My Roommate’s Dating Theory Killed Me, So Reborn I Let Her Go Chapter 01

My Roommate’s Dating Theory Killed Me, So Reborn I Let Her Go Chapter 01

My roommate, Clara Miller, was completely obsessed with online romance novels.

On the very first day we moved in together, she curled up on the couch with her phone, practically glowing with excitement.

“Do you know how all these romance stories start now?” she gushed. “The heroine forgets to lock her bedroom door. The hero accidentally walks in during the middle of the night. Boom! Instant soulmates. Love at first sight!”

The scary part was that she actually meant it.

Every night before bed, I made sure our apartment door was locked.

Every morning, I’d wake up to find it standing wide open.

The first few times, I warned her.

She only laughed and waved me off.

“You don’t get it. Every great love story starts with an accident.”

In my previous life, I eventually gave up arguing with her.

Then the accident really happened.

One night, a man in a baseball cap quietly slipped through our unlocked door.

Clara had been working late that evening and never came home. When he couldn’t find the girl he was looking for, he settled for robbing me instead. He found the cash I’d withdrawn that afternoon and my laptop on the nightstand.

When I woke up, he already had a knife pressed against my throat, demanding the PIN for my bank account.

I gave it to him.

He slit my throat anyway.

The last thing I heard before everything went dark was him muttering under his breath.

“What kind of idiot sleeps with the front door unlocked these days?”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the first day Clara and I became roommates.

She was holding her phone in front of my face, eagerly reading a line from one of her novels.

“Look! The heroine only found true love because she left her door unlocked all night!”

***

Clara grabbed my arm, practically swooning.

“Vivian, let’s never lock the door from now on! Every night we’ll leave it cracked open just a little. I’m telling you, my dream guy is going to walk right in one day!”

Her excited shaking finally snapped me out of my daze.

I yanked my hand free and instinctively touched my neck.

In my last life, Clara had become addicted to romance novels. She spent every day fantasizing that some impossibly handsome stranger would accidentally wander into our apartment and sweep her into the love story of a lifetime.

I’d told her over and over that those stories were fiction.

The only strangers breaking into people’s homes were criminals.

She never listened.

Every night after I locked the apartment, she’d sneak back out and unlock it again.

Every morning I’d find the front door wide open.

Every morning I’d warn her.

Nothing ever changed.

Then one night, someone really did break in.

Everything I owned was stolen.

When I woke up, the intruder tied me up and forced me to reveal my bank PIN.

The second I told him…

He cut my throat.

Clara didn’t come home until the following morning.

She stared at my body, burst into tears, and called 911.

Then she stood there crying in front of the police and our neighbors.

“I just wanted to find love. Vivian knew I was working late, but she still left the door unlocked. If something happened, that’s really on her.”

The memory made my fingers drift to the scar that no longer existed.

Even now, I could almost feel the blade slicing through my throat.

Seeing the look on my face, Clara pouted.

“What’s with the attitude, Vivian Rhodes? Is wanting to fall in love suddenly a crime?”

I wasn’t interested in arguing.

I stood up, shut the apartment door, and locked it.

Clara exploded.

She jumped off the couch as if I’d committed some unforgivable offense.

“What gives you the right to lock it? If you lock the door, how is my soulmate supposed to find me? You’re unbelievably selfish! Don’t you understand how important love is to some people?”

I looked her straight in the eye.

“Your love life shouldn’t come at the cost of someone else’s safety. If you’re determined to get yourself killed, don’t drag anyone else down with you.”

Without another word, I grabbed my things, went into my bedroom, and locked the door behind me.

Ignoring her pounding on the other side, I immediately contacted a real estate agent to find a new apartment.

I was moving out.

Meanwhile, Clara continued yelling through the door.

“Vivian, you have no right to interfere with my search for true love! Just because nobody wants you doesn’t mean you get to ruin it for me! You’re not pretty, you’re broke, and even if some creep broke in, nobody would want you anyway!”

I rubbed my temples.

Was romance really the only thing this woman had room for in her brain?

Did she seriously not care about the safety of women living alone?

My phone buzzed a few moments later.

The real estate agent had replied.

[Ms. Rhodes, I’ve already found a listing that matches what you’re looking for. You can come see it tomorrow.]

I typed back.

[No roommates. I want the entire apartment to myself. How secure is the building?]

His response came almost immediately.

[You’ll be perfectly safe. The building has 24-hour security, all apartment doors use fingerprint access, and only your fingerprint will be registered. The police precinct is directly across the street.]

Finally, I could breathe a little easier.

I started packing.

Early the next morning, I dragged my suitcase out of my room and ran into Clara as she was getting ready to leave.

The moment she saw my luggage, her eyes instantly turned red.

“What is this supposed to mean, Vivian? You’re seriously leaving me?”

I met her gaze without a trace of emotion.

“Where I choose to live is none of your business.”

She blocked the doorway before I could leave and immediately pulled out her phone.

After dialing our landlord, she spoke in a trembling voice.

“Mr. Potts, Vivian’s trying to break the lease and move out early. Could you come over right away?”