Rebirth Into My Second Chance

Descending from the upstairs VIP room, I caught sight of Claude scanning the crowd, presumably for me. I quickened my pace, hoping to avoid any chance of him realizing I'd been in a more exclusive area of the venue.

In my mind, Max was becoming an enigma, or rather, I'd suddenly convinced myself he must be one of those elusive Hilton heirs - sans any concrete proof to back up my theory.

"Claudy," I called out softly.

He turned, his eyes locking onto mine with an urgency that froze me in place. Why was this Claude, in this lifetime, so desperately seeking me out?

In my past life, he couldn't have cared less about my existence, even ignoring me when I was kidnapped. His world revolved solely around his Kate. "Where've you been?" he reached out to me, and I bit my lip before asking, "Claudy, if one day Kate and I were both kidnapped, who would you save?" His brows furrowed. "Don't talk nonsense."

"And what if, one day, I just disappeared? Would you look for me?"

"Yes," he said with such conviction it made my question feel utterly redundant, especially knowing that in my past life, he wouldn't have bothered. "Whose jacket is that?"

He noticed I was wearing Max's jacket, and his earlier concern quickly turned to displeasure, almost as if he was eager to get it off me.

"It's my teacher's. I accidentally got your jacket wet when I went to the restroom, and I ran into my teacher."

I stepped back, unwilling to let him take the jacket from me.

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