Chapter 2 Chloe woke up at 3 AM. Her body and soul were finally in sync after a rough merge, allowing her to control her limbs freely. She took out her phone and typed two words into the search bar: Tristan Rhodes. An old man's photo popped up on the screen. The last time Chloe met Tristan felt like it was just yesterday. It was hard for her to accept that an eight-year-old, cute kid had turned into an elderly man with wrinkles all over his face in the blink of an eye. Turning seventy, Tristan experienced various health issues and spent most of his time abroad for treatment, rarely making public appearances. The Rhodes family was gradually handed over to the new helmsman, Michael Rhodes. To see Tristan, Chloe must go through Michael first. But even seeing Michael wasn't easy either. Chloe decided to put this matter aside for now. She started scrolling through short videos on her phone. The rapid development of the country, the confident citizens, and the advanced technology… everything amazed her. "Miss." Just then, there was a knock on the door. Chloe noticed it was already bright outside. Recalling the body owner's routine, she should be getting up and heading to school by now. When the SAT hit, her mom had just died. The girl was so wrecked that she ran to the wrong test site-flunked the first exam hard. Total downward spiral from there. Ended up barely cracking 300 total. Afterward, she was assigned to Erord City to redo her senior year. Chloe was quite curious about what education looked like in this era's schools. She grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs. Just as she walked down, a teenager stood up from the dining table and pointed at her angrily. "You're the one who splashed red wine on my sister at yesterday's party?" This was Joel Lancaster, Chloe's half-brother from their father's other marriage. " Oh please-splash? I was treating your sis to a generous taste! Fresh and refreshing, just what she needed." Chloe raised her hand and forcefully bent back Joel's finger while smiling sweetly. "Don't point at people; otherwise, you'll be called a brute." Joel couldn't believe his ears or eyes. Since moving talk back. to their home, this older sister of his had always been meek and kept her head down low. Today, she actually dared to He glared furiously. "You are a brute, you hick-" "That's enough!" Sergio slammed his hand on the table. "Yesterday you offended Mr. Rhodes; today you're arguing with your brother early in the morning! Chloe, you're eighteen years old now; how can you still act so irresponsibly?" "What's the point of arguing with a kid?" Stepmom Sarah chimed in, "Let's pull some strings and try to meet Mr. Rhodes and apologize; hopefully, he'll forgive us." Chloe sat down at the dining table. "Don't worry. He won't bother to hold a grudge against us." The Rhodes family had a natural gentleness and tolerance ingrained in their bones. Her husband was like that, and even her eight-year- old son back then. The Rhodes descendants naturally wouldn't be too bad either. 1/8 If they held onto such small matters, life would be too exhausting. After finishing breakfast, Chloe grabbed her backpack and hopped into the car. She transferred to Erord College and became classmates with Erin. They were supposed to share the same car to school, but due to their strained relationship, the butler had to arrange another car. Stepping onto campus, Chloe froze dead. Those spotless classrooms staring back at her felt like another world. Back when she was in school, it was wartime. Several of the schools she attended were bombed, and she barely managed to finish high school. Later, she went to university, graduate school, and even studied abroad. The hardships of her academic journey now seemed bittersweet in retrospect. The original owner of the body was in the liberal arts class, studying subjects like history and politics. But Chloe wasn't really interested in those. In her previous life, her physics scores often topped the class, but the principal thought her math was even better. She was recommended to the country's best university to study math, starting a long journey of mathematical research. She was curious to know how far domestic mathematical research had progressed in the past seventy years. Clearly, high school textbooks couldn't provide the answer. "Erin, look at Chloe. So fake," Erin's deskmate whispered with a sneer, "She only scored over 300 on the SAT. What's with the show of being a good student?" Erin glanced over. She saw Chloe flipping through the three-year high school textbooks, finishing one in just a few minutes. That was not how one studied seriously. Dad spent a lot of money and connections to barely get Chloe into Erord College. If she kept scoring at the bottom in exams, it would definitely disappoint Dad. Sooner or later, she'd be sent back to the countryside. With that thought, Erin looked away. Then, Chloe decided to head to the library. As the top high school in Erord, its library was beautifully built, with five floors of books on all kinds of subjects. Students could borrow up to ten books at a time. She wanted this one, and that one too, making it tough to choose. After much deliberation, she finally picked her books. Carrying a stack of thick books, she had just stepped out of the library when suddenly, a teenager on a skateboard came straight at her. And with her vision blocked by the books, she didn't have time to dodge when she heard the noise. The teenager bumped into her shoulder, causing the books to scatter onto the ground. The skateboard's wheels rolled right over the book covers. But the teenager didn't stop. He spun his skateboard around, drawing screams from the crowd. Chloe looked up and demanded, "Pick them up." The teenager had pink-dyed hair, earrings, ripped jeans, and a careless demeanor. He tilted his head and said, "Did I hear that right? You're ordering me?" The crowd burst into laughter. "Who's this chick?" "Pretty good-looking, but way too cocky." "Callum, you gotta teach this chick a lesson!" Instantly, Chloe's mind flashed with memories-This teenager was Callum Rhodes, the notorious school bully. 2/3 Chapter 2 But she didn't quite understand what a school bully was. She spoke coldly. "I'm saying this one more time. Pick up the books." Callum challenged with a smirk. "What if I don't?" Chloe smiled. That smile gave Callum an inexplicable chill. Ignoring that uneasy feeling, he stepped on his skateboard and was about to leave. But suddenly, his skateboard was stepped on. The world spun around him, and his back slammed hard onto the skateboard, making him wince in pain. Before he could react, Chloe was already kneeling on his waist, one hand gripping his wrist, the other pressing on his shoulder. "Can you pick them up now?" she sneered. Callum's eyes widened. He simply refused to believe that he actually got taken down by a woman. Everyone around gasped, and then they started shouting. "Her actually picking a fight with Callum? Seriously? Girl's got a death wish tattooed on her forehead." "Don't hold back. Callum, get her." Callum tried to move, but couldn't. 'This woman, she's too strong.' Chloe's voice was icy. "You've got three seconds. Make your move, or I'll upgrade you from embarrassment to a full-on mud bath. Your call." More students gathered to watch the show. Callum gritted his teeth and finally bent down to pick up the scattered books. "Today was just a sneak attack. We'll see about this!" He glared at Chloe, grabbed his skateboard, and left. His followers chased after him. "Callum, are you just letting her off like that?" Callum smirked, "Throwing hands at a woman? Not my thing." 3/3