Part 2Twice Reborn And Still Choosing To Leave You Behind

“Amanda, why?” Callum looked at me, utterly bewildered.

He knew that at this exact moment in the previous life, I would have fought like a cornered animal to be saved, desperate to leave this pit. But now I was… giving up the chance.

I ignored the complexity and guilt in his eyes, maintaining a cool, detached composure. “Mr. and Mrs. Nash, I want to try being an only child for once. I’d prefer a family without any other children. Thank you for the offer.”

The Nashes looked disappointed but accepting.

As Tessa was being led away, she deliberately came over to me.

She tilted her head up, a look of pampered arrogance and triumph washing over her face. “I told you, Amanda Lane, you can’t beat me. I’m going to be a rich man’s daughter now. As for you? Stay here and suffer. You only have yourself to blame for being too stupid to call out my lie!”

Tessa laughed and walked away.

After she left, a shaken, slender figure emerged from the shadows.

Callum looked utterly lost, his face a portrait of suspicion. He hadn't expected Tessa to be anything less than a pure, innocent victim; he hadn't expected her to utter such... despicable words.

He looked at me with a desperate, complicated expression, his eyes seeking my help.

He was reaching for me, depending on me to offer him solace and perspective. I chose to ignore him. I turned my back and walked away.

“Amanda.”

I paused.

“You came back, too, didn’t you?”

I didn't answer.

“Amanda, I’m sorry. You know how it is, Tessa is still young. She’ll change.”

“Oh, right.” I smiled. Why should I care? I had no intention of ever being involved with either of them again.

“Amanda!” Callum panicked, darted forward, and grabbed my arm. He pulled out the meager cash he had. “Take this for now. I failed you again. I owe you this. Within half a month... no, five days. Three days. I promise I’ll find a way to get you out.”

“Don’t bother.”

“Amanda, I will save you. Wait for me!” Callum had to rush off, not because I had refused him, but because Tessa had stumbled nearby and cried out.

I simply smiled. Of course.

Thank goodness I hadn't let a single ounce of hope latch onto Callum Nash this time.

After Tessa was gone, I don't know what she told the director, but this life’s version of him was crueler, his methods more vicious. The threat of immediate danger became overwhelming.

Three days passed.

Five days passed.

A half a month... a month passed…

Callum never came.

I, risking the possibility of a broken arm, managed to record video evidence of the director’s crimes, successfully contacting the police and the media.

As the police led the director away, the boys who were usually favored by him surrounded me.

“Amanda Lane, this was you, wasn’t it, you ungrateful bitch!”

“I’ll kill you! The director is gone, what are we supposed to do now? Starve?”

“Kill her! Kill Amanda Lane, the lying little tramp!”

“Beat her!”

I struggled to protect my head and already-injured arm, utterly overwhelmed by the pain.

I had expected this.

The five boys attacking me were the director’s own biological sons. They were defending their father.

Suddenly, the ringleader picked up a rock and aimed it at my head. In a flash, a figure leaped in front of me.

The rock struck.

“Ah!” A cry of pain.

Callum Nash had been hit while shielding me.