getting humiliated. You can't do anything without me!" I frowned. I didn't know how my Italian bespoke suit suddenly became "off-brand." But I didn't want to argue. I just said, "Don't worry about it," and went back to the party. Everyone was buzzing. "Did you hear? The younger Lu brother is here tonight, too, for some kind of family dinner?" "Yeah, yeah! And I heard Miss Lu is here, too. She's the most beautiful woman in the city! Married young, too bad for her. I wonder who she ended up with, nobody has even seen him." "Married for years, even has kids! But her husband is a nobody. Nobody's ever seen him!" "If we're lucky, we might see her today!" I casually went back to my seat, planning to make a few more appearances and then leave. Then some late classmate shouted, "Guess who I just saw!" 3 "I saw the younger Lu brother! Standing on the second-floor balcony, looking for someone." "If we go out there now, we can see him!" Everyone rushed to the lobby to see the Lu brother. I followed the crowd. I looked up and saw a little, fluffy head peeking over the balcony. The crowd gasped, pulling out their phones. "He's so fancy! He's got that Lu family aura!" "Rich people's kids are different!" The classmate who splashed wine on me sneered at me. "You're just a bum. You think you can get in with the Lu family?" "Don't even try. You're out of your league. You're dreaming!" I ignored him and stared up at the little kid. Even Sarah, always so proud, was smiling warmly and trying to get his attention. "Hey there, you looking for someone?" "I can help you look!" He looked at Sarah's fake smile and said, "No, thanks, ma'am." Being called "ma'am" didn't bother Sarah. She still kept smiling, trying to get closer. I frowned and called out, "Ethan!" Sarah turned, glaring at me. "You don't get to call him by his first name!" I didn't want to talk to her, so I just waved at my son. He saw me and his eyes lit up. He ran to me, thrilled. Remembering how trusting he'd been, I frowned. "You can't just talk to strangers." "It could be dangerous, okay?" He looked sad. Before he could answer, Sarah snapped at me, "Who do you think you are?" "You can't tell the Lu kid what to do!" "Look in the mirror, do you even belong here?" My son frowned and yelled, "Don't talk to my dad like that!"
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