Rebirth: She Can Marry the Home Invader

My roommate, Florence Myers—who happens to be from a low-income family—is obsessed with AI. She relies on AI to determine whether the food she eats will bring her good or bad luck, and she even lets AI plan her daily outfits. On our very first day of orientation, she refuses to lock the window, claiming an AI dating app has matched her with her soulmate. I warn her that our dormitory is located deep in the mountains and leaving the window unlocked is dangerous. Florence threatens to end her life if I don't let her have her way. "Cora AI said my true love will break through the window tonight!" I don't want to pick a fight, so I wait until she's sound asleep and quietly lock the window shut. However, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I catch a thief climbing in through the window. I'm about to call for help when Florence clamps her hand over my mouth, looking ridiculously excited. "Don't make a sound, Cleo! I just woke up to unlock the window, and he showed up! This is fate. We're meant to be!" Her cheeks are tinged pink. "If I go over and greet him right now, do you think he'll confess his love to me first?" Ignoring her attempts to stop me, I decisively call the cops and have the thief arrested. I think this matter's behind us, yet on the night orientation ends, Florence corners me against my bed, shoving the latest news headline in my face. "This is all your fault! The thief from that night is the richest man's long-lost son! You ruined my chance to marry into wealth!" The very next second, she strangles the life out of me. … When my eyes fly open again, I realize I've been reborn back to the very first day of college. This time, I scoff, grab my luggage, and walk out the door. Since Florence wants a love story that begins with a home invasion so badly, I'll gladly step aside and let her live out her dream! Chapter 1 "Cleo, what do you think you're doing?" Florence Myers stepped in front of the door. "I only left the window unlatched. Are you really moving out because of that? "If you pack up and leave on the very first day, everyone will assume I've been picking on you! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you're putting me in?" I stared at her face. The memory of her strangling me to death in my previous life felt as though it happened just moments ago. "Move!" I spat. Realizing I wasn't going to back down, she deliberately raised her voice. "I know what this is about… You're just jealous of me, aren't you? That's why you're giving me attitude before orientation has even begun!" Florence seemed certain of herself. "I bet you know Cora AI matched me with the wealthiest man's long-lost son. So, you're green with envy!" Several people gathered outside our dorm room to watch the drama unfold. Drinking in her brazen demeanor, I couldn't help but recall my previous life. After choking the life out of me, she had staged my murder to look like a suicide. Then, she spread rumors everywhere, claiming I had been sneaking around with men, gotten pregnant, and taken my own life out of fear and shame. Leveraging the incident, she became a sensation on campus. Meanwhile, to silence her, the college even granted her a guaranteed spot in graduate school ahead of time. When my parents realized something was wrong and tried to look into it, she paid someone to throw them into a mental asylum, where they met an untimely death. At the thought of that, I suppressed the turbulent emotions inside me, a faint smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "My body's sensitive to the cold, so I can't stand the night draft. Since you're set on keeping the window open, I wouldn't want to stand between you and your fortune." I shoved her aside and squeezed through the narrow gap at the doorframe. Florence's expression darkened, stung by my rebuttal. "You'll regret this, Cleo! Even if you come back crawling on your knees to beg me in the future, I won't give you the time of day!" I didn't look back. Florence refused to lock the window because she wanted to meet her true love, didn't she? This time around, I'd make sure she got exactly what she wished for. After leaving the dorm building, I went straight to the counselor's office and transferred to a new room and class. In the three months that followed, I didn't see Florence again. I thought I was finally in the clear until she came looking for me herself. … At lunchtime, I had just sat down with my food tray when Florence plopped into the seat across from me and slapped a piece of paper onto the table. I froze, looked down, and realized it was a pregnancy test report. Her name and the date were printed at the top of the ultrasound report. Counting backward, the timing lined up perfectly with the night she claimed her true love would break through the window. Chapter 2 My eyes widened in disbelief. It had never crossed my mind that the two of them would have sex in the dorm. Noticing me frozen in place, Florence leaned back in her chair, rested her hand on her belly, and blushed. "See? I'm pregnant with the child of the long-lost heir of the Clark family. Even I can't believe how lucky I am." Florence stroked her belly. Dressed head-to-toe in new outfits, she had completely shed the tacky, frumpy look she had on the first day of college. "A certain someone was so eager to move out back then, turning down the chance to befriend the wealthy. I bet they must be dying of jealousy now!" The female students at the neighboring table looked over and started whispering among themselves. "Is that Florence? I heard her boyfriend's from the wealthy Clark family…" "I heard the Clarks' long-lost son was identified through nothing more than half of an emerald pendant, but who knows if he's legitimate or an impersonator?" "Who cares if he's an impersonator or not? Florence's set for life now that she's carrying his child." After hearing chitter-chatter around her, Florence turned and waved at them, her eyes full of arrogance. Before I could say a word, a couple of them walked over with their trays and sat down right next to Florence. One of them placed a piece of braised pork onto Florence's plate and said, "Florence, you should eat more! You're eating for two now." "That's right, Florence. You're going to be the lady of a wealthy family soon. Don't forget to look out for us then!" They burst into laughter, while I simply lowered my head and ate my food. Noticing my indifference, Florence picked up her food and dumped it over my head. Broth and grease dripped down my body, leaving me a humiliating mess. Florence, however, covered her mouth and giggled. "Look at how pathetic you'll be in the future, Cleo. For old times' sake, I'll have the kitchen staff at the Clark family arrange a menial job for you. However, you'd better get on your knees and apologize to me right now!" Clenching my fists, I rose from my seat with a cold look in my eyes. I snatched the lunch tray from the next table and hurled it straight at her. Florence let out an ear-splitting screech when it hit her, frantically grabbing napkins to wipe herself down. I lifted my gaze to meet hers, but my attention was instantly drawn to the broken emerald pendant resting against her collarbone. Noticing my gaze, her expression shifted slightly, and she hastily stuffed the pendant back into her collar. "What are you looking at? Luc put this on me himself. It's not only proof of his true identity, but also proof of our love!" Suppressing my doubts, I spat back, "Next time, I won't be so generous!" With that, I spun on my heel and stormed off. Once outside, I stepped beneath the shadow of a tree, pulled open my collar, and fished out the half-piece of emerald pendant I'd worn for over a decade. It had originally been a complete piece before Ezra had split it in two and given me half. However, he had accidentally lost his half. Recalling the jagged edges of the pendant I had just seen on Florence, the notch aligned perfectly with mine. Didn't that mean the emerald pendant Florence was wearing was the same one that had been stolen from my childhood friend, Ezra Clark, years ago? I was about to leave when Florence caught up to me, completely out of breath. "Stop right there! Do you really think you can just walk away after crossing me?" Her gaze landed on my neck. "How can you be so shameless? Did you deliberately make a fake emerald pendant that fits perfectly with mine just so you could take my place?" Florence shrieked and lunged forward to snatch it from me. "Give it to me! Listen here, even if Luc and I didn't get a clear look at each other that night, he would never mistake you for me. So, you can give up on that dream right this instant!" I sidestepped to dodge her. Yet, she spun around and yanked me by the collar. As air cut off from my lungs, sheer terror from my previous life—where she had choked the life out of me—surged back, driving me to shove her away with all my strength. Florence tumbled onto the ground, clutching her stomach and crying out in pain. I was frozen in place when a voice boomed from beside us. "What's going on here? Which faculty are you two from?" I turned to look. It was the dean of our faculty, Olivia Whitmore, and she was notoriously difficult to deal with. "Were you two fighting earlier?" Ms. Whitmore adjusted her glasses. "Very well. Both of you, follow me to my office!" Florence waved her hands frantically and rose to her feet. "That won't be necessary! We were just messing around." Right after saying that, she turned and sprinted off. Ms. Whitmore had no choice but to give me a quick lecture before she left. Once I was all alone, I pulled out my phone and texted Ezra. "Ez, if I remember correctly, your dad said you were adopted, right? Also, wasn't your half of the emerald pendant stolen when you were little?" He replied almost instantly. "That's right, babe. But you can't break up with me because of that!" Staring at his confirmation, I was silent for a moment before replying. "I think I may have found your biological parents, Ez." Chapter 3 After asking Ezra to reach out to the Clarks, I let the matter drop. However, the class group chat suddenly blew up. It was all because Florence had casually posted a photo on her social media feed, showing her getting a prenatal checkup, along with the caption. "My baby and baby daddy, you both have to do your best!" I hadn't left our old class group chat, so naturally, I could see everyone hooting and hollering in the group, pressing her to spill who the baby daddy was. Florence merely replied with a coy blush emoji, leaving everyone hanging. Right on cue, her lackey immediately dropped a bombshell in the group chat. "Isn't it obvious? It has to be the heir of the Clark family, Lucas Clark!" "What? Her baby daddy's Mr. Clark?" A flood of congratulations immediately filled the chat. At that moment, someone casually mentioned. "Hold on, didn't what's-her-name from your dorm move out back then?" Florence replied in a heartbeat. "Ugh, don't even get me started. Someone just can't stand to see me succeed. She isolated me on the very first day of orientation and moved out, terrified that I'd end up living the good life. "However, I guess I should thank her. If she hadn't left, I wouldn't have met Lucas! I wonder if she regrets it now." The group chat went dead for a few seconds before blowing up again. "Wait, what? That actually happened? Sounds like someone's salty as hell!" "What a terrible person. Florence was pretty unlucky to end up with a roommate who's this jealous." I didn't send anything in the group chat. The very next second, my phone vibrated with a direct message from a former classmate. "I think you should swallow your pride and apologize, Cleo. It's not like she's a difficult person…" I clicked into the group chat. Not only were they spreading rumors that I was working as an escort, but they had also attached embarrassing photos of me. I chuckled. Swallow my pride and apologize? I had done that in my previous life, yet where did it get me? It got her hands clamped around my throat, choking the life out of me. I ignored them and went to class as usual. It was a lab session, held jointly for both classes. The experiment was on testing metal hardness, using a newly acquired microhardness tester worth tens of millions of dollars that the faculty had just bought. As luck would have it, I was paired up with Florence. Sitting in the back row, she played with her phone. I paid her no mind, starting the experiment on my own. However, when I returned to the lab that afternoon, a crowd had gathered around our station. I walked over to take a look, only to see our professor, James Parker, standing there with a grim expression. Holding the damaged metal probe, he demanded, "Where's Cleo?" I walked over and was about to respond when Florence beat me to the punch. "None of us even touched that thing, Mr. Parker." The rest of our group chimed in as well. "That's right, Mr. Parker. This has nothing to do with us. Cleo was the only one operating the probe the entire time." "If anyone's getting disciplined or has to pay for the damages, it should just be her. This is worth millions of dollars. That's no pocket change!" After hearing that, Florence gasped and walked up to me to advise me. "Hurry up and own up to your mistake, Cleo! We'll all chip in to help you pay it back. If not, how are you going to cough up such a huge amount of money?" Holding Mr. Parker's gaze, I said, "In that case, let's check the surveillance footage." However, to my horror, the footage showed me smashing the probe after everyone else had left. I panicked, looked up, and wanted to explain myself, yet Mr. Parker had already pulled up the compensation bill. "Cleo, now that the probe's damaged, the entire machine can no longer be used. In total, you owe the faculty… 1.24 million dollars." I sucked in a sharp breath. Right after saying that, Mr. Parker turned and left. Florence, on the other hand, leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Do you not have the money? Beg me, and I'll give it to you." Ignoring her, I tried to find evidence to clear my name, but she picked up a cup of coffee and poured it onto her shoe right in front of me. "Lick it once, and I'll give you ten grand. Lick it all up, and you'll have 1.24 million. It'll be much faster than going out to work for it." Florence held up her phone, its screen glowing on a transfer interface. "What are you waiting for? Everyone's watching." I lowered my head and looked at the coffee stain on her shoe without saying a word. Chapter 4 Florence shoved her phone into my face. "Do you think that's not enough? In that case, lick it twice for 20 grand. How does that sound? Better, right?" I looked up. The smile on her face was identical to the one she wore when she strangled me to death in my previous life. I crouched down. "That's more like it… but I want you to get on your knees and lick it!" The people around us burst into laughter. I, however, reached out, took off her shoe, and slapped it—coffee and all—right into her face. Florence let out a piercing scream as she lurched back, half her face dripping with coffee. "Have you lost your fucking mind?" I straightened up and looked at her coldly. "I warned you before. Don't mess with me!" She could only point at me, too livid to say a word. I picked up the damaged probe from the ground and swung it in the direction of her stomach. Clutching her stomach, Florence glared at me and turned to leave. The crowd dispersed in no time. Just then, a notification popped up in the freshman group chat. "A representative from Clark Group will be coming to our college at 2:00 pm tomorrow to deliver a speech. All students are required to attend." The group chat immediately started tagging Florence, asking her who was coming. Florence replied with a string of exclamation marks. "My boyfriend's finally coming to back me up!" I wasn't paying attention to the group chat. Instead, I opened a message from Ezra. "Babe, I listened to you and went to Clark Manor. The paternity test results are out now. I really am a member of the Clark family. "That impostor has been kicked out. He was supposed to go to your college tomorrow, but now, I'm going instead. I'll be able to see you soon, babe!" I smiled as I texted back. "Sounds good." Florence wanted to become the future lady of the Clark family, huh? Well, she could keep dreaming! … The auditorium was filled to the brim on Wednesday afternoon. I sat in a seat near the aisle in the back row, while Florence had taken up an entire row at the front. She was surrounded by a group of female students as she bragged, "Luc came all the way here just to pick me up." Stroking her belly, she smiled bashfully. "He told me he'd take me back to Clark Manor after he reunited with his family. You guys should come visit me there sometime. I'll have the chef prepare some premium tomahawk steaks for you." "Wow, you're so lucky, Florence…" the group chorused, showering her with congratulations. "Isn't that right?" Florence took a look at me, who was sitting in the back row, and raised her voice. "A certain someone was so jealous back then that they wanted to ruin my love life. Look at them now; they can only sit in the back and watch from afar. To make matters worse, they still owe the faculty more than a million dollars!" Having said her piece, she covered her mouth and giggled, eyeing me expectantly for a reaction. I merely smiled at them and responded apathetically, "Be careful. It might hurt a lot when you fall later." "Cut the crap. You'll be the one crying later!" "We'll see who ends up crying," I mused. Noticing that I wasn't giving her the reaction she wanted, Florence lost interest and stopped badgering me. She shifted her focus back to the stage, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Soon, the host took the stage. "Let us welcome the heir of Clark Group with a round of applause!" The spotlight illuminated the side of the stage, catching a man in a bespoke suit as he stepped out from the wings. Muffled gasps rippled through the audience. Meanwhile, I kept my eyes locked on his face. It was Ezra. He walked to the center of the stage and scanned the audience. His eyes lingered on my face for a second before he nodded, and I nodded back. Florence, who was in the front row, enthusiastically waved her hand. Then, she turned and shot me a provocative look, silently mouthing, "See that? You're a goner!" I ignored her. After the open floor session ended, the host announced the adjournment of the event. Florence immediately rose to her feet and marched straight toward the stage. Halfway there, she cast a haughty look over her shoulder at me. Ezra had his head down as he gathered his documents. Florence walked right up to him, reached out and wrapped her arm around his. Then, she pulled out the pregnancy test report she had prepared beforehand. "Long time no see, Luc! It's me, Florence! You told me you'd come pick me up once you reunited with your family. I've been waiting for you all this time!" she gushed. "I have a surprise for you… You're about to become a father!" Everyone in the auditorium raised their phones. Drinking in this scene, a burst of laughter escaped my lips. Ezra turned to look at her, his brow slowly furrowing. He pulled his arm free and took a few steps back. He stripped off his suit jacket before tossing it on the ground in disgust. Florence went rigid, her eyes misting over. "Lucas? I know I shouldn't have put you on the spot, but how could you pretend not to know me?" The microphone was still on, and Ezra's voice echoed throughout the entire auditorium. "Miss, my name's Ezra. Oh, now, I remember. Lucas is the name of the impostor my family had kicked out a while back." The moment his words fell, the auditorium erupted. Florence was rooted to the spot as the color drained from her face.