"On the authority that she does not carry the C surname in this lifetime. Don't you dare dream of ever executing another maneuver to dictate or micro-manage the trajectory of her existence."

A deafening roar of pure white noise instantaneously exploded within the center of my skull.

I snapped my head around to stare at Julian in absolute, total shock.

He was currently locked in a death stare targeting Christian, the space between his brows entirely saturated with waves of suffocating fury and unyielding resolution.

"You bastard from the C family, if you ever possess the absolute audacity to meddle with the trajectory of Clara's existence again, I will definitively, absolutely ensure you face a reckoning you will never survive."

37

Upon returning to the residence.

Auntie J caught sight of Julian with his facial features heavily bruised, instantly jumping into a massive state of alarm.

"What on earth unfolded here? Have you been engaging in physical brawls with someone?"

"Zero. I simply endured a nasty fall moments ago."

Auntie J anchored a thoroughly speechless facial expression.

"Do you honestly believe I possess the gullibility to accept that? An adult of your stature still learning how to engage in physical street fights—this rebellious phase of yours has materialized entirely too delayed in the timeline."

"Clara, fetch the emergency medical kit over to my position for a brief moment."

"Clara... Clara."

I blinked my eyes open in absolute bewilderment, my expression thoroughly detached and distant as though my soul had completely vacated my body.

"Auntie J, were you addressing my person?"

"What on earth is going on with you? Why has your complexion withered to such a pale state? Do you perceive physical discomfort anywhere?"

Securing a complete grip back over my consciousness.

I shook my head to dispel her concerns.

"Zero, Auntie J. I will step forward to oversee applying the topical ointment on his frame. Weren't you scheduled to depart the residence shortly? Rest your mind completely."

"Oh, very well then. I will leave the task in your hands, thank you for your exertion. I locked in an official meeting alongside Mrs. Li to deliberate on matters, and a brief delay from now will cause me to run late."

Within the confines of the study.

I popped open the emergency medical kit, retrieving a handful of cotton swabs and a tube of topical ointment.

Out of absolute thin air, I let out a line:

"Julian, at what exact milestone did you return?"

The man was actively sucking in sharp breaths of raw pain, yet he still managed to deliver a response:

"I literally just crossed back through the threshold a moment ago. Why on earth were you congregating alongside Christian? That individual is flatly zero percentage a decent human being; distance your presence far away from his frame..."

"My inquiry was: at what exact milestone did your consciousness recall the events of our previous lifetime?"

Julian's features instantaneously froze into an absolute state of sheer stagnation, his eyes staring blankly at my form.

Absolute silence engulfed our surroundings.

The very air felt completely frozen in place.

His lips moved to stutter out a pair of highly fractured sentences targeting my person:

"You, you, you... at what exact milestone did your consciousness return to this timeline as well?"

"On the exact calendar date when the C family marched into the orphanage facilities. Consequently, that functions as the core catalyst as to why I completely evaded being adopted by their household."

"...Damn it."

It marked the absolute first instance in my memory of Julian utilizing profanity in my presence.

He detailed that his consciousness had similarly returned to this temporal plane at nearly that exact identical milestone.

Consequently, he had initiated a breakneck run to materialize within the orphanage at the absolute first opportunity, discovering to his intense joy that I hadn't been adopted by the C family.

He was practically ecstatic out of his mind, moving Heaven and earth to seamlessly transition my form back into the J family residence.

So, the two of us reincarnated entities had coexisted under the exact same roof within the J family for a massive block of years, yet managed to remain completely, totally oblivious to each other's underlying realities?

I had no choice but to candidly admit.

In the specific dimension of professional acting execution, the two of us were absolute masterclasses of deception.

Provided I possessed the eligibility to secure an Academy Award for Best Actress, Julian would flatly sweep the category for Best Actor without a shred of competition.

"Did your mind never once generate a shred of suspicion regarding the core catalyst as to why I completely evaded being adopted by the C family in this lifetime?"

"Didn't I explicitly float that inquiry to your person during our childhood years? You stated to my face that on that exact date at the orphanage, you had accidentally soiled your trousers. Tracking a psychological profile like Christian's, it was perfectly logical that he would express profound disgust toward your form, making their pivot to adopt an alternative sister zero percentage shocking."

I...

Very well then.

That specific explanation indeed held up logically.

"What about your side of the variables then? The exact instant I transported your form back into the borders of the J residence, did your consciousness truly never once generate a single shred of skepticism?" Julian tossed the inquiry back to my position.

"For what earthly reason should I harbor skepticism? In our previous lifetime, during our absolute first interpersonal intersection, didn't your lips explicitly declare a desire for me to enter your household to function as your sister? Re-encountering my form within the orphanage walls in this lifetime and choosing to bring me back was a perfectly organic sequence of events."

Julian...

Every single variable had aligned with such breathtaking cosmic precision.

"In our previous lifetime, on the exact calendar date when I packed my belongings to vacate the C family mansion, were you the ultimate catalyst who directed Driver Wu to deliver those fifty thousand dollars into my palms?"

Julian lightly massaged the bridge of his nose, offering a silent nod of absolute confirmation.

"You will flatly never elect to enter a marriage alliance alongside Christian again in this lifetime, correct?"

"I am zero percentage clinically insane, so for what earthly reason would I choose to bind my existence to his person?"

A massive sigh of relief escaped his chest, a thoroughly ecstatic smile blooming across his features.

"That is magnificent then."

To think that Julian was a fellow reincarnated entity as well.

I suddenly experienced an intense psychological sensation of having finally discovered a member of my own specific species within the world.

Suddenly, an alternative inquiry flashed through the front of my mind.

My return to this timeline was catalyzed by my physical body suffering absolute destruction during a massive multi-vehicle highway collision.

What about Julian's side of the equation?

Could it possibly be...

Absorbing the core of my inquiry.

Julian detailed that in our previous lifetime, the exact instant the devastating news of my physical passing reached his consciousness, his entire existence dissolved into a perpetual state of absolute, hazy numbness, choosing to drown his waking hours in relentless alcohol consumption.

One particular day, he had drunk himself into an absolute state of total stupor, only to blink his eyes open and discover his physical form had reverted to his childhood framework.

During the initial phase, his brain was entirely convinced that he had simply navigated a highly vivid nocturnal dream sequence.

Yet the absolute split second he relentlessly badgered his parents into arriving at the orphanage facilities, catching sight of my physical form idling within the space.

His heart began to hammer against his ribs with frantic, explosive velocity.

He understood with absolute certainty that the scenario was zero percentage a dream sequence.

Rather, his soul had successfully executed a total temporal reincarnation.

Reincarnating back into his childhood framework.

He firmly believed the miracle functioned as an explicit secondary opportunity granted to his head by the heavens above, prompting him to seamlessly transport my form back into the J family without a single shred of hesitation.

Absorbing Julian's summary.

I fell into an incredibly prolonged, heavy silence.

I hadn't anticipated that my passing in our previous lifetime would exert such a monumental, catastrophic psychological impact across his existence.

I vocalized a question that had remained buried within the deepest vaults of my consciousness for an eternity:

"Julian, in our previous lifetime... were the two of us truly exceptionally close acquaintances?"

His eyes flew wide open in absolute bewilderment:

"The two of us grew up in the exact same environment; do you honestly consider that to be a lack of closeness?"

Uh.

In the historical framework of my previous life, Julian's existence to my consciousness was strictly categorized as merely one of Christian's academic classmates, alongside sharing residency within the borders of the exact same residential neighborhood.

Yet evaluated from the perspective of his own consciousness, I functioned as his precious childhood sweetheart who had navigated the years of maturity right alongside his frame.