Reborn After He Burned Me Alive

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In my past life, Ethan's mom found a pair of sexy underwear in his room.

Faced with Ethan's pleading eyes, I accepted by default that the underwear was mine.

From that day on, I became a thorn in his mother's side.

Later, after the SAT, Ethanwho should have gotten into an Ivy League schoolonly made it into community college.

Ethan's mom lost her mind.

She set fire to my house and burned my entire family alive.

Reborn into this life, back to the day the lingerie was discovered.

This time, I'm not taking the fall.

"You little slut! So young and already seducing my son into sleeping with you? Have you no shame!"

Victoria Lane's shrill voice exploded through the apartment complex courtyard. A pink piece of lingerie landed on my face, reeking of an indescribable fishy smell.

My whole body trembled. In an instant, I remembered the bone-searing pain of being burned alive in my past life.

In my past life, it was also today. Mrs. Lane publicly accused me of seducing her son. I was about to open my mouth to refute when I caught Ethan's slightly pleading gaze.

The rebuttal on the tip of my tongue was swallowed back down.

I promised Mrs. Lane over and over that I would keep my distance from Ethan, never imagining that was just the beginning of a nightmare.

From that day on, whenever Ethan's grades showed the slightest fluctuation, Mrs. Lane would show up at our door crying and making a scene.

My parents were tormented beyond endurance and even lost their jobs.

I originally thought that after the SAT ended, things would gradually calm down.

I never expected that Ethanwhose grades should have been good enough for MITdropped a bombshell on SAT score release day.

He only scored just over 300 points.

Mrs. Lane went crazy. In the middle of the night, she doused our house with gasoline and burned our entire family alive.

My parents and I were trapped inside. The agony of flames licking my body and the smell of burning flesh intertwined.

The heart-wrenching screams of my parents are something I'll never forget in this lifetime.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms.

Ethan ran over and grabbed his mother. "Mom! Stop embarrassing yourself here!"

Mrs. Lane thought her son was protecting me and plopped down on the ground, wailing, "I worked so hard to raise my son. Ethan is my only hope. If you wanted a man, go find those delinquent punks who don't study. Why target my son? Are you trying to destroy me?"

Mrs. Lane knelt toward me. "Lily Thompson, I'm begging you, please leave our Ethan alone. I've never wronged you all these years. Just let me live, okay?"

With such a big scene, neighbors gathered around, pointing and whispering about me.

"This Lily seems so proper though..."

"You can't judge a book by its cover."

"And pink lingerie too. Young people these days really know how to have fun."

I took a deep breath, my eyes uncontrollably drifting toward Ethan.

Ethan's eyes were full of pleading, just like in my past life.

In my past life, I was soft-hearted and nodded, then carried the reputation of being frivolous and promiscuous from then on.

Mrs. Lane went around saying I was young but already knew how to seduce people. Our whole family couldn't hold our heads up in the complex.

And Ethan, the actual culprit, never once stood up to say a word in my defense from beginning to end.

I took a deep breath.

"This underwear isn't mine."

Mrs. Lane froze, then sneered, "Lying through your teeth, huh? If it's not yours, whose could it be? Besides you, Ethan never brings other girls home!"

I explained, "I get to school at 7:30 every morning and finish evening study hall at 10:30. My mom and dad take turns picking me up. Plus, every time I go to your place, Mrs. Lane, aren't you always there?"

I looked into her eyes. "Besides, the building security cameras can check, the school entrance logs can check. If you don't believe me, you can go look right now."

Mrs. Lane's neck stiffened. "What if you cut class?"

"I'm ranked second in my grade. You think I got a 600+ score by cutting class?"

Seeing more and more onlookers gathering, the security guard quickly came over to maintain order.

Guard Wilson squeezed through the crowd. "Alright, alright. I work night shift every day. This girl really does get picked up by her dad at 10:30 sharp every night. On weekends she still has to go to tutoring. Where would she have time to seduce your son? Making accusations requires evidence, doesn't it?"

My mom has always been kind to others and has a good reputation among the neighbors. The onlookers began to switch sides.

"Yeah, I've watched Lily grow up since she was little. She's well-behaved and sensible. She even tutored my daughter in freshman and sophomore year. Her character is beyond question."

"Lady, accusing a young girl without any proof is a bit much, don't you think?"

"Exactly. Besides, that thing is attached to your son. If he wasn't willing, could a girl force him?"

"Victoria, did you misunderstand something?"

Mrs. Lane's face turned the color of liver.

Ethan's expression was also ugly. He grabbed his mom and left. "Mom! Stop making a scene. Let's go home!"

Mrs. Lane was being dragged away but didn't forget to turn back and glare at me with a vicious warning look.

I stood in place, my palms full of sweat, but I knew this wasn't over.

Because Ethan really did have a girlfriend he didn't dare let his mom know about. In the future, whatever trouble the two of them caused would be dumped on my head again.

Soon enough, I met Ethan's girlfriend.

The next day at school, there was a girl sitting on my desk. The books and test papers I'd stacked neatly were swept onto the floor.

She sat crookedly, as if trying very hard to contort herself into alluring curves.

The originally oversized school uniform had been altered to fit her body, the collar open wide so you could see the low-cut bra underneath from above.

I knew herMadison Brooks from the class next door. With her grades, it would be hard for her to get into a good school.

I stood in front of her. "Move. This is my seat."

She sat on the desktop without moving. "Oh, so this is Ethan's little childhood friend? Pretty ugly, but you sure dream big."

She deliberately raised her voice. "I heard you left your lingerie at Ethan's place yesterday. Mrs. Lane didn't hit you, did she?"

The students nearby perked up their ears, no longer sleepy or busy, listening in on the gossip.

Ethan still said nothing.

I smiled. "Madison, it's not good to badmouth your boyfriend like this, is it? You two have already gotten intimate. Too scared to own up to it? Want to pin it on me instead?"

"Enough!"

Ethan looked at me with disappointment. "Why are you joining in on this nonsense?"

I took a deep breath. "Ethan, control your girlfriend. If she keeps spreading rumors about me, I'll tell Mrs. Lane about you two."

Madison obviously knew how formidable Mrs. Lane was and awkwardly shut her mouth.

I gathered my things from the floor, grabbed my backpack, and walked straight to the last row, sitting down next to the school bully.

The school bully was named Derek Frost. Tall and built, he slept in the back row year-round, and no one dared mess with him.

He lifted his head to glance at me, then laid it back down.

Ethan walked over, lowering his voice. "What are you doing? Move back!"

"No."

"Don't joke around with your grades." He frowned. "Class is about to start."

I looked at his face and suddenly felt disgusted.

In my past life, I took the fall for him. What did he do afterward?

After our family of three died, Mrs. Lane was sentenced to death.

He "turned over a new leaf," changed his name, repeated senior year, then went straight to MIT.

Living his happy, brilliant life.

Never once saying sorry from beginning to end.

"Where I sit is my freedom." I looked down at my book. "Don't bother me."

During the break, I went to the bathroom. Just as I closed the stall door, I heard a "click"someone locked it from the outside.

Madison's laughter came from outside. "Lily, you were pretty bold just now, huh? If you kneel down and beg me, I'll be kind and pour a little less water on you."

As soon as she finished speaking, a bucket of cold water poured down from above.

I was soaked through.

Madison and her group laughed hysterically outside.

I wiped my face, stepped back two paces, and slammed into the bathroom door.

"Bang!"

The lock broke. I rushed out and grabbed Madison by the hair, shoving her head into the dirty sink beside us.

"Ahh!" She screamed and struggled.

The other three were terrified. No one dared move.

I pressed her down, enunciating each word. "I'm not interested in Ethan. Don't provoke me. Got it?"

Just then, Ethan suddenly rushed in and without a word, slapped me across the face.

"Smack!"

My cheek stung with burning pain.

"Lily, this is bullying!" He stood protectively in front of Madison.

The dean arrived at the sound. "Everyone stop right now!"

Madison covered her face and collapsed crying into Ethan's arms. "I don't know why she suddenly came at me. I just got a little closer to Ethan. If you didn't like it, you could have just said so. Why bully me like this?"

Ethan looked at me coldly. "Dean, Lily struck first."

I laughed coldly. "Then explain why I'm soaking wet."

"There's a surveillance camera at the bathroom entrance. Who's right and who's wrong will be clear with one look."

The dean glanced at me, then at him.

I knew that between Ethan and meone ranked first in grade, one ranked second, both aiming for Ivy League schoolspunishing either of us could cause problems.

In the end, the dean glared at Madison. "Madison Brooks, 5,000-word self-criticism, to be read aloud at Monday's school-wide assembly!"

Madison glared at me hatefully.

"Lily! I'm not done with you!"

Monday, just after Madison finished reading her self-criticism, the school forum exploded.

A user called "Ethan's Wife" went on a posting spree on the forum.

[Ethan wore a white shirt today, so handsome!]

[Worthy of being my boyfriend, want to lick, want to lick]

[That idiot Madison, why is she so close to my boyfriend?]

[Ethan and I are childhood friends. I'm Mrs. Lane's handpicked daughter-in-law. Does that bitch think she can compete with me?]

The attached images were all private photos of Ethaneating, sleeping, wearing a tank top... The angles were extremely intimate, clearly taken at home.

Based on the deliberately provided "clues" in the posts, you didn't even need to guessit was obviously "me."

The student next to me gave me a thumbs up. "Holy crap, girl, you're amazing!"

"Lily dares to love and hate. Truly an inspiration to us all."

"Is this what academic love looks like? So thrilling!"

Soon, the homeroom teacher called me to the office. Sitting beside her were Mrs. Lane and Ethan.

As soon as Mrs. Lane saw me, she rushed over, hand raised high. But before the slap could land, my dad grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing!" My dad pulled me protectively behind him.

The teacher sighed. "You know about the forum posts, right? It's a very bad influence, and Ethan's grades have been greatly affected recently..."

Ethan glanced at me, his eyes dark with unreadable emotion. "Lily, what's the point of doing this? I don't like you at all... If my past behavior made you misunderstand, I apologize, but can you please stop making things up about me?"

Hearing Ethan's words, Mrs. Lane became even more convinced that I was the one who posted on the forum. "I knew you had bad intentions! Last time it was lingerie, this time spreading nonsense online! If my son doesn't get into MIT, I'll kill you!"

Both my parents spoke at once. "Our daughter would never do such a thing!"

I pressed down my angry parents and spoke directly to the teacher. "Teacher, the post has such high visibility now that the whole school knows about it. The impact is huge. This could be prosecuted. Why don't we report it to the police and have the cyber police trace the IP? Whoever posted it gets arrested."

Mrs. Lane froze, then immediately nodded. "Yes! Call the police!"

Now it was Ethan's turn to look pale.

"We can't call the police." Ethan suddenly stood up.

Mrs. Lane glared at him. "Ethan, how can you be so confused! The most important thing now is to root out the real vixen. You can't let this affect your studies!"

Ethan avoided her gaze. "Mom, we're all classmates. Making this bigger will affect my studies even more. Let's just drop it. I promise I'll definitely rank first in grade next time."

The homeroom teacher didn't want things to escalate either. If this somehow made the news and went viral, her meager salary wouldn't be enough to cover the deductions.

She quickly tried to smooth things over. "That's right, Mrs. Lane. They're just kids having little squabbles. If this gets out, Ethan will be pointed at wherever he goes in the future. Don't worry, our school will definitely investigate thoroughly and won't let other people affect your child's studies."

Mrs. Lane looked at him suspiciously, then at me.

Finally, she left through gritted teeth.

Only Ethan and I remained in the hallway.

He leaned down, lowering his voice. "What's going on with you lately? Changing seats, getting into fights, now you want to call the police. Do you have to give me trouble?"

I laughed.

"Ethan, get it straight. We're just ordinary neighbors. Your mom wrongly accused me, you gave false testimony for Madison, and now you want to pin the blame on me. I'm not allowed to fight back?"

His face turned iron-blue. He couldn't say a word.

"Stop putting yourself on a pedestal." I picked up my backpack. "I have no interest in causing you trouble. Don't disgust me either."

As I walked past him, Ethan grabbed my hand. "Lily, you weren't like this before..."

I laughed coldly. "Ethan, I once thought you weren't this kind of person either."

This time, I shook off his hand and didn't look back.

Mrs. Lane still didn't trust me.

She installed surveillance cameras in the hallway just to monitor what time I came home.

She even stalked all my social media accounts. Even if I posted about going out to have fun, she'd immediately screenshot it and ask my mom if I'd brought her son along.

My mom was afraid it would affect my mood, so she just endured Mrs. Lane's harassment.

But I couldn't stand it.

Friday evening study hall, I glanced at Ethan's seat. He wasn't there again.

I heard he'd taken sick leave, but Mrs. Lane was the type who would make him go to school unless he was dying. I didn't believe he was really sick.

I took out my phone and snapped a panoramic photo of the classroom.

Ethan's seat was in the lower left corner. Most people wouldn't notice, but I was sure Mrs. Lane would spot her precious son's absence at a glance.

I clicked send and added a caption: "Another day of hard work studying. When will the SAT come!"

Less than ten minutes after posting, hurried footsteps echoed through the classroom hallway.

Mrs. Lane rushed into the classroom, out of breath. "Where's Ethan?"

I didn't even lift my head, focused on my work. "No idea, Mrs. Lane. Maybe check wherever there aren't many people around?"

Mrs. Lane seemed to think of something. Her expression changed, and she turned and ran.

I leaned against the window ledge, watching her figure disappear toward the far end of the field.

Before long, a piercing scream came from the direction of the small grove.