A Lifetime Misplaced

At that moment, Avery suddenly came running in through the doorway, crying. She rushed straight over and pulled me behind her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, please don't hit him. If anyone deserves to be punished, it should be me. I wanted to go to college so badly. I wanted Mrs. Bennett's sponsorship so badly that I lied."

My heart skipped a beat.

Why had her attitude changed so suddenly?

Just then, Caleb rushed in from outside.

Grabbing her arm, he shouted, "Avery, how can you take the blame for him? No matter how close you two are, you can't do something like this! What about your reputation?"

To my surprise, Avery kicked him hard. "Stay out of it! This has nothing to do with you!"

Then she turned back to my parents.

"I'm telling the truth, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. I was the one who told Logan to do it. Please don't punish him."

I was completely stunned.

Hadn't these two been in love for decades?

Why were they acting so differently now?

A ridiculous thought suddenly flashed through my mind. Could Avery have been reborn too after running out of the classroom?

The more I thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

Caleb hadn't lived well during the decades Avery and I were married. I'd heard he'd developed a gambling addiction and eventually sold his house, leaving himself homeless.

Even if the two of them inherited everything after my death, with Caleb's gambling habits, it probably wouldn't have taken long for him to lose it all.

Maybe life had become harder and harder for them afterward. Maybe that was why she'd finally remembered my worth.

She really was calculating.

What surprised me even more was that my father abruptly cut off their argument.

"Enough. What exactly are you making a scene about? When did I ever say I was going to hit my son? Are you trying to drive a wedge between us?"

Avery froze. "No, sir, I just—"

My father waved her silent. "That's enough. Whether you're punished or not is the school's decision. There's no reason to discuss it with me."

"Mr. Whitaker, I believe my son. If you're going to accuse him without even figuring out what actually happened, then let's take this to the principal's office or the school board. Either one works for me."

My eyes instantly reddened again as I was moved.

Mr. Whitaker clearly hadn't expected my father to be this forceful. Every single time he'd called my parents in, my father would punish me before anything else.

This sudden change caught him completely off guard, leaving him standing there speechless.

Fortunately, Ms. Eleanor Hayes, the English teacher, stepped in to smooth things over.

"This is a serious matter. The school should investigate it thoroughly before deciding who's responsible. Why don't we let the students return to class first while we continue looking into it?"

Mr. Whitaker immediately seized the opportunity to back down.

Before leaving, I turned to my father. "Dad, I don't want to go back to class today. I want to go home with you."

To my surprise, he agreed. Right there in front of the teachers, he asked for leave on my behalf and took me home.

I didn't want to stay at school because I'd only just been reborn. I needed some quiet time to sort through my thoughts.

Also, I genuinely wanted to spend time with my parents.

After we got home, Mom cooked a massive dinner. Dad even made an exception and allowed me to have a sip of alcohol with him.

I asked, "Dad, why did you believe me?"

He shot me a glare. "Because I know my own son. If you really wanted to steal exam papers, you'd have done it years ago. You wouldn't have spent all these years ranking at the bottom in class."

"You're my son. I can discipline you whenever I want. But I won't let outsiders wrongfully accuse you."

My eyes filled with tears once again.

Just as our family was enjoying a rare moment of happiness together, someone knocked on the front door. It was Avery.

The moment she walked in and saw the feast laid out on the table, she automatically pulled out a chair and sat down beside me, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.