Blurb：
After being reborn, **Matthew** tears up his school withdrawal form, refusing to become **Eliza Stewart**’s househusband anymore. He blocks her number and moves away to avoid her. Instead of joining **Eliza** at **Northcrest** University as she demands, **Matthew** secretly applies to **Southwell University** to pursue an education major. In this new life, he vows to never repeat the mistakes of his past, where **Eliza** neglected him despite his devotion.
Years later, while volunteering as a teacher in **Westridge**, **Matthew** encounters **Eliza** again. Her eyes red with emotion, she grabs his hand and pleads, “Don’t run off this time, **Matthew**.” Will **Matthew** resist her pull, or will their paths intertwine once more?
In Chapter 1, **Matthew** shocks his teachers, including **Ms. Brown** and **Ms. Thompson**, by reclaiming and destroying his withdrawal form. He apologizes for his past foolishness, declaring his intent to focus on studies and become a teacher. Meanwhile, **Eliza** confronts him in the classroom, using excuses involving **Carl** from the student council to manipulate him. But **Matthew** stands firm, signaling the start of his independent journey.
Content：
After being reborn, I tear up my school withdrawal form. I no longer wish to become a househusband just for Eliza Stewart’s sake.
She messages me when she hears the news, but I blacklist her number right away. She camps outside my house to confront me, so my family and I move to a new place immediately.
Eventually, she compromises by asking me to join her in Northcrest for college. That way, I can still take care of her. I go behind her back and apply to be an education major at Southwell University instead.
In my previous life, she dedicated herself to everything and everyone else, except for me. This time around, I just want us to go on our separate paths and never meet again.
A few years later, I set off for the rural region of Westridge to volunteer as a teacher. Eliza, who is also volunteering there, sees me. Her eyes start turning red. She grabs my hand and refuses to let go.
“Don’t run off this time, Matthew”
Chapter 1
Ms. Brown, my homeroom teacher, was just about to sign my school withdrawal form when I snatched it back and ripped it to pieces.
Her eyes flashed with anger as she berated, “Do you think I’ve got time to joke around with you? You’ve consistently received outstanding results. However, you spent a whole month insisting that I help you withdraw from school, so why have you just torn up the form?”
I lowered my head and apologized sincerely, “I’m so sorry, Ms. Brown. I won’t be withdrawing from school, after all. I want to focus on my studies and become a teacher in the future.”
Our exchange ended up being quite the commotion, and it drew the attention of all the teachers around us.
“Have you finally come to your senses? That’s wonderful! I’ll finally have a shot at getting the year-end performance bonus!” Ms. Thompson, my math teacher, exclaimed.
I was the top scorer for math among all the seniors at my high school, and that benefited Ms. Thompson, who might earn a bonus because of my results.
The other teachers chimed in approvingly.
“It’s great news, alright. You’re such a fine student, but everyone in school heard about you wanting to quit schooling so that you could be Eliza’s househusband! We were all concerned for you.”
All of the teachers present had always been very kind toward me. My ability to remain one of the top students of my year was largely credited to their guidance and mentoring.
I had caused quite a spectacle the past month. Everyone else had been watching the farce at my expense.
Eliza Stewart was smart, gorgeous, and easygoing. Many guys in school had a crush on her. She’d always been a little aloof with me. I wouldn’t have been able to get close to her if not for the fact that we’d been betrothed to each other as children.
Thankfully, I had been reborn, and I came back to this very moment in time.
I stood in front of all the teachers and gave another apology.
“I was being silly before, but I’ve regained clarity now. I hope you won’t hold my past foolishness against me.”
With glad, approving smiles, the teachers nodded and told me I was more than welcome to seek them out if I ever needed some additional tutoring.
When I got back to the classroom, all eyes fell on me. Unexpectedly, even Eliza was waiting for me at my desk.
As she’d been in poor health over the years, her complexion was rather pale and sickly. Thanks to her small, frail-looking figure, she looked exceptionally adorable as she sat there quietly with her hair in a ponytail.
Even after everything I’d gone through in my previous life, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her when I saw her this way.
When she saw me approaching, she started picking up my books and stuffing them into my bags. I grabbed her hand to stop her before saying with feigned disappointment, “I couldn’t get it approved. You should head back to your seat.”
Eliza’s expression turned icy at once.
“That’s impossible! Are you still upset because I had breakfast with Carl? I told you! I only bumped into him by coincidence. In any case, Carl and I are both part of the student council. It stands to reason that we need to sit together and have a discussion sometimes.”
Tom Neely, who sat beside me, couldn’t resist butting in, “Stop flaunting your relationship in front of the rest of us.
“And you, Matthew! Don’t be so ungrateful. You should be happy that Eliza’s willing to spend time placating you right now. Hurry up. Do what she wants and go away.”
Remaining calm, I said, “I’m telling the truth.”
I took my bag from Eliza and looked at her, saying, “Go back to your seat. I want to get started with my homework.”
Eliza’s eyes began reddening.
“Fine,” she said.
The chair screeched loudly against the floor as she leaped to her feet and stomped back to her desk. Immediately after that, a book struck me in the head, and a female voice called out angrily in Eliza’s defense, “Don’t push it, Matthew!”
Rubbing my head, I acted as if nothing had happened. I fixed my eyes on my workbook and continued answering the questions.
The SATs were less than a month away. Once I was done with high school, Eliza and I would no longer have anything to do with each other.
Chapter 2
After school, Eliza made it a point to get onto Carl Jamison’s bicycle in full view of me. Ignoring her antics, I got on my bicycle and rode slowly behind them, keeping a distance between us.
Eliza and I were childhood sweethearts.
My family, the Harpers, and Eliza’s family, the Stewarts, both came from the countryside and moved into the city for a better life. At the time, our families maintained a good relationship. They decided to let Eliza and me get engaged to each other, even though we were still children.
However, as we got older, the relationship between our two families slowly changed. It had been 13 years since our families became neighbors in the city. I could sense that the Stewarts didn’t like me.
They continued to treat me fairly courteously. However, they had long since begun taking Eliza to various social events and introducing her to the sons of powerful and influential families. Among the ones they met, they were most pleased with Carl.
In my previous life, I had no clue this was happening. I even became estranged from my own family just so I could dedicate myself to taking care of Eliza.
Thus, when Eliza and Carl were busy flirting with each other, her parents fully supported their relationship and completely disregarded me. Carl even showed up at our wedding to steal her from the altar, and right in front of everyone, her parents stopped me from intervening.
“Carl is a key figure in charge of a national research project. How can you compare to him when you’re just a househusband who can do nothing but cook and clean?”
“You should already be thankful that we allowed you to be a part of the family for this long! Just stay at home and take care of the kids!”
My parents were also infuriated by my behavior.
“Look at you! You’re acting like a total loser right now! Who would choose you?”
“We told you to focus on your studies, but you refused to listen! You brought this whole mess on yourself.”
By then, I was too dependent on the Stewarts. All I could do was weep in silence and agree to their request, hoping that Eliza would turn around someday and acknowledge the sacrifices I made for her.
Ten years passed without Eliza showing any sign of coming back to me. Instead, I was diagnosed with cancer from having overexerted myself throughout the years.
To my shock, my son and daughter immediately celebrated that.
“How marvelous! Mom and Mr. Jamison can finally get their happy ending!”
“Hurry up and sign the divorce papers. That way, even if you die, we won’t have to settle your affairs for you.”
Even Eliza, who was a doctor, remained silent through it all.
Their words and actions cut me deeply. In the end, I was forced to sign the divorce papers. They joined forces to kick me out of the house. I ended up dying on the streets on a snowy night.
Blinking, I saw Mom scowling as she berated me, “Why are you just standing in the doorway instead of coming into the house? We don’t accept fools into our family!”
When I first announced my decision to become Eliza’s househusband, my parents spent ages trying to talk me out of it.
Pressing my lips together, I said earnestly, “Mom, I’ve decided to apply for college and major in education.”
Mom stared at me for quite some time. Once she realized I was serious, a smile bloomed across her face. Grinning with joy, she pulled me into the house while shouting the good news to Dad.
For the first time in a long time, my family shared a blissful dinner with smiles all around. As I watched them around the table, I had to take huge bites of food to stop myself from crying.
I failed to be a good son and take care of them in my previous life, but I wouldn’t be making the same mistake this time.
Chapter 3
In the middle of the night, Eliza sent me a text.
“You ripped up the school withdrawal form?”
Soon after that, she sent me a screenshot of her conversation with Mr. Duffy, our physics teacher. She was better at physics than I was, and Mr. Duffy mentioned what I did when he asked her to tutor me.
I swiftly replied, “That’s right. I’ve thought things through. My mom and dad are right. I should at least finish college first before thinking about anything else.”
However, Eliza couldn’t understand my decision. She questioned indignantly, “What’s the point of you working so hard? Both our families are doing perfectly well financially. Who’s going to look after me if you focus all your time and energy on your studies?”
I wanted to tell her to get Carl to do it. Alas, even though I typed that message out several times, I kept deleting it. In the end, I didn’t send that message to her.
Carl didn’t know Eliza that well. She was born with a weak constitution and needed a great deal of tender, attentive care in order to remain in good health.
However, the Stewarts were busy with work and didn’t want to hire a caregiver for Eliza, either. That was why I got the idea of becoming her househusband.
Well, since she knew the truth, I figured I should just break things off now, so I texted back, “Let’s end our relationship.”
I blacklisted her number right away.
Half an hour later, someone started ringing our doorbell furiously. The incessant ringing was accompanied by the sound of Eliza’s coughing.
“Matthew Harper! Open the door right this instant!”
I pulled my blanket over my head and acted as though I couldn’t hear anything. Eventually, my parents rushed to get the door after hearing the commotion.
“Where’s Matthew?” Eliza questioned loudly.
Judging by how much louder she was than usual, she was probably hopping mad because of me. As she spoke, I heard the sound of her footsteps getting closer. Mom seemed to have stopped her in time, but Mom spoke too softly for me to hear what she said to Eliza.
After a while, Eliza left, and several moments after that, Mom knocked on my door.
She said to me, “Since you’ve broken things off with her, your dad and I think we should finally move forward with our plan to move out.”
I quickly sat up in bed and nodded eagerly in agreement. That was perfect!
The next day, Mom and Dad called me out of school. Eliza camped outside my house, but she had to head to school alone when I didn’t show up. A few more days passed before I finally started attending school again.
When I finally saw Eliza again, I noticed her face looked even paler than before. Even though it was approximately 80F, she was still wearing our school’s varsity jacket.
I was trying to get to my desk, but she stood in my path with a displeased expression.
“You blacklisted my number and moved out! Are you that reluctant to marry me?” she snapped.
Everyone began eyeing us curiously. Realizing that she was being a bit too emotional in public, Eliza grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the classroom, saying, “We’ll talk outside.”
Once we got to a quiet corner, I shook her hand off me and said, “Whatever it is you have to say, hurry up and say it. Don’t keep me from class.”
Eliza pulled up a slightly stale sandwich and offered it to me for breakfast. This was her usual method of pacifying me. In the past, all she had to do was beckon me with her finger, and I’d happily brush aside everything to go back to my normal self againall because I liked her.
No matter what she did, I always thought of her as the most perfect person in the world. But after the pain I experienced in my previous lifetime, nearly all of my feelings for her had disappeared.
Without accepting the sandwich, I said, “I’ve already eaten. You should give this sandwich to someone who wants it.”
Taken aback by my reaction, Eliza looked at me with a frown.
“What on earth has gotten into you lately? Nothing is going on between Carl and me. We only hung out a few times with our families around. Is that reason enough for you to be jealous this whole time? In any case, Carl and I have never spent time alone together before.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Not only did Eliza and Carl behave flirtatiously in front of me, but they had already hung out in private as well. So what if they hadn’t spent any time alone together thus far?
Everyone was keen for them to end up together. If things proceeded as they did in my previous lifetime, Carl was going to attend the college across the street from the one Eliza attended. They would remain intimately involved in each other’s lives to the very end.
After recalling the way I’d died the last time around, I sighed. I didn’t want to live that life again. At my silence, Eliza seemed to compromise, but her attitude remained lofty.
“Fine. I’ll allow you to carry on with your studies. You can join me in Northcrest and attend college there. That way, you can still take care of me.”
She made it sound like she was doing me a favor.
“Carl and I are only spending time together because it benefits both our families. In the end, you’re still the one I’m marrying. As a guy, you shouldn’t get jealous so easily. You should be more understanding and open-minded.”
Eliza had more to say, but I interrupted her, saying, “I got it.”
At last, I met her gaze. I was worried she could tell that I was lying as I continued, “When the time comes, I’ll apply to a college in Northcrest.”
Hearing that, Eliza exhaled in relief. “Was that so hard? You should’ve just gone with this from the start instead of making me waste so much of my time and effort on this.”
Thanks to the strong morning breeze, Eliza began coughing rather heavily. She stood still, waiting to see what I would do. I shielded her from the wind and patted her back to ease her coughing, like I always did.
At last, Eliza’s expression improved. She even looked a little smug. Resisting the urge to leave, I accompanied her as she slowly walked back to the classroom.
Once I got back to my desk, I started reviewing my lessons. I needed to improve my scores a bit if I wanted a guaranteed spot at Southwell University’s School of Education.
However, as long as I got in, Eliza and I would be separated by the entire country. She would be up in the north while I would be down in the south.
We would never see each other ever again.
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