After Dying In Labor, I Reborn To Dump The Broke Heartthrob

Back when I was chasing Julian Reed, the brooding, broke golden boy of our college class, I was utterly shameless. I didn't just cover his tuition and living expenses; I even paid for his sick mother's life-saving surgery. Armed with pure devotion and an unlimited black card, I finally wore him down and made him mine. After we married, I thought I had secured my happily ever after. I was wrong. Julian never loved me. Not for a single second. Behind years of quiet compliance, he secretly despised me, convinced I was a manipulative heiress who bought him and trampled his pride. So, on the day I went into labor—which happened to fall on the wedding day of his childhood sweetheart—he took his revenge. Drowning in bitterness, he refused to sign the emergency C-section consent form. He left me to bleed out on the operating table, taking our unborn twins with me. Three lives, snuffed out in cold blood. When I opened my eyes again, I turned right around and donated the tuition money straight to the university's emergency scholarship fund. Ignoring Julian’s shocked, humiliated glare, I turned with a radiant smile toward the billionaire heir who actually matched my status. "A power couple? That sounds like what we were always meant to be." "Julian, if you're facing financial hardship, you can apply for a tuition waiver." "Why bother, Professor? Everyone knows Miss Vance will pay it for him!" My eyes snapped open. I wasn't in that sterile, blood-soaked delivery room anymore. I was sitting in a sunlit college lecture hall. Right now, the professor was gently urging Julian Reed to apply for financial aid. Around us, our classmates were laughing and catcalling, waiting for me to step in and foot his bill like I always did. I pinched my thigh hard. The sharp sting grounded me. I had really gone back—fifteen years into the past. Back to when I was still Julian’s pathetic, lovesick doormat. Every single day, I had chased after this aloof campus prince, throwing money and dignity at his feet. I had covered every dime of his fees, and I had even begged my parents to pull strings with the city's top surgeons to save his dying mother. In my past life, I was completely obsessed with him. I gave him my heart and my family's wealth, but all I ever received in return was icy disdain. Yet, after years of relentless pursuit, he finally agreed to date me. I foolishly thought I had melted the ice king's heart. In reality, he only gave in because his precious childhood sweetheart, Heather Green, had been injured in an accident and desperately needed money for surgery. When I found out the truth, I wept bitterly and offered to let him walk away. Instead, his eyes rimmed with red, and he took my hand. "Chloe, I’m not leaving." He swore he would truly build a life with me, and he began treating me like a queen. Fool that I was, I believed him. I forgave him. Later, he took over my family's corporation while I stepped back into the role of a devoted housewife. Soon after, I became pregnant with twins. Then came the news of Heather's wedding. That single announcement shattered my carefully constructed illusion. When my labor went south and I hemorrhaged, Julian coldly refused to sign the consent form for the C-section. As the agony consumed me and my vision blurred into black, Julian leaned down. With bloodshot eyes, he whispered every word like poison into my ear: "This is your payback. If you hadn't used your dirty money to bribe and threaten me, using Heather's and my mother's medical bills as leverage, Heather and I would never have been torn apart." "You deserve to die. Once you're dead, I’ll inherit every cent of the Vance fortune and marry Heather. Consider this your compensation to us!" Because of his refusal, my labor was dragged out. Deprived of oxygen, my twin babies suffocated inside me, and my heart gave out soon after. Three lives, erased in sheer agony. I bought this lesson with my life: you can never force love from a hollow heart. The memory of that visceral horror made me instantly yank back the hand reaching for my checkbook. I looked up at Julian, standing tall and proud by his desk. He wore that same familiar expression of untouchable arrogance, outright rejecting the professor's suggestion to apply for financial aid.Laughter rippled through the classroom. "Come on, Chloe’s already spent a fortune on him. What's one more semester of tuition to her?" A cold smirk touched my lips. Julian suddenly snapped, his voice ringing across the room: "I may be poor, but I have my pride! I'd rather drop out than take another cent of Chloe Vance's charity!" With his chin held high, he marched over to my desk. "Don't even think about buying me with your wealth anymore. I would rather starve in the streets than be with someone like you!" Hearing that, a chill ran down my spine, followed by sudden clarity. Julian had regressed, too. In our previous life, he would have frowned, played the reluctant martyr, and quietly pocketed my money anyway. This time, he had openly rejected me. Splendid. What a spine. Without missing a beat, I turned and handed the thick envelope of cash straight to the professor. "Professor, since the university offers grants for students in need, I’d like to donate this money directly to the student hardship fund. I hope it helps someone who actually deserves it." The professor froze. Julian froze, too. "Chloe, did I hear that right? Isn't this... for Julian?" I nodded, locking eyes with Julian. His face shifted from haughty triumph to pure shock and mortification. The wealthy heiress who had kissed the ground he walked on had suddenly cut him off. His fragile, arrogant ego couldn't take the hit. He scoffed, trying to regain his footing. "Chloe, stop playing hard to get. I told you, I won't accept your money." "Unless... you swear in front of everyone that you won't force me to date you. If you do that, I might reconsider and let you sponsor me." I burst out laughing, clutching my stomach. I raised my voice so the whole room could hear: "Mr. Reed, I never said this money was for you. Whether you swallow your pride and apply for financial aid or pack your bags and drop out is none of my business." The spectators erupted into wild laughter. Julian had always prided himself on being the cold, unbothered prince, but he was too accustomed to having the upper hand. After a split second of panic, he straightened up. "Everything you gave me before was your own choice," he declared, glaring at me. "Don't delude yourself into thinking we have a future. Swear to everyone right now that you won't pressure me to be your boyfriend, and I'll graciously accept your sponsorship so I can finish my degree." The sheer audacity... Even the students sitting around us couldn't hold back their snickers. It was the first time anyone had seen a beggar act like an entitled prince demanding tribute. "Is Julian deaf? Chloe literally just said she's donating it to the university fund. When did she offer to sponsor him?" "Seriously. If Chloe hadn't spent years spoiling him, where would a broke guy get the nerve to act so entitled?" "Wait, did Chloe really harass him that badly just because he's hot?" Whispers spread like wildfire, quickly shifting toward whether I had used my wealth to corner him.I had no intention of wearing the "obsessed stalker" label in this life, nor was I going to be painted as an evil heiress who bought lovers. It was time to clear the air once and for all. I fixed Julian with a freezing stare. "You still want my money? The school has a clear financial aid policy, but you're too proud to file paperwork, expecting me to grovel and hand it to you on a silver platter? What do you take me for? A charity case with a humiliation kink?" Seeing my deadpan coldness, the arrogant smirk on Julian’s face cracked. Still, he stubbornly held his ground. "I don't care if this is another one of your pathetic games. You won't force me away from Heather this time, and you will never force me to date a venomous woman like you!" By now, the crowd wasn't stupid. They could see that I was genuinely done being his walking ATM. Besides, I had never forced him into anything. How could he claim I had torn lovers apart with money? Yes, I had pursued him doggedly in the past, but feelings change. Who said I was obligated to worship him forever? With the truth laid bare, those trying to throw dirt on me had nothing left to say. "Julian, just apply for financial aid like everyone else. We all know your family's broke." "Yeah, man, don't demand a girl's money while trash-talking her. That's just low." "Exactly. Chloe spent so much on you, and she never held a gun to your head." Hearing the crowd take my side, the agony of my past death surged into my throat. I admit, I once fell for his quiet pride and brooding charm. But I never coerced him. Instead, Julian was the one who treated me like dirt, taking my money while calling me a useless, spoiled rich girl behind closed doors. In that past life, I had defied my parents, moved into his cramped, run-down apartment, cooked and cleaned for his bedridden mother, and even put my own studies on hold to help his career. I gave him everything in silence. Yet to him, I was always the evil woman waving a checkbook to demean him. He convinced himself I had orchestrated his separation from Heather, that my money had trapped him in a relationship, a marriage, and fatherhood. I used to mourn that the moon never shone on me. Now, I only despised how hypocritical, cowardly, cruel, and deeply twisted he truly was. I raised my chin and announced loudly: "Mr. Reed, I might have wasted my time chasing you in the past, but starting today, you and I are complete strangers. Everyone in this room is my witness." "And don't worry—you won't see another dime of my money. I wouldn't want you choking on your own self-righteous pride." Leaving Julian standing there, pale and dumbfounded, I walked out of the classroom and headed home.My parents were in complete disbelief when I came home. Looking at their warm, worried faces, the trauma of my previous life broke through, and I burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. My father, who had been furious with me for obsessing over Julian, instantly panicked at the sight of my tears. "Chloe... sweetheart... if you really love that boy, Dad won't stop you anymore!" My mother choked back tears of her own, terrified that someone had hurt me, threatening to drag our family lawyers and bodyguards out to settle the score. "No," I choked out, wiping my eyes. "It's over. All of it. I was blind and foolish before. Julian was just using me as a meal ticket, and I threw temper tantrums at you two because of him. I put you through so much pain." My father visibly exhaled. He didn't know what had brought about this sudden change of heart, but he was overjoyed that I had finally come to my senses. I dried my tears and sat down at the dining table under their loving gazes. The table was filled with all my favorite dishes. Mom gently placed a tender glazed rib into my bowl. "Eat up, sweetheart... You've gotten so thin lately." In the past, to protect Julian's fragile male ego, I had deliberately worn cheap clothes, squeezed onto public buses, and forbidden my family's chauffeurs from picking me up. Now, looking in the mirror at my designer outfit and flawless makeup, I found my past self utterly ridiculous. I was born to stand at the top of the world. Why on earth did I drag myself through the mud for a piece of trash? The next morning, I instructed our chauffeur to park the Maybach right in front of the main campus gates. The moment the heavy door swung open, gasps echoed through the courtyard. "Chloe Vance arrived in a Maybach?" "Didn't she always take the bus to keep Julian from feeling inferior?" I held my head high and strutted past the crowd, only to be cut off at the corner of the academic building. It was Julian. His collar was stained with grease, dark circles shadowed his bloodshot eyes, and in his fist was a crumpled piece of paper. I glanced at it. An overdue tuition notice from the bursar's office. "Out of my way," I said coldly, stepping around him. "Chloe Vance!" He lunged forward and grabbed the strap of my designer bag so violently that I nearly stumbled. "Do you really think playing hard to get is going to bring me to my knees?" I slapped his hand away and sneered, "Mr. Reed, you're blocking my path." His chest heaved. He slammed the crumpled notice against the brick wall. "Stop acting so pure! In our last life, weren't you crying and begging me to take your money?" "Wait... You remember, don't you? You're reborn too!" He took a threatening step closer. "Even if you are, it doesn't change a thing. You'll always be the pathetic girl desperate for my scraps! Go to the bursar's office right now, cancel that damn donation, and pay my tuition! And Heather's, too!" I almost laughed out loud from pure rage. "And why on earth would I do that?" "Because you're the reason she can't pay hers!" The veins on his neck bulged. "Heather's mom is in the hospital! She can't even afford lunch in the dining hall! You just threw hundreds of thousands at a stupid scholarship fund—covering her tuition is the least you can do!" Students began gathering along the hallway, several pulling out their phones to record. Julian straightened his posture, raising his voice for everyone to hear: "Chloe Vance, you claimed you loved me, yet you won't even do this simple thing?" He deliberately tilted his chin, sporting the haughty arrogance I had once been so infatuated with. "As long as you do it, I can consider taking you out on a date."