It was a shiny badge.
Evelyn recognized it right away.
It looked like one of those medals given to military students during training.
Only one existed at Southville University.
Yet Philip had handed it over to the owner to let Evelyn take the food away.
At first, Evelyn thought he was being dramatic. He could have used his student ID instead.
Back in 1983, being a university student was a great honor. No one wanted to damage their reputation.
But then, she realized Philip had done it on purpose.
She stopped pulling out her wallet and smiled at the owner. “I’ll bring the lunch boxes back tomorrow.”
Then, she stepped outside, feeling oddly light on her feet.
After walking around campus for a bit, she spotted Hannah. It was almost lunchtime, so they split the food from the lunch boxes.
While chewing with oil all over her lips, Hannah muttered, “Are you seriously dating Philip?”
“Not yet, but we will,” Evelyn replied.
Hannah’s jaw dropped. “Then why’d you kiss him? Everyone is freaking out. They’re saying you’ve fallen for the Hellwarden!”
Hellwarden? That’s a bit exaggerated!
Evelyn laughed out loud. She hadn’t expected the seemingly cold but kind Philip to have such a scary nickname.
Seeing Evelyn laugh, Hannah grew more stressed. “Don’t treat this like a joke! He’s got a huge rep with the military students—super strict and intense during training. Everyone tenses up when they hear his name.”
“He just wants to be a good soldier,” Evelyn said softly.
Philip was also like that in her previous life.
No matter what he did, he always pushed himself to be the best.
He was always the first to step up when it came to defending the country. That was how he ended up losing his life so young.
She didn’t want to think about that anymore. This time, she was going to stop it.
If she had the chance to start over and fix her fate, then she could change what would happen to Philip as well.
Hannah grabbed a piece of fried chicken and let out a long sigh. “You’re not even with Philip yet, and you’re already going to bat for him. What’s gonna happen later on?”
After thinking a bit, she added, “Forget Philip for a sec. Let’s talk about Seth and Alice.”
“What’s wrong with them?” Evelyn asked, munching on some cucumber salad from her lunch.
Hannah replied, “I went back to the dorm hoping to find someone to eat pancakes with. When I passed by Mindspire Hall, I saw Seth and Alice. They were whispering about something. Seth looked nervous, so I’m betting they were talking about how you dumped him in front of everyone.”
The cucumber salad suddenly tasted awful.
Evelyn grabbed a napkin, spit it out, and tossed it.
She asked, “Are you sure that was Alice?”
“Who else could it be? What other girl does Seth hang off like that? He practically follows her around all day.”
She had a point.
Seth always revolved around Alice.
But that wasn’t what shocked Evelyn the most.
She kept asking because she’d heard Alice had come back to campus.
Back in her previous life, Evelyn got caught stealing money and was beaten up so badly. She couldn’t get out of bed for a week.
But Alice? She was back on campus within half a day like nothing had happened.
The reason? Because she had a good mother.
At that thought, Evelyn unconsciously clenched her hands, then loosened them.
It didn’t matter. If taking Alice down was that easy, this second shot at life would hardly be satisfying.
She still had time. She’d wait and see how things turned out.
Shaking off those unpleasant thoughts, Evelyn went back to eating lunch with Hannah.
…
Over at Mindspire Hall, Alice was losing it.
After hearing Seth explain what happened, she couldn’t calm down.
Did Evelyn figure something out?
“Seth, did you mess up and let her catch on to us?” she asked, clearly annoyed.
Seth shook his head. “No way! I’m careful and sneaky when I meet up with you. She even called me last night and acted normal. I have no idea how she changed overnight.”
Not only did Evelyn turn on him, but she also broke up with him in public and then got together with Philip.
He’d wanted to punch Philip right then and there.
But when he saw Philip’s uniform and cold expression, he instantly chickened out.
Things were already awkward. If he even got beaten up, he’d never be able to show up on campus again.
While Seth kept talking, Alice started to feel uneasy.
It wasn’t just him. Evelyn had also messed with her.
Alice couldn’t shake the feeling that Evelyn had been faking everything, just waiting for the right moment to wreck them.
She couldn’t let that happen.
She was already halfway through with her plan. Letting it all fall apart now would be a total waste.
“Alice, maybe we should just drop this. She dumped me anyway, so now we can finally be out in the open. I’ve been wanting to make things real with you,” Seth suggested, settling for the next best option.
“No way!” Alice snapped. “We already made a deal.”
Seth had to marry Evelyn so they could get her wedding gifts, transfer them, and then get rid of her. After that, they’d run away with the money.
Alice clenched her jaw, anger bubbling up inside.
Despite both being granddaughters of the Schmidts, their grandfather specified in his will that the whole inheritance was for Evelyn—and only after she tied the knot.
If it weren’t for that, Alice never would’ve teamed up with Seth to take Evelyn down.
“But she already dumped me,” Seth said, sounding lost.
Alice abruptly stood up from the stone bench.
Her eyes gleamed coldly. “Don’t come near me for a while. Put all your energy into winning her over. Be sweet. Be romantic. Make her believe you care for her.”
“That’s all?” Seth asked, doubtful.
Of course, that wasn’t it.
Alice added, “Always take her side no matter what. Act like you completely trust her. Make her believe she can only rely on you. I’ll deal with everything else.”
Seth was confused. “What else are you planning?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she squinted and smiled smugly. “Relax. You’ll find out soon enough.”
So far, everything had gone exactly the way she wanted. And when the final move came, she’d make sure Evelyn went down hard.