Chapter 3

Tanner and Maisie hurried back to the classroom from the cafeteria right before the after-school program started. With a sour face, he marched up to me. "Pearl, did you do this on purpose?" Wait a minute. I wondered what set him off again this time. Closing his eyes, he mumbled with difficulty, "You've gotten what you wanted. You may now top up my meal card." Hah. He must have gone crazy after not having enough money for lunch at the cafeteria. He continued, "Maisie needs to have her lunch on time because she has gastritis. Are you happy now? Remember—no matter what you do, I'll never fall in love with you!" I raised my voice in disbelief. "Are you asking me to top up your meal card so you can buy lunch for yourself and Maisie?" He glanced around in panic. After confirming that no one was looking our way, he said to me coldly, "Isn't that what you want?" I drew in a sharp breath. At first, I had wanted to keep my calm for the sake of my revenge plan, but I could no longer tolerate his nonsense. Pointing a finger in his face, I snapped, "Don't you guys have parents? Why are you asking me to feed you? Just look at that round face of yours! You must have had too many pork chops in the last year!" "Are you saying you won't top up my meal card?" Of course, I wouldn't. My money didn't grow on trees. I would rather feed the strays on the street than buy anything for Tanner. My anger ballooned with time. I grabbed the lunchbox that was still filled with food from my drawer and smashed it on his head. "Go to your mom if you want to be fed! Stop behaving like a stray!" Ashen-faced, he growled, "Pearl Rosenbloom, you'll regret this!" It was public knowledge that I had a crush on Tanner. My classmates brushed off my tantrum, thinking it was just my jealousy speaking. They thought I would be fine in a few days and continued groveling at Tanner's feet. Tanner obviously thought the same. When classes were over, I entered the Rolls-Royce at the school entrance and ordered the driver to set off. The driver gasped in surprise, "Aren't we going to wait for Mr. Rosenbloom?" I glared at him. "Who's Mr. Rosenbloom?" "Did you get into a fight with Mr. Rosenbloom? Gosh, Ms. Rosenbloom, you're too pampered and egoistic. It's no surprise that Mr. Rosenbloom is popular with girls, given how perfect he is. You can't be mad at him all the time. A guy has his ego. Now, just cheer him up with a few thousand dollars!" In this life, I finally saw through the evil plan underneath our driver John Reilly's kind facade. It wasn't until my death that I learned the truth about John being Tanner's biological father. To ensure that Tanner made it into the Rosenbloom family, John went as far as to change Tanner's last name. "John, are you serious? How could you address that parasitic loser as 'Mr. Rosenbloom'? Why would you ask me to pay him a few thousand dollars? He doesn't deserve it. What bullshit! Start the car!" I deliberately made the scathing remark. It was meant to be a slap to John’s face. In my past life, I fell for John's words and worshiped Tanner while even thinking that I was out of Tanner's league. "Huh? Ms. Rosenbloom, I don't think that's right. Hey, look, he's here." John cried out to Tanner, "Mr. Rosenbloom! Here!" In everyone's eyes, John's repeated mentions of "Mr. Rosenbloom" confirmed the rumor about Tanner's wealthy background. Tanner noticed I was waiting in the car, but he took his time to join me. Standing by the car, he towered over me. "Are you happy now that Maisie's gastritis has been triggered?" Seething, I barked at him, "Quit that nonsense! She had gastric pain because you chose to flirt with her in the classroom instead of getting lunch on time. It wasn't my fault! Stop putting the blame on me!" John didn't like that I was yelling at his son. "Ms. Rosenbloom, I need to lecture you here. You're not being reasonable—" I cut him off. "John, know your place! You're not my dad; you don't have the right to lecture me." John returned to his seat with an impish look. "I… I just didn't want any misunderstanding to occur between the two of you." "Start the car!" John would not set off without getting Tanner into the car. He opened the car door for Tanner. Tanner got in, and the first thing he said to me was, "Pearl, you're a lost cause!" Then, he helped Maisie into the car. "Maisie, slow down." He turned to John. "John, same thing tonight. We'll send Maisie home first." "Okay!" As I watched their exchange with a cold detachment, I resolved to get John fired. In my past life, I always had John drive Tanner home since Tanner lived further away. This meant I would get home late and never have enough time to rest. In the mornings, I’d leave an hour early to pick up Tanner and Maisie. When Dad barely got to see me, he asked John about my daily activities. John lied, saying I was often out having fun and refused to come home, which only deepened my dad's disappointment in me.