Chapter 22
Riley temporarily suspended her training due to her leg injury and had been resting in her dorm these past few days.
Today, after getting up, she suddenly thought of a place. With her different state of mind now, she wanted to go back and see it.
With this in mind, Riley changed her clothes and prepared to go out. As she was about to leave, she remembered something and called Theo.
“Hello?”
After the phone rang a few times, Theo’s voice came through.
Riley thought for a moment: “Theo, can you accompany me somewhere? I also want to tell you something.”
“Sure.” Theo agreed without hesitation. After a while, there was a rustling sound on the other end, probably him getting dressed.
Riley heard him say: “Riley, wait for me at your dorm. To avoid that person harming you again, I’ll come pick you up.”
He had clearly noticed something. Riley smiled and softly agreed.
After picking her up, Riley directed him to drive to the high school she had attended with Nathaniel.
Taking Theo to the top floor, climbing step by step to the rooftop, Riley, who had been very nervous, suddenly relaxed.
She clutched her aching heart as she approached this place that had once been her happiest and later her most desperate.
It was June, and the weather wasn’t very good today. The sky was overcast and a bit stuffy, but the wind was strong, cooling the summer heat as it blew against their bodies.
Riley walked to the edge of the rooftop railing, the place where she had jumped without hesitation.
Though the past events had occurred just months ago, coming back here again, she still felt pain that made it hard to breathe.
Fighting her fear, she leaned against the railing and turned around to look at Theo, who was watching her with concern. She suddenly began to laugh loudly, as if trying to release all the humiliation she had endured for so long.
But the strong wind blew, thoughtlessly blurring her eyes, and soon her tears fell uncontrollably.
Theo walked to her side and helped her sit down on the drainage channel by the railing, offering his shoulder for her to lean
- on.
As if feeling her pain, he couldn’t help but feel his heart tighten. He comfortingly patted her head and said softly: “Cry if you want to. I’m here with you.”
Riley, with a choked voice, said: “Theo, would you believe it? I’ve already died once, right here,”
Theo didn’t speak, just tightened his arm around her shoulders, signaling her to continue.
16:12
I Died, He Cried, Now We’re Stuck in This Toxic Rebirth Loop
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Chapter 22
So Riley, leaning in his embrace, gradually narrated the entanglement between herself, Mathanted, and Victoria in their previous life.
From her childhood friendship with Nathaniel and their rooftop confession, to Victoria’s obsessive pursuit, to her disabily.
From Victoria’s online posts, to Nathaniel’s change, to her desperate jump from the roof,
Each sentence was like drawing another cut across her heart with a knife.
Until finally, she could no longer hold back: “It hurts so much, Theo. I thought I had finally found release, but being reborn with these memories is truly agonizing…”
She suppressed her sobs, her throat painfully tight, her chest as if gripped by a large hand. The slightest movement caused her whole body to ache, making it hard to breathe. Her eyes, washed clear by tears, were filled with sorrow and desolation.
One of Theo’s hands was tightly held by her, as if wanting to borrow his warmth to remind herself that she wasn’t alone.
At this moment, a person emerged from the stairwell, also with tears streaming down his face, looking as if he was about to suffocate, he spoke in a hoarse voice: “Riley…”
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