After being reborn, I helped my ghost friend and her phoenix male husband

Chapter 1

My best friend, Sarah, lost everything when her family went bankrupt.

Desperate to avoid the debt collectors, she tearfully begged to stay with me.

My husband, Mark, and Sarah never got along, so I hesitated.

Surprisingly, Mark agreed, saying he could crash at his buddy’s place for a while.

Then the collectors showed up, and in the chaos, I got hurt, badly.

As I lay dying, I called Mark.

Moans and whispers filled the phone.

“I love seeing you like this, Miss High-and-Mighty, brought down to earth, begging me for help.”

“I just didn’t understand love back then, that’s why I was so mean to you. I knew you first, why did you marry her…”

I died full of hate, and then, I woke up.

Sarah had beaten me to the punch, confessing her feelings to the smart and popular Ethan.

She thought snagging Ethan was her ticket to the good life, but little did she know, without me, he was nothing.

…

I never imagined letting Sarah stay with me would lead to debt collectors banging on my door.

A man slapped me hard across the face.

“Where’s Sarah?! She owes me five grand! She doesn’t pay, you pay!”

I crashed to the floor, my cheek burning.

Staring at his twisted face, I forced myself to stay calm.

“She left yesterday. If you don’t leave, I’m calling the cops.”

That just made him angrier. He kicked me in the gut.

“It’s your fault I haven’t caught that bitch yet! And you’re gonna call the cops on me?!”

I curled up, protecting my head, pain ripping through me.

He didn’t look like a debt collector; he looked like he wanted revenge.

He pulled a knife.

“Give me Sarah, or I’ll kill you!”

The blade flashed, and I froze.

“She really left yesterday! I swear…”

He plunged the knife into me, screaming like a madman.

“Then die! I’ll take you down with me!”

As I bled out, I watched him run.

I fumbled for my phone, barely managing to dial Mark.

The call connected, and I heard the same sickening sounds from before.

“I love seeing you like this, Miss High-and-Mighty, brought down to earth, begging me for help.”

“I just didn’t understand love back then, that’s why I was so mean to you. I knew you first, why did you marry her…”

He chuckled, his breath ragged.

“Being the mistress is way more exciting than being the wife.”

Hearing their voices, I couldn’t tell if the knife wound or my heart hurt more.

While I was being beaten and stabbed, my husband and my best friend were hooking up in a hotel.

When I came to, I heard laughter and chatter.

“Whoa, did Sarah just slap Ethan again? She’s got a mean right hook! Look at that mark on his face, haha…”

“What’d Ethan do to piss her off this time?”

I blinked, confused.

I was in my high school classroom, and next to me sat Ethan, a red handprint on his cheek.

He stared straight ahead, silent.

I pinched myself, the sting confirming I was alive.

I was reborn.

Chapter 2

Just then, Sarah rushed into the classroom, panicked.

“Ethan!”

She froze when she saw me next to him.

Then, she walked over, a fake smile plastered on her face.

“Hey, Amy, we were just messing around. You don’t mind, right?”

She paused, then added, “You guys aren’t even dating.”

Her words told me she was reborn too.

The old Sarah would never have said that.

And she was strangely nervous asking me.

Too bad for her, Ethan had already confessed his feelings for me in a note back in junior year.

I’d told him to focus on his studies, though.

I looked at Sarah, feigning innocence.

“You guys are my best friend and my deskmate. Why are you always picking on him?”

Sarah’s heart leaped. This was the same reaction I’d had in my past life. Back then, she’d thought I was sticking up for Ethan, but later she realized I already had a crush on him.

This time, she was going to nip it in the bud.

Sarah linked her arm through mine.

“Amy, let’s switch seats. I need to ask Ethan something.”

I hesitated.

“Amy, I’m your best friend! Am I not more important than Ethan?!”

As I wavered, Ethan grabbed my sleeve, his face flushed with panic.

Sarah noticed and snapped, her old temper flaring.

“Ethan, don’t push it!”

I smirked inwardly. Even reborn, Sarah couldn’t shake her nasty attitude.

I pretended to give in.

“Fine, but just for today.”

Sarah agreed instantly. If she could get one day, she could get more.

As I gathered my things, I saw the hurt in Ethan’s eyes.

I scoffed.

He was pathetic. Sarah bullied him for three years, and he still fell for her.

As soon as class ended, Sarah bounced over, giggling.

“Amy, I’ve realized why I’m always picking on Ethan. I like him!”

“As my best friend, you’ll support me, right?”

I looked down, then nodded slowly, playing the part of the heartbroken girl who lost her chance at first love.

Sarah beamed, pumping me for information about Ethan’s likes and dislikes.

When the bell rang, she practically skipped back to her seat, making sure Ethan couldn’t talk to me.

Sarah thought she’d won by getting to Ethan first.

How naive.

Without my help, Ethan would barely graduate, let alone become a CEO.

Sarah’s dreams of a rich life with him were delusional.

Soon, Sarah was glued to Ethan’s side, using her crush as an excuse.

Ethan panicked.

During chemistry lab, he pulled me aside.

“Amy…don’t you like me anymore? Did I do something wrong? Tell me, I’ll fix it. Please don’t leave me.” His eyes pleaded with me.

Seeing him like this reminded me why I’d fallen for him in the first place.

Those puppy-dog eyes had convinced me to protect him from Sarah’s bullying.

I sighed, repeating my line from the past.

“I told you, we’ll be together after graduation. I don’t want you distracted now.”

Ethan’s face lit up, and he reached for my hand, like always.

The moment he touched me, I heard Mark and Sarah’s voices again.

I recoiled, pulling my hand away.

“Class is starting.”

Ethan grinned, happily trailing behind me.

They’d left me to die. Why should Sarah get to rewrite our story and get everything she wanted?

I was going to make their lives hell.

Chapter 3

With two months left until graduation, even the teachers noticed Sarah’s relentless pursuit of Ethan. Nobody wanted to see a bright student get derailed.

But they couldn’t do anything about the rich and spoiled Sarah. So they came to me, asking me to help Ethan.

I texted Sarah: [Graduation is soon. If you really like Ethan, you should let him focus on studying, not chase him around all day.]

Sarah scoffed. She was reborn; a few words from her wouldn’t affect Ethan’s future as valedictorian.

Sarah: [Ethan likes me chasing him. Amy, as a good friend, you should stay away from your best friend’s boyfriend!]

I chuckled at her text.

She knew a good friend should stay away from her best friend’s boyfriend.

Then, she sent me a video.

Ethan was slumped on a couch, flushed and disoriented. Sarah pinched his chin, her voice sickly sweet.

“Ethan, do you like me, or do you like Amy?”

Ethan mumbled, “You.”

“Who am I?”

“Sarah.”

Sarah, satisfied, kissed him and then looked directly at the camera, a smug look in her eyes.

I saved the video.

I didn’t even have to do anything; Sarah was destroying Ethan herself.

As the countdown on the blackboard dwindled, Sarah became bolder, sitting on Ethan’s lap, kissing him in front of everyone, reveling in his flustered reactions. She kept glancing my way, trying to gauge my reaction.

The day before graduation, Sarah brought Ethan to my parents’ house, announcing their relationship in front of both our families.

Ethan’s smile vanished the moment he saw me.

I glanced at their intertwined hands, and Ethan quickly let go, as if burned.

Sarah frowned, glaring at him.

Ethan looked down, avoiding my gaze.

“Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Ethan. He’s going to be valedictorian!”

Sarah’s parents looked surprised. “Honey, what are you talking about? Valedictorian? That hasn’t been announced yet.”

Sarah lifted her chin. “Ethan’s a genius. Valedictorian is nothing to him. He already has big plans for the future, in finance.”

She proceeded to outline my ideas from my past life, Ethan’s supposed company, even mentioning AI development, impressing her parents.

Even my parents were nodding along.

They didn’t notice the confusion in Ethan’s eyes.

Of course, he was confused. These were my ideas. He’d chosen finance because I had applied to business school.

Sarah turned to me, her voice sharp. “I’m saying this in front of everyone so Amy will stay away from Ethan. He’s my boyfriend. He doesn’t like you.”

Ethan shrunk in his seat.

I looked at him and said, “Okay.”

Ethan’s head snapped up, his face pale.

Sarah pinched him hard. “I trust Amy won’t do anything inappropriate, but it’s best if you two avoid each other.”

My parents’ faces hardened. They made an excuse and pulled me away.

Sarah’s parents tried to apologize, but she stopped them.

Her dad scolded her, “Sarah, what are you doing?! Our business relies on the Moore’s investment!”

Sarah scoffed, “After graduation, with Ethan as valedictorian and his brilliant ideas, we won’t need their money. We’ll just buy out their company, so Amy won’t be tempted to steal my boyfriend.”

Sarah’s parents exchanged glances, remembering Ethan’s guilty look when he saw me. Maybe there was something between them after all.

If Ethan was as successful as Sarah claimed, he’d be marrying into their family. They hoped Amy wouldn’t cause any trouble later.

After graduation, I joined my dad’s company, working on the AI project.

Sarah, meanwhile, hyped up Ethan, leaking the news of his valedictorian status to the press, announcing his future company, and boasting about acquiring Moore Industries within a year and partnering with Fortune 500 company, Horizon Group, within three.

A reporter asked, “The Millers and the Moores have always been close. Why are you targeting Moore Industries?”

Sarah put on a hurt expression. “I considered Amy my best friend, but she kept trying to seduce my boyfriend…”

Her friend chimed in, “Amy acts all innocent, but she purposely got Sarah to bully Ethan to get closer to him. She knew Sarah liked him!”

Ethan, fidgeting beside them, suddenly looked shocked. “Amy, I can’t believe you’d do that!”

The video went viral, and some of our less informed partners pulled out of deals with Moore Industries.

My parents wanted to confront the Millers, but I stopped them.

Sarah was using my work to try and steal my family’s company. She was dreaming.

Just when Sarah thought she had it all, the graduation results came out.

She was stunned when she saw Ethan’s score.

Sarah grabbed his collar, screaming, “What happened?!”