"Katherine Fox, if there is a next life, let's never meet again. Next time, I will have the courage to be with Caroline properly..."
When I opened my eyes, I was back.
——
The school corridor stretched before me. Christmas decorations hung from the ceiling. The sterile smell of antiseptic clung to the air.
This was the day Caroline tampered with the menu.
In the distance, she glanced around furtively before slipping into the kitchen. My body went rigid.
A thought struck like lightning.
I didn't hesitate. I spun on my heel and jogged straight to the surveillance room.
On the monitor, black-and-white footage showed Caroline Henson pulling a box of wild mushrooms from beneath her coat. She dumped them into the boiling soup pot.
My breath caught.
I really was reborn.
In my previous life, I had followed her into the kitchen. I had caught her in the act, scolded her, and dumped the soup.
I had saved everyone.
And in return? Dominic demanded I apologize to her because her feelings were hurt when people called her stupid.
She had been at the school less than a month.
First, she nearly dehydrated a student with laxatives.
Then, she caused another to fail a crucial exam with sleeping pills.
And finally, she tried to poison the entire student body.
If I intervened now, if I continued to clean up her messes, the cycle would only repeat.
In the last timeline, Caroline—spoiled rotten by Dominic—couldn't handle the mockery resulting from her own stupidity. She killed herself, and Dominic tortured me to death for it.
Phantom pain ripped through my abdomen. My stomach bursting. Soup flooding my lungs. The chair legs scraping against the floor as I convulsed.
A violent shudder wracked my body.
On the screen, Caroline hid the empty jar and sneaked out of the back exit.
I stared at the simmering pot of mushroom soup.
In my last life, Dominic claimed mushrooms couldn't kill people. He called me nosy.
This time, I wouldn't be nosy.
My hand reached out.
I turned off the monitor.
*Mushrooms can't kill people.*
Dominic's last words echoed in my skull.
Fine.
This time, I would grant his wish. I wouldn't interfere.
I wanted to see if Dominic Henson would still stand by those words when disaster truly struck.
I quietly backed up the surveillance footage to a secure drive and returned to the infirmary.
Less than ten minutes later, a frantic knock rattled the door.