Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 81

"You don't need to worry about that. Bring me the contract, and I'll sign it. But you have to keep your word. Until the prize money is distributed, you are not to harass Joanne again." In this life, no matter what it took, he was going to protect her.

He would give her the prize money for ranking first in his senior class, and he would build a business with her. Their current struggles were only temporary. He had a brilliant business mind and tech projects he could sell; he refused to become a loser.

"Lucian..."

Joanne Xavier didn't even know what to say.

Though she acted touched, she felt zero genuine gratitude. In her mind, this money was rightfully hers anyway. She just hoped he wouldn't screw up his final exams like he had today.

...

At the Daily Grind.

"Amber, can we order some pastries with our drinks? I've been dying to try their matcha cake!"

Amber waved a hand generously. "Go ahead. Order whatever you want."

Tillie tugged at her sleeve, glaring at Vance's friends. "Don't push your luck. The drinks are enough."

One of the classmates scowled, sticking a tongue out at Tillie. "You're so cheap, Tillie. Amber didn't even complain. We don't care, we're getting the cake."

Tillie was about to snap back, but Amber stopped her. "Just ignore them. Vance, take care of your friends for a second. I need to talk to Tillie in private. We'll be right back."

Amber pulled Tillie next door into the private ATM vestibule set up for students to access cash.

Before Tillie could tell Amber to stop spoiling them, she watched Amber pull the bank card containing her competition winnings out of her bag. She shoved it into Tillie's hands, along with a slip of paper containing the PIN.

"Take this. When graduation is over, do not go home. Take this money and find the person on this paper. I've written down their address and contact info."

Tillie froze. She yanked her hands back as if the card were on fire. "Why are you giving me your prize money? Did Lucian finally drive you insane?"

And why was she giving her a stranger's contact info? Was she telling her to run away?

"Stop pretending with me. Do you really think you're hiding it that well? Did you think I didn't know you're being forced to marry someone the day after graduation?"

At the time, Amber had sworn to make that family pay with their lives. But what good would that do? The best friend she had known since elementary school was already gone.

She hadn't even lived to see her certificate of honor. At nineteen, she had faded away completely, while those monsters lived comfortably off the prize money she won posthumously.

In this life, Amber absolutely refused to let that tragedy repeat itself.

From the very first day she was reborn, she had started planning.

Vance Leavitt was a talent her future corporation would desperately need, and so was Tillie. But even putting aside their future professional value, they were her classmates. She had to help.

She had been determined to win that fifty-thousand-dollar prize, and she had even made a backup plan.

If—just if—she hadn't won the competition, she would have gone to Sharif Madison for help.

Sharif was trustworthy, even if he still harbored doubts about her. With Tillie's raw talent, all she needed was an introduction, and she could carve out her own future while generating immense profit for him.

She had won, and she was gifting this fifty thousand to Tillie to fund her escape from her father. Tillie was meant to spread her wings and soar. In her past life, if Tillie had only opened up to her, Amber would never have stood by and let her die so tragically.