I was under no obligation to answer Simon. He should be grateful that I didn’t choose to exact vengeance on him in this lifetime after the terrible humiliation he put me through in the last one.
As for Yasmin, I only cared that the authorities did what they could to teach her a lesson. She had destroyed Simon’s painting. I couldn’t care less if Simon decided not to press charges against her, but one thing was for sure -I would sue her for libel.
However, I didn’t expect the painting incident to reveal other dirty secrets.
Simon decided to press charges against Yasmin after all and demanded maximum punishment. Infuriated, Yasmin dragged him down with her and accused him of plagiarism.
Suddenly, they were stabbing each other in the back, and I didn’t learn the whole story until the incident had blown over.
In our previous lives, Yasmin was already a manager. On the other hand, Simon was merely dabbling in art out of interest and had no real talent.
Alas, the modern world had no appreciation for talent, only appearances.
After they were reborn, Yasmin and Simon got together and went on a learning trip abroad. Under the guise of culturing themselves, they secretly bought up paintings by unknown street artists.
Simon would then add to the paintings and claim that they were his works, thereby branding himself as an art genius with a rare, innate talent.
Yasmin and Simon conned their way to success abroad but couldn’t keep up the appearances for too long. When they were exposed as charlatans, they returned to the country to prey on the locals.
Unfortunately, the truth was exposed before they could plagiarize any other artwork.
I felt nothing when I heard the details of Simon’s and Yasmin’s downfall. I only wondered why they couldn’t stick to a simple life where they didn’t have to go against their conscience. It was too bad that they were too blinded by greed to understand such a value.
These days, I was kept on my feet at the ER department while Aaron oversaw the wedding planning.
It was another typical day at work when we received a call about a serious pile–up. Paramedies and doctors were requested to tend to the casualties on–site.
I was dispatched and hurried toward the site of the crash immediately. However, the last person I expected to see lying among the injured was Simon.
He lay in a pool of blood, and there was a fearful, haunted look in his eyes when he saw me. He asked, “Olive, will I die? Will I be reborn? I promise that I won’t make the wrong choice if I get another chance at life.”
Something like hope glistened in his eyes as he said this. He looked like he was praying for the heavens to take pity on him again.
I had no idea what made him sound so resigned to his fate. I said tersely, “Don’t think of all that nonsense. You owe it to yourself to live a proper life.”
Simon stared at me as rueful tears streamed down his cheeks. “You must save me, then. Promise you won’t leave me to my death. What happened was my fault. I want to start over with you and love you right for the rest of our lives.
“I know better now. You were the only one who ever loved me. Yasmin only wanted to use me for money—”
