Joel was initially taken aback but quickly erupted with joy. Juliette, on the other hand, looked devastated.
I brushed past Joel and leaned into Juliette, whispering, "It's time for you to pay up on our bet. I'm eagerly waiting for you to call me 'Daddy.'"
Juliette's face darkened with anger.
As expected, Juliette tried to weasel out of it. She denied ever making the bet and refused to apologize publicly or call me "Daddy."
That was fine with me. I knew from my previous life that Juliette would try to avoid her promises. My goal was to make her uncomfortable. I had plenty of opportunities to deal with her later. Most importantly, her denial meant she couldn't complain to Joel about our bet, so I wouldn't need to waste time explaining things to him. After all, if Joel didn't experience the same pain I had before, it wouldn't be true revenge.
After the Fourth of July festivities, my reputation surged across campus. Almost no one remembered the old story of Erica Contreras, the student who got by on financial aid and collected recyclables for a year. Now, whenever my name came up, it was met with awe and praise.
But I didn't let it go to my head. I remembered my humble beginnings and the painful end of my previous life. Now, I was using my foresight to improve myself and raise my family's living standard. Every step I took, I made sure to be grounded and steady.
By evening, I declined Joel's invitation and hurried outside with some cat food, heading toward the southeastern part of the campus.
The area was still undeveloped and desolate. No one knew that six months ago, I spent nearly all my savings to buy up this wasteland. Even fewer knew I had been taking care of a few stray cats here.
When I arrived, I was surprised to see a guy squatting in front of the stray cats, placing food on the ground. Did someone else know about this place and come to feed the cats?
As I approached, I was surprised to find it was Duncan Mathis.
I was even more taken aback. Like I said, I had become one of the campus celebrities, and Duncan, a senior in the computer science program, was another. Rumor had it that he came from a wealthy background and spent most of his time working on apps outside of school. I never met him in my previous life and had only seen his photos on bulletin boards around campus.
"Erica, are these cats yours?" Duncan asked as the strays affectionately rubbed against me.