Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 2

Lucian completely scoffed at the idea, his youthful eyes brimming with arrogant pride. "I'm the valedictorian of Riverport High. With me around, no matter what school I go to—even some trashy college—they'll be begging to have me. Just watch closely, Amber. I'm not you. I became a billionaire in my past life purely on my own merits!"

Amber let out a bitter laugh, her heart clenching with a sharp, familiar pain. She didn't bother telling him that every single necessary condition, project, and opportunity he believed he had earned to become the richest man in the city was actually secured by her. She had been the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, overcoming endless obstacles just to hand him his success on a silver platter.

Oh, right! On his own merits? What a load of garbage.

"Well then, let's wait and see!"

She didn't want to look at him for a second longer. Pushing past the bone-deep ache in her chest, Amber turned to walk away from the boy she was permanently severing ties with, only for a jarringly sweet, bird-like voice to cut through the tension.

"Are you two fighting?"

Before she could even look up to see if it was Joanne Xavier, a sudden force shoved her hard against the wall. Desks and chairs crashed to the floor around her.

Tillie Taylor, a classmate she had always been close with, rushed over to help her up. "Amber... are you okay?"

Her forehead had struck the sharp corner of a desk, and blood immediately began to trickle down her skin.

But she didn't cry out in pain. Because her heart hurt so much more.

Amber had always wondered how Lucian would react the first time he saw Joanne after being reborn, but she never expected this.

The moment he saw Joanne appear in the classroom doorway, the sheer, overwhelming joy of regaining something precious radiated from him, striking Amber right in the chest.

It hurt.

Everyone at Riverport High knew about Lucian and Amber. They were practically attached at the hip. Ever since middle school, if he was the class president, she was the academic representative. Classmates used to joke about whether their parents had arranged an engagement for them. People even whispered about whether they were secretly sleeping together.

Fighting? Yeah, right. Amber was basically his little shadow, and Lucian was a coward who wouldn't dare step out of line if she told him not to. If he did, she would just tattle to his mother, and he would end up getting a beating.

Joanne was only here to enjoy the show, completely unprepared for him to suddenly hug her and say something so inappropriately intimate.

She had fantasized before about hooking him—he was gorgeous and had the best grades, after all. If she could make him one of her loyal followers, it would be a glamorous addition to her dating history.

"Lucian, please let go of me. What are you doing? Everyone is watching." Joanne spoke with an exaggerated, breathy sweetness.

Hearing that voice made Amber's stomach turn. In this life, Joanne was going to be insufferably smug.