Chapter 5

Seeing things get out of hand, I immediately pulled out my phone and dialed 911.

Before long, police cruisers and an ambulance arrived. Miranda and Liam were taken in for questioning, while Chase was loaded onto a stretcher and rushed to the ER.

I never could have imagined things would take such a wild turn.

Honestly, all Liam had to do was hold onto Miranda and take a few punches, and Chase would have gotten bored and walked away. But Liam was obsessed with his "gentleman" persona, never laying a hand on women, and under extreme humiliation, he snapped and struck with lethal force.

Did the bastard who murdered me in my past life just go down like that?

A whirlwind of mixed feelings washed over me.

Truth be told, the very moment I woke up in this timeline, revenge was the only thing on my mind.

Yet before I even lifted a finger, Chase had already been wiped out.

Later that evening, the hospital reports came back. Chase didn't die, nor was he in a coma, but he suffered severe brain trauma and partial paralysis. From now on, he'd walk with a permanent limp, his motor functions were ruined, and he basically looked like a drooling idiot.

Meanwhile, Liam's family was already dirt poor. That single brick completely shattered his dream of going to college. He ended up dropping out of school to work long shifts in an electronics factory, desperately trying to pay off the massive settlement and medical bills owed to Chase's family.

Miranda, on the other hand, went right back to her daily routine, except her attitude toward me underwent a bizarre shift.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Miranda cornered me, staring intensely into my eyes.

Over the past few days, she had become convinced that my refusal to walk her home that day was part of some calculated scheme.

"I told you already, it was a coincidence. And what does any of that have to do with me?" I said, sighing.

"You never used to say no to me! Why did you suddenly change that day? And when Liam stepped up to walk me home right in front of you, the old Shawn would have fought tooth and nail to take his place! On top of that, how convenient was it that there just happened to be a brick right next to Liam's hand?"

At this point, Miranda paused, adopting the smug tone of a detective who had cracked the case. "Shawn, I never knew you were so manipulative! You planned the whole thing, didn't you? A stone-cold scheme to wipe out two rivals at once!"

"What kind of delusional fanfic are you writing? I had nothing to do with it!" I repeated dryly.

"Fine, play dumb, I get it," Miranda smirked softly. "Anyway, I thought over what happened earlier... and I've decided to say yes to you."

A faint blush actually crept onto her cheeks as she said it.

My brain stalled for a second. "Say yes to what?"

"Stop playing innocent! Don't tell me you forgot? Two days ago, you confessed your feelings to me, and I said I'd think about it!" Miranda raised her chin, her tone dripping with condescending charity.