I Slapped the Villain After 99 Rebirths Chapter 13
In the loops that followed, my fate played out the same way again and again.
Until the seventh loop, when Joseph caught me red-handed trying to sneak a letter in with his chocolate milk.
I panicked, shoving the things at him. “These aren’t from me!”
Joseph looked at me and smiled. “No?”
“Then give them back.”
I shoved everything into his hands and ran.
The next time, he cornered me again.
I’d just put the milk in his locker, and when I turned around, he was standing right behind me.
I was speechless.
My face burned with humiliation.
“What’s your name?” Joseph moved to the door, blocking me in.
When I didn’t answer, he repeated, “What’s your name?”
I shook my head; I didn’t want to say.
Joseph stepped closer, reached out, and grabbed the student ID hanging from my lanyard.
He looked down at it, then at me. “Emily Blake. I’ll remember that.”
Hearing “Emily” come out of Joseph’s mouth made my heart skip a beat.
So this was what it felt like to be called by name by the person you loved, like spring blooming inside me.
After that, my secret crush became an open one.
Joseph approached me. He was relentless and sure of himself.
He made me, someone cautious and resigned to wanting nothing, feel greedy.
I wanted to be with him.
Even if my life was short, I wanted to hold his hand, hug him, kiss him. I wanted to date Joseph.
From high school graduation, through college, to working life, our feelings for each other only grew.
Getting married was the natural next step.
I used to think Joseph was cold and unfeeling. But once we were together, I realized he was incredibly clingy.
He loved physical intimacy. When we were dating, he’d kiss me breathless.
After we got married, he completely let loose.
I tried to talk to him about maybe toning it down.
Joseph, lost in the heat of the moment, moved his burning palm to rest over my heart.
His voice was low and rough. “Emily, this is me being restrained.”
My days with Joseph were the happiest of my entirely too short life. But I couldn’t stay by his side until we
were old.
At twenty-four, I left him.
Joseph was a wreck for a while, then he found Olivia and Benjamin.
Over and over, he sabotaged Olivia’s mission, forcing the world to reset. All so he could be with me again.
Finally, the Arbiter was forced to appear.
Joseph negotiated: he would stop ruining Olivia’s mission, on one condition, that I live a healthy, long life.
The Arbiter agreed. But he erased every last memory I had of Joseph.
And he made sure we would never meet for the first time again, erasing any chance I’d fall for him naturally.
What the Arbiter didn’t count on, though, was the live chat.
According to Olivia’s system, the live chat was the collective will of the readers.
They wanted Joseph and I to have a happy ending. So they pushed us toward each other.
“Joseph remembered everything, you know. When you hit him that first time, I had just finished talking to
him, begging him to stop interfering with my mission.”
“He kept it all from you. Played along.”
“He’s got you wrapped around his finger.”
