Reborn With My Best Friend

It was at the New Year's party of our company.

I won $50, 000 and a ticket to Mystic Hollow, a tourist attraction. It was the first prize in the lottery.

My best friend, Emma Jenkins, won the grand prize. It was an hour-long enlightening conversation with the boss, Rhys Dawson.

She begged me to swap prizes with her in tears.

But in the end, she received a dismissal letter after she returned from Mystic Hollow.

Meanwhile, I got promoted, received a raise, and got engaged to the boss's son, Virgil Dawson.

Emma's jealousy consumed her, and she stabbed me to death with anger.

In this new life, she accepted the grand prize very calmly, and even with a bit of excitement.

I realized she had been reborn too...

1.

At the New Year's party of our company, I won the first prize of $50, 000 and a ticket to Mystic Hollow. I took a deep breath to calm myself. But I couldn't help smiling.

Emma walked over and asked, "Polly, what did you win?"

I was unguarded and showed her my prize. She merely nodded calmly and was not as shocked as I had expected.

"What about you, Emma?" I asked curiously.

Emma put her prize slip into her pocket and avoided my gaze. "Nothing much. Nothing much."

I raised my eyebrows but said no more.

The team leader announced the prizes one by one on stage. When he mentioned the grand prize, he said in a mysterious tone, "The one who won the grand prize, come on stage, please."

Emma tucked her hair behind her ear and confidently walked up.

"The grand prize is an enlightening conversation-an hour-long chat with the boss."

There was an upsurge of noise among the employees in the audience area.

"What kind of grand prize is this? It's torture."

"The boss is known for his bad temper. She's in for a rough time."

"Poor Emma..."

...

The audience either sympathized with Emma or eagerly awaited her despair. However, Emma remained composed. Victory seemed to be waiting for her.

I lifted the red wine glass from the stage, lowered my head, and my shoulders trembled slightly. I feared she would see my uncontrollable laugh.

So I understood why she was willing to accept the opportunity to spend time with the boss because she had been reborn too.

In my previous life, I won $50, 000 and the ticket, while she won the opportunity to talk with the boss. She cried and begged me to swap the prizes. And I was soft-hearted and had agreed with her.

After her trip to Mystic Hollow, she received a dismissal letter from the company.

After she lost her job, her life became worse. The rent of the apartment increased, her boyfriend cheated on her, and she got hit by a car. When she was hospitalized, I not only got promoted and received a raise but was also chosen by the boss to attend a multimillion-dollar project. The boss's son, Virgil Hunter, got interested in me, and we got engaged. I achieved social ascension.

Emma was consumed with jealousy. At my engagement party, she stabbed me to death, and later she was sentenced to death.

After being reborn, Emma was determined to seize every opportunity.

Her victorious demeanor suddenly made me feel liberated. The pain when she stabbed me with a knife in the previous life was still vivid in my memory.

This time, let her experience my life.

And I would definitely send that demon to hell.

2.

I went home, quickly packed my luggage, and was about to cancel my lease with the landlord.

Emma walked out of the elevator in her high heels. Her face was beaming.

She said, "Polly, where are you going?"

I forced a smile that didn't reach the eyes as I said, "I'm going on vacation."

Emma's eyes flickered with disdain. But she feigned concern. "Have fun! You might not get such a good chance again."

I pretended not to understand her underlying meaning and left with my luggage.

On the plane, I saw Emma eagerly posting on social media. Rhys had let her attend the project "Lleshan" and promoted her to deputy manager.

I pressed my lips to suppress my laughter.

If she was so proud to take on that multimillion-dollar debt, then I wished her well.

"Miss, are you alright?" I suddenly heard a voice.

I then realized that my shoulders were shaking uncontrollably as I was struggling to hold back my laughter. When I thought about what Emma would face next, I couldn't contain my laughter.

But when I looked up at the one who spoke, my smile froze. And my body trembled with fear from my heart.

Virgil was dressed casually and smiling warmly in front of me. He was exuding a gentle aura that made others comfortable.

If not for what he did to me in my previous life, I might have been attracted to him.

"Miss?" he continued.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and then said, "I'm fine, thank you."

"Miss, you look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?" Virgil's words made me nervous instantly.

"Perhaps I have an ordinary face," I said.

Virgil chuckled lowly and said no more.

Throughout my trip to Mystic Hollow, I dared not leave the hotel because I feared that I would meet that demon again.

But when I went downstairs to pick up my meal, I met another demon.

This time, I didn't avoid him.

I was by the swimming pool. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," I said to a guy. I looked apologetically at him after I had "accidentally" splashed red wine on him.

Marc Begum's cold face showed no emotion. He merely glanced at me and walked past me.

But as I stepped into the pool and instinctively shouted, "Help me," Marc reacted instantly.

He immediately dove into the water to pull me into his arms.

I clung tightly to his waist. It felt good as it was strong and hard without any excess fat.

Before I could enjoy the moment any longer, Mac dragged me out of the water expressionlessly. His gaze swept over my wet clothes clinging to my skin, his breath paused and then he took away from there.

Inside the room, Marc held my neck firmly without tenderness.

He asked, "Who asked you to come to me?"

I shook my head with difficulty and said, "I... No. It's not..."

Marc snorted coldly. He was about to throw me out the door when I twisted my body desperately, revealing the birthmark on my shoulder.

As I had expected, Marc stopped immediately upon seeing it. He touched my birthmark blankly.

He asked, "Are you Lorelei?"

I bit my lip and looked at him stubbornly and with grievance.

After all, Virgil had once said that from that angle, and with that expression, I bore a striking resemblance to Marc's sister, who had died.

In my previous life, Virgil tried to please Marc and had gone so far as to send me to Marc's bed right after my miscarriage.

Marc had thrown me naked onto the street, where I had to face countless pedestrians, vehicles, and flashing lights. That humiliation still lingered in my memory.

Marc's eyes were filled with pity as he used his fingers to gently caress the birthmark. The air grew eerily silent at that moment.

3.

After I returned from Mystic Hollow, I indeed received a dismissal letter.

I went to the company to pack my things when I happened to encounter Emma, who had just come out of Rhys's office. Her hair was slightly disheveled, and her hurried steps suggested that she had been involved in something unsavory.

Yet she regained her arrogance as soon as she saw me.

She said, "Oh, Polly, did you enjoy your trip in Mystic Hollow? Why didn't you stay there for a few more days? After all, you won't have the chance in the future."

I glanced at her skirt, which barely reached her thighs, and said with a faint smile, "You'd better keep that opportunity for yourself."

Emma was visibly displeased with my indifferent attitude. She said, "We've known each other for years. If you beg me, I might make an exception and let you come back as a cleaner. At least you'd have some income."

As more employees gathered to watch us for fun, I smiled faintly and said, "Don't trouble yourself. Enjoy your job, Emma."

Emma's face twisted slightly. Only she knew the cost of her promotion to manager.

I smiled. Emma was not worth my effort to deal with her. She was very jealous and was easily agitated and irrational. If she had been smart enough to investigate my life with the Dawson family, she wouldn't have been so envious of me.

But it had nothing to do with me.

Marc treated me as his sister and took me to the Begum family.

Few people knew that Marc had a sister. Virgil learned of that news from nowhere and thought he could win Marc over by having me tattoo a mark and undergo minor facial surgery. He was foolish.

Marc could easily investigate the origin of my birthmark. But I hadn't expected that I had the birthmark with me when I was reborn. Marc couldn't find anything wrong. So his guilt and affection for me grew as he transferred all his remorse for his younger sister onto me.

I lay leisurely on the couch in the Begum family's house and ate fruit while scrolling through Emma's social media posts. Marc was reviewing documents nearby.

When I saw Emma dressed flamboyantly at the launch of the project "Lleshan," I couldn't help but laugh. She would meet Virgil, the son of the company's boss, at the launch that day.

Virgil might not be interested in her, but she certainly wouldn't miss the chance to marry into the Dawson family.

Thinking that Emma would soon experience what I went through in my previous life, I couldn't help laughing.

"Do you want to participate in this project?" Marc asked as he glanced gently at my phone.

I wrapped my arms around his and said playfully, "Brother, could you bring more investors to this project? It's the project that my friend is involved in first."

That project was a trap from the start. The company's capital chain had long been in trouble. The boss hoped to turn things around with that project but feared the risks. They were eager to find a scapegoat. In my previous life, I was that scapegoat.

It was different now. So I intended to give this project a little more push.

4.

The next day, Emma gleefully posted photos of her dinner with Virgil on social media.

She even sent me messages privately. "Did you see, Polly? It's all mine now."

I turned off my phone and brought freshly brewed coffee into Marc's office, where I thoughtfully massaged his temples.

He held my hands in his and pulled me into his arms. His gaze became more intense.

Who would have thought that Marc, who appeared cold and ascetic, harbored such feelings for his sister?

As Marc's hand gradually moved toward my nightgown, tears welled up in my eyes, and I began to cry softly. He suddenly snapped out of it and halted what he was about to do.

Marc felt guilty. He feared that I would distance myself from him, so he became increasingly eager to please and accommodate me.

He was already deeply engrossed in the game of a substitute, but it wasn't enough yet.