Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I saw Wei Ze’s social media post, I had just finished an eight-hour surgery.

On the way back to my office, I collapsed in the hallway from sheer exhaustion.

When I woke up again, I was in a dimly lit private karaoke room. Colorful lights flashed everywhere, and high-energy music played on a loop. Someone patted my shoulder and asked, “Yu En, your tolerance is terrible! You passed out after just one drink!”

My blurred vision slowly came into focus, and I saw the person in front of me clearly.

It was Xu Nianxia.

She wore a wine-red miniskirt, her long hair styled in soft waves. I stared at her bright, beautiful face in silence for a few seconds before stumbling toward the restroom.

Looking at my clean, youthful face in the mirror, I repeatedly splashed cold water onto my forehead. I had no choice but to believe it-the scar was gone.

I had traveled eight years back in time to my freshman year of college.

Today was my roommate Xu Nianxia’s birthday. I had accidentally downed a drink with a high alcohol content and ended up sleeping on the sofa for a long time.

With my head still heavy and spinning, I stepped out of the restroom and bumped into someone. Before I could even apologize, a familiar deep voice sounded in my ear.

“Sorry. Are you okay?”

My fingers instinctively tightened around my phone. I looked up at the man before me. He was tall with a straight posture, his features deep and sharp, wearing only a loose, solid black T-shirt.

It was Wei Ze.

Our eyes met and locked for a few seconds.

I ignored the unreadable look in his eyes, lowered my gaze, and calmly said I was fine before brushing past him.

Back on the sofa in the private room, I had just opened a bottle of mineral water and taken a sip when Wei Ze pushed the door open and walked in.

Xu Nianxia greeted him with a beaming smile, looping her arm through his as she introduced him to us. “This is my brother, Wei Ze. He studies at A University nearby.”

The flickering lights continued to sway. He stood with one hand in his pocket, looking down at us with a slight nod.

If I didn’t count the accidental encounter in the hallway just now, this was the scene of our first meeting in my previous life.

Wei Ze was Xu Nianxia’s stepbrother.

He was also the man I had loved and been with for six years.

I only discovered that the person he loved wasn’t me on the day of Xu Nianxia’s wedding. He had gotten deathly drunk and held me, murmuring tenderly, “Xiaxia… Xiaxia…”

In that moment, I went numb from head to toe. It took a long time for the realization to sink in. Xiaxia… was Xu Nianxia.

The person he loved was Xu Nianxia.

Unfortunately, that was when I loved him the most. So, I sat alone in the dark all night, and the next day, I acted as if nothing had happened. I stayed with him, continuing to believe what he had once told me: “She’s just my sister.”

It wasn’t until later, after Xu Nianxia’s husband cheated on her and they divorced, that I heard her sobbing in Wei Ze’s arms with tear-filled eyes. “Brother, I never loved him. It was always you. You’re the one I love. Do you still want me?”

She claimed her mother had a heart condition and had used the threat of suicide to forbid them from being together. She said she had only pretended to love someone else and had set him up with me to cover it up.

I didn’t know if her words were true or false, but Wei Ze believed her.

So that night, Wei Ze found me. After we stared at each other in silence for a long time, he said in a raspy voice, “Yu En, let’s break up.”

I looked at his handsome face, but before I could even ask the ‘why’ that we both already understood, I was called away for an emergency surgery.

I used logic and composure to forcibly suppress all my emotions. After spending eight hours in the operating room, I came out to see the post Wei Ze had shared on his feed:

“I really wish I could go back eight years and change Xu Nianxia’s fate so she never married that scumbag.”