Reborn From Oblivion

Diego awkwardly got to his feet, his eyes filled with disbelief as he glared at Nathalie. "Ashley, do you really think I wanted you to pretend to be my girlfriend? It was your dad who guilt-tripped mine with some old favor, pushing him to force me into this mess with you..."

Nathalie's face turned a shade of red, humiliated beyond belief.

It felt as if she were an unsellable item, rejected by buyers, and the store was desperate to clear her out at a discount.

Still, she couldn't be mad at her dad; he was just trying to look out for her.

Nathalie slapped her forehead. "Diego, I've told you a million times, I could never love you. I warned you not to waste your time on me. So when you asked me to play your girlfriend to help you out, I thought you just wanted to keep me busy. I had no idea the truth was this twisted."

"I apologize on my dad's behalf. He only came up with this ridiculous idea because he was scared I'd be heartbroken."

"But don't you owe me an apology too? After I was upfront with you, you couldn't do the same for me? You let your friends think the worst of me?"

Diego's girlfriend butted in, "You're saying you're not into Diego, but why should we believe you? What if you're just playing hard to get?"

Nathalie shot Diego a glance. "He's not my type."

That comment stung a bit for the girls who had Diego on a pedestal.

"Yeah, right, keep acting," one retorted.

Feeling fed up, Nathalie fished her marriage certificate out of her purse and handed it to the girl. "I love someone else."

Nathan, with his impossibly handsome face, gazed at her with endless affection.

He was so striking that next to him, Diego seemed just average.

A few girls gasped in amazement. "He's so good-looking."

Once you've seen someone like Nathan, how could you settle for someone like Diego? The girls who had wronged her quickly apologized, "Sorry, Ashley, we jumped to conclusions."

Diego's girlfriend turned red with embarrassment.

As for Diego, usually treated like some kind of rock star, he was surprised to find the girls' admiration waning. He was curious to peek at Nathalie's marriage certificate, but she snapped it shut and tucked it back in her bag.

Then Nathalie looked up and spoke with conviction, "I love him deeply And only him. So there's no need to worry about me chasing after Diego. No one compares to him for me."

Diego, feeling competitive, quipped, "Hey, I'm a top student at Imperial College. I must be smarter than him, right?"

His female classmates jumped in to defend him. "Ashley, we know we messed up.

You don't have to put down our genius to prove your point."

Nathalie's tone was calm. "I'm just speaking the truth. No exaggeration, if anything, I've downplayed it."

Everyone's jaws dropped in surprise. "What kind of genius is this?"

"I can't believe anyone could be smarter than Diego."

Nathalie pulled out a small figurine from her bag. "He designed this for me to cheer me up."noveldrama

She pressed a button on it and instructed, "Imperial College student Diego, give me his details."

"Sis, you've been ignoring me for ages. I missed you. Let me find that info for you."

"Diego, height 5'10", weight 132 pounds, oh, and his body fat percentage is seriously low."