Reborn: Two Scumbags Beg for Forgiveness

The first twenty-four years of my life were destroyed by two men with their own hands.

The first was Ethan, my childhood friend.

To vent his anger for Vivian Knox, he personally broke my legs.

Making it impossible for me to ever step onto the figure skating rink again.

The second was Adrian Hunt, who saved me from despair.

He appeared when I was most helpless and took me away from that painful place.

He encouraged me to go to college, cherished me, and helped me emerge from the shadows.

But when I was preparing to return home to continue my studies, he testified against me, falsely accusing me of academic fraud.

Later, he even went so far as to sever the tendons in my hand, leaving me completely disabled.

I died miserably on the streets.

When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn the night before my legs were broken.

"Aria, tomorrow is my birthday. You must come."

Before me, Ethan Shaw spoke the exact same words as in my previous life.

I smiled.

This time, I won't attend that appointment that would break my legs.

I'll watch how they walk into the trap I've set for them.

My heart sank like a block of ice, my fingertips slightly numb.

Sure enough, he said the same thing as in my previous life.

But I wasn't ready to give up. I tried to find an excuse not to go.

"But I have something..."

Before I could finish, Ethan frowned, his tone filled with dissatisfaction, immediately bringing up our friendship of over ten years.

"Aria Walker, what do you mean? Have I ever missed any of your birthdays?"

"Are we friends or not?"

My face remained calm, but my heart was in turmoil.

In my previous life, I was deceived by his sweet words into going to a VIP room, where my legs were broken.

Suppressing the surging pain, I pretended not to notice the harshness in his tone and continued probing.

"I must be there?"

Ethan's tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Whether you want me as a friend of over ten years is up to you!"

I would never forget that in my previous life, after learning my legs were broken, he cut off contact unilaterally.

He even walked away decisively when I was mocked and pushed down by Vivian's group of friends, just like today.

I didn't understand why over ten years of growing up together resulted in such calculated betrayal.

Fortunately, I was reborn.

In my previous life, I swallowed my losses. In this life, I will never repeat the same mistakes.

But plans can't keep up with changes. I had just reached the intersection when a car came speeding toward me like crazy, too fast to dodge.

I instinctively closed my eyes, thinking I couldn't escape this disaster, that rebirth was just a cruel joke from fate.

The next moment, a force pulled me backward.

Stumbling to steady myself, still shaken, I looked up and met a pair of dark, deep eyes.

It was Adrian.

The physiological disgust made me feel sick enough to vomit.

In my previous life, after my legs were broken and I became an outcast, he was the one who protected me.

But he was also the one who, when I was accused of academic fraud, didn't hesitate to give false testimony and personally destroyed my future.

"Are you okay?"

His gentle voice made Adrian seem kind.

But this time, no longer deceived, I could clearly see the coldness in his eyes.

I didn't understand why Adrian was willing to set up this trap in my previous life, but I remembered that when I was accused of academic fraud and tried to clear my name with evidence.

He claimed responsibility for the accusation as my boyfriend and even publicly apologized.

Online, there were many stories about how good Adrian was to me. Netizens firmly believed the academic fraud was real.

Otherwise, why would Adrian, who loved me so much, take the blame for me?

The betrayal from someone close left me with a reputation I could never clear.

After that, I became disheartened and resigned to my fate, but then someone cut my tendons and Adrian imprisoned me in a villa.

I had completely become a useless person who could only depend on him.

In this new life, I would not only get rid of these two scumbags but also get revenge.

"Aria, what's wrong with you?" Seeing me remain silent for so long, Adrian instinctively frowned and called out.

The flash of impatience in his eyes was clearly visible. This time, I didn't hesitate to shake off his hand. "Thank you, Mr. Hunt."

Dropping those words, I turned to leave, but Adrian chased after me. "I saved you, and all I get is a thank you?"

"What, does Mr. Hunt want me to pay with my body?" I looked at Adrian sarcastically.

He was shocked by my attitude.

That's right. At this point in my previous life, we weren't familiar with each other. Logically, I should have been extremely grateful to him.

But the hatred from my previous life made me unable to tolerate him at all.

While Adrian was distracted, I had already gotten in my car and left.

Back home, looking at everything familiar, tears streamed down my face.

Seeing me cry, Mom and Dad thought Ethan had bullied me and quickly asked questions.

To avoid worrying them, I casually made up an excuse.

But being able to see Mom and Dad again made me quite content.

In my previous life, after I was imprisoned, when Mom and Dad couldn't find me multiple times, they suspected Adrian might be harming me.

Unfortunately, they were eventually plotted against, losing not only the company but also their lives.

Fortunately, everything was still in time now.

After comforting Mom and Dad, I quickly hired someone to investigate Adrian, as well as Ethan and Vivian.

Three hours later, I received all their information.

Looking at the densely packed text, my heart felt like it had fallen into an ice cave.

So that's how it was.

It turned out the first person to fall for Vivian wasn't Ethan, but Adrian.

Unfortunately, as childhood friends who grew up together, the confession that should have been spoken was delayed because of Ethan's appearance.

From then on, Adrian became Vivian's guardian.

And I became a pawn in their game.

I flipped through their information while reading the messages Ethan sent me.

[I'm waiting for you, Aria. If you don't come, my birthday won't be complete.]

[Aria, didn't you say you'd stay with me forever? You won't even come to my birthday?]

[I miss you so much.]

The 99+ messages indicated that Ethan wanted me dead.

Finally, I replied with one message: [I'll be there.]

Immediately, Ethan replied: [I'll wait for you.]

In the past, we used to exchange messages back and forth like this. Ethan even swore to me, "I'll always reply to your messages instantly."

And Ethan really did do that, but everything changed after Vivian appeared.

I didn't understand how a scholarship student could change Ethan in just half a year.

In my previous life, I really disliked Vivian. She always used her scholarship student status to play the victim.

When I asked her to submit group assignments, she would cry and say, "Aria, do you look down on me because I'm poor? Is that why you're targeting me?"

At first, Ethan would still take my side and scold Vivian. "Are you crazy? How is that what she meant?"

But later, Ethan would just frown. "Come on, Aria, Vivian didn't mean it."

At that time, I didn't notice anything wrong. Sometimes I would even complain to Ethan about Vivian.

But all of this became the catalyst for him breaking my legs.

He looked at me viciously and said, "Do you really look down on people that much? What has Vivian ever done to you? Why do you always target her? Is it just because she likes me?"

"Aria, when did you become so vicious? You think you can insult people just because you know how to skate? Let's see how you skate in the future."

That day was the darkest moment of my life.

I even thought about dying.

Later, my parents went to the Shaw family for me, but no one would testify for me.

My parents were even targeted by the Shaw family.

Later, I learned that was just the beginning of my life's descent into darkness.

After collecting myself, I made several phone calls before falling into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Ethan's call came. "Don't forget to come."

"Okay."

After hanging up, I sent a message to Adrian using an unknown number.

Then I contacted my parents and the Shaw family. After preparing everything, I headed to Ethan's birthday party.

Today's show would depend on whether Vivian could handle it.

Ethan's birthday party was quite grand. Everyone from our social circle and classmates came.

Vivian stood by Ethan's side like a hostess.

My arrival caused quite a stir.

Everyone knew about my relationship with Ethan. Now seeing Vivian standing beside him, they naturally couldn't help but look over with eyes eager to watch the drama unfold.

Seeing me, Vivian looked as if she had seen something terrifying and instinctively hid behind Ethan.

"I'm sorry, Aria. I just... I just wanted to..."

I interrupted Vivian's deliberately timid words. "Congratulations, happy birthday."

I presented my gift and turned to leave, but Ethan grabbed me. "You just got here and you're leaving? Are you really not giving me any face?"

When Ethan grabbed me, the anger in Vivian's eyes was about to burst out.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Someone's about to cry. Why don't you go comfort her?"

Ethan followed my gaze and immediately saw Vivian's reddening eyes.

"Vivian, are you okay?"

Vivian shook her head pitifully. Ethan glared at me angrily. "Aria, are you bullying Vivian again? Are you crazy? You can't go a day without bullying Vivian, can you?"

God, I hadn't even touched a hair on Vivian's head. How was I bullying her?

It turned out that when someone favored another person, they really could be unreasonable.

I rolled my eyes at Ethan. "Am I bullying her from a distance? Ethan, you were the one who shamelessly insisted I come to your birthday, and now you're treating me like this. What does this mean? Was it intentional?"

My voice was loud, and people around us heard.

Some even took my side. "What's Vivian's deal? Aria didn't do anything, so why is she crying?"

"Don't you know? She's just a delicate flower."

These nearly mocking words made Vivian unable to keep face.

But Ethan didn't think there was anything wrong with Vivian. Instead, he looked at me through gritted teeth. "Are you satisfied now?"

Then Ethan chased after Vivian, who had run off.

And I watched their retreating figures, lost in thought.

Ethan, this is just the beginning. Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

Then I looked toward the stage. My people were already prepared there.

Tonight, no one will escape.

Thinking of this, a smile unconsciously appeared on my face.

But when I turned around, I met a pair of sinister eyes.

How could I forget about him?

As Vivian's greatest guardian, how could he not appear?

The moment our eyes met, Adrian couldn't hide his expression in time and could only give me an awkward smile.

Just then, my phone rang. Seeing the message content, I couldn't hide the smile in my eyes.

Then I walked straight to Adrian. "Mr. Hunt, what a coincidence. You know Ethan?"

Faced with my questioning, Adrian frowned slightly. "I don't know him."

"Oh, then who are you here for? Today is Ethan's birthday."

"I..."

The words Adrian blurted out, he couldn't take back now.

Under my aggressive gaze, Adrian smiled awkwardly. "Just checking out the excitement."

"Is that so?"

I cleared my throat. "Everyone, this person before me is the youngest vice president of Innovate Tech. Don't you want to come meet him?"

My single sentence made the classmates present come forward. After they surrounded Adrian, I took the opportunity to go backstage.

Sure enough, I witnessed an explosive scene.

I quickly started recording a video.

Then I returned to the hall.

At this time, Ethan was looking for me.

When he saw me, his eyes revealed an ambiguous smile.

The birthday party would officially start in five minutes. During this time, Ethan kept staring at me, afraid I would run away.

He didn't even notice that Vivian had left his side for quite a while.

Five minutes later, Ethan went on stage. "Everyone, today is my birthday, and I'm very grateful for one person's presence."

Everyone looked at me.

However, Ethan beckoned to Vivian.

She excitedly ran onto the stage, coquettishly saying, "Ethan, what are you doing?"

"Today I might as well tell everyone the truth. Actually, the one I've always liked is Vivian. Aria and I are just childhood playmates who grew up together."

At this moment, I no longer felt that heartbroken.

Then Ethan generously expressed his love, and Vivian was moved to tears.

Only at this moment did Ethan deign to spare me a glance.

"I want to say one more thing. Actually, everyone has been misunderstanding my relationship with Aria. I know that Aria spread those rumors herself. I've been fed up with her for a long time. Today I'm going to get justice for Vivian."

As soon as Ethan finished speaking, several men rushed toward me.

But before they could get close, the banquet hall doors were pushed open.

My parents and Ethan's parents entered together.

This time, Ethan was dumbfounded. "Mom, Dad, why are you here?"

"It's your birthday. Is there something wrong with us coming?" The Shaw couple looked at Ethan in confusion.

At this moment, I screamed out, "Ah, who are you? What do you want?"

Hearing the commotion, my parents rushed over. The Shaw couple also came to my side.

At this moment, Ethan's face was written all over with embarrassment. He frowned at everything happening.

But I secretly smiled at Vivian behind Ethan, then mouthed, 'You're finished.'

The next instant, a series of moaning sounds came from the big screen.

Everyone looked toward the sound, and what they saw was the most scandalous scene.