No Longer Their Fool

The music was too loud, the crowd too thick. Then came the screams, the smell of smoke, the fire. My body moved to save Chloe, a reflex from a past life I shouldn't remember, a life where her disgust and obsession with her childhood crush, Ethan, had led to my suicide. But then the cruel memories flooded back: Chloe, my girlfriend, reaching for Ethan Hayes amidst the chaos, screaming his name.

I tried to pull her away, but she shrieked, yanking free, choosing him. I let her go. Her mother publicly shamed me. Chloe and Ethan, now campus heroes, revelled in their 'tragic romance,' while my life became a living hell. Then came the bombshell: Ethan was my estranged father's illegitimate son, and they both waltzed into my exclusive robotics lab, orchestrated by him. They framed me, painted me as the jealous ex, leading to my suspension.

Why was history repeating, yet so much worse? I was the villain, they the victims, but I knew their twisted truth. Chloe's calculated manipulation, Ethan's cruel games, my father's puppetry – this wasn't just heartbreak; it was a setup designed to ruin me. My past life's pain was a shield now, a brutal teacher.

But they underestimated me. I'd been here before. This time, my eyes were wide open. A discreet security camera, a digital recorder-their every lie, their every malicious move, would be exposed. My life would be different. It had to be. I wouldn't be their fool again.

The music was too loud, the crowd too thick. Then came the screams, the smell of smoke.

Fire.

My body moved before my mind caught up, a reflex from a life I shouldn' t remember.

Chloe. I had to save Chloe.

But then the memories flooded back, sharp and cruel.

The burns searing my skin, Chloe' s disgust, her voice echoing, "You' re hideous, Liam. Ethan would never have let this happen."

The years of misery, her obsession with him, my eventual suicide.

No. Not again.

This time, I saw her, Chloe Davis, my girlfriend, reaching for Ethan Hayes, her childhood obsession, amidst the chaos of the campus music festival fire.

She was screaming his name.

I grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away from the collapsing stage rigging.

"Liam, let go! Ethan!" she shrieked, yanking free.

A falling ember kissed my forearm, a familiar sting. Minor, this time.

I let her go.

She scrambled towards Ethan, who was already trapped.

I turned and pushed through the panicked students, towards an exit.

Later, outside, amidst the wailing sirens and flashing lights, a hand cracked across my face.

Professor Davis, Chloe' s mother, her face contorted with rage.

"You left her! You abandoned my daughter!"

Her voice was a shriek that cut through the noise.

I touched my stinging cheek.

"She made her choice, Professor."

"Choice? She was trying to save Ethan! What kind of man are you?"

I looked at her, this woman who would make my academic life hell in my previous life, and in this one too, probably.

"The kind who learns," I said, my voice flat.

I saw Chloe then, being helped by paramedics, her hand bandaged, Ethan on a stretcher beside her, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle.

They were together.

Professor Davis was still yelling, but I walked away.

This life would be different. It had to be.

The hospital smelled of antiseptic and despair.

I found their room. Chloe was propped up in bed, her right hand heavily bandaged. Ethan lay in the adjacent bed, his leg in a cast, his face pale.

Their eyes were locked, an intensity there that I remembered all too well.

Chloe saw me first. "Liam."

Her voice was soft, a little surprised.

Ethan just glared.

"I came to see how you were," I said, keeping my tone neutral.

"My hand is... damaged," Chloe said, a tremor in her voice. "Ethan' s leg... it' s bad."

"I' m sorry to hear that," I replied. It was true. I wouldn' t wish that on anyone.

Not even Ethan.

"We' re together now," Chloe announced, looking at Ethan with a possessive gleam. "The fire... it brought us together."

Ethan grunted, a sound that could have been agreement or pain.

"I see," I said. "Then there' s something I need to say."

I looked directly at Chloe.

"We' re done, Chloe. It' s over between us."

Her eyes widened. "Liam, what are you saying? After all this?"

"Especially after all this," I corrected. "You made your choice in the fire. You' ve always made your choice. It was always Ethan."

"That' s not fair!"

"Isn' t it?" I looked at Ethan. "Good luck to you both."

I turned and walked out.

The next day, their Instagram was flooded with pictures. Chloe' s bandaged hand holding Ethan' s, captions about tragic love and fate. #SurvivorLove #CampusHeroes.

It made me sick.

I remembered how Chloe and I met. A university charity drive. I was organizing, she volunteered.

She' d been friendly, charming. But she only agreed to date me after Ethan started seeing someone else, a girl named Maya.

Chloe had used me as a placeholder, a distraction.

In my past life, I' d been too blind, too eager for her affection to see it.

This time, my eyes were wide open.

The pain of the past was a shield, a teacher.

I wouldn' t be her fool again.