8
On the fourth day, Caleb arrived.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching him.
Caleb’s cheeks were slightly flushed.
“I came to see if you needed anything.”
I curled my lips.
“You wanted to see me, didn’t you?”
Caleb instantly turned beet red, his mouth half–open, not daring to look at me.
“… I mainly came to bring you some things.
I never realized before how much fun he was to tease,
I stifled a laugh, looking at the shopping bag in his hand.
“What is it?”
Seeing that I was no longer teasing him, Caleb sighed in relief and pulled out the contents of the bag.
<
SAT prep and AP review books.
Seeing my wide eyes, Caleb chuckled.
“High school studies are demanding, don’t slack off during the break. Come on, let’s do some practice questions together.”
Saying this, he placed the books on the desk, arranged a chair, and gestured for me to sit.
So, Young Mr. Donovan’s way of expressing affection was to study together.
No wonder after the debate competition in my last life, Caleb asked me to study with him.
As dusk settled, Caleb and I ate dinner downstairs.
I took a selfie of us two, tagged our location, and posted it on Ins.
Visible only to Chloe.
Shortly after I saw Caleb off, there was a knock on the door. Chloe stood outside, fuming.
“Anya, do you know what this house means to Caleb? How dare you live here!”
I calmly watched her impotent rage.
“Why, you ask? Because of my place in Caleb’s heart.”
Chloe’s eyes flickered, then hardened.
ས་ག་ན་འདད་ན་རེད་འདས་ནང་ད་ད་་་ཅད་ད་་་་་ ང་ཚ་འགག་པའ་ས་དང་མཚན་འདས་ང་ཚན་བར་ཆད་་་་་ ད ན ག ག་ར
ཏ་སླད་ས་དད་ལྡན་དག་ལ་འགག་ད་་་་་ད་་་་་་་་་་
“I managed to break you two up in the last life, and I’ll definitely do it again this life.”
I probed.
“Mom helped you last time. Is she still helping you now?”
Chloe’s eyes widened suddenly.
“It was you! What did you tell Mom? She actually told me to stay away from Caleb!”
It seemed Mom had taken the bait.
I invited Chloe in.
“What could I tell her? Just helped her understand that Caleb likes me. Anyway, we’re both her daughters; who marries into the Donovan family makes no difference to her, right?”
“No way. Whether it was the last life or this one, Mom only ever had one daughter in her heart: me.”
“When faced with profit, what’s family loyalty? Didn’t she also acknowledge me for the eight hundred thousand dollars?”
Chloe looked down, silent, her inner defenses seemingly crumbling.
You always prided yourselves on your mother–daughter bond. Well, I’ll just tear it apart.
I placed my hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her onto a chair.
“Last life, you tried to meddle between Caleb and me, and you killed me, but Caleb still died for me.
“Now Caleb has already developed feelings for me; you won’t succeed this time.
“We’re sisters. We don’t have to fight to the death. The Donovan family isn’t just Caleb.”
Chloe looked confused.
“Doesn’t the Donovan family only have Caleb, their only heir?”
I curled my lips, tempting her.
“Mr. Donovan. You’ve met him, right? Even though he’s middle–aged, he’s still tall and handsome, and has the charm of a mature man, even more so than Caleb.
“Look at you, so young, so beautiful. If you just crooked your finger at him, wouldn’t you easily win him over?
“By then, wouldn’t the Donovan family be ours to control, for us sisters?”
Chloe’s expression shifted, looking eager to try.
“But Mr. Donovan is rarely home. How can I…?”
“I know when he’ll be back. I’ll make sure Caleb is out of the house that day. Whether you succeed or not is up to you.”
“You’ll truly help me?”
Chloe looked at me suspiciously.
My tone was sincere.
ངས་ག་ར་
ན་ ིར་ ང་་་ རང་་་་་
“Of course. After what happened in our last life, don’t you understand? Fighting only leads to mutual destruction. Only cooperation leads to mutual benefit.
“Besides, we’re both reborn. We share a secret. We should be friends, not enemies.”
Chloe let out a breath, relaxing.
ફની વિશ એ વાત હું આ મહિના ચાલ
སྐད་ག་ད་བ་མ་དw ཤང
and Caleb’s
“Sis, I really didn’t expect you to help me so much. If I succeed this time, I’ll definitely get Mr. Donovan to agree to you relationship.”
“Then Caleb and I are counting on you!”
As I saw Chloe off, I told her not to tell Mom about this, fearing Mom wouldn’t accept a son–in–law her own age.
Chloe left with an understanding look.
