Reborn to Save My Brother from Her Lies

1: 1

The new girl, the intern, posted in the company group chat in the middle of the night asking for help.

She said her place had flooded in the storm and wanted my brother to drive over and move her to a hotel.

In my last life, I went soft and let him go.

The next morning, Lorraine Pruitt showed up holding a torn bra,

crying that my brother had assaulted her.

Ray Barnes had just started college. He couldn't defend himself, and he was expelled.

The family company took the hit, and the stress gave my parents heart attacks.

Lorraine rode the public outrage to a settlement of ten million, then got fast-tracked to a permanent position and took my job.

She came to me on purpose to gloat.

Willow, I made it to the top of my life, and it's all thanks to you sending Ray to pick me up that night.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night of the hurricane.

Lorraine was in the company chat, asking for help.

My apartment's flooded, and the rain's too heavy to get a car.

Willow, could you have your brother do me a favor and take me to a hotel?

I reached out and pressed down my brother's hand as he was already going for the car keys,

and I typed back in the chat:

My brother's not coming. I'll call 911 for you.

The chat went quiet for a few seconds.

Lorraine sent a voice message.

Water rushing in the background.

Willow, I don't mean anything by it.

The fire department's got to be swamped in weather like this. I don't want to tie up rescue resources.

It's just that your place is close to mine, and your brother's a good driver, so I thought I'd trouble him to run me to a hotel nearby.

Someone in the chat backed her up:

The fire department's slammed on a night like this. Better not to bother them if you don't have to.

Willow, didn't your brother take first place in a racing event not long ago? Driving's basically a game to him.

Right, and that custom off-roader of yours cost a few million. It's made for driving out in weather like this.

I answered in the chat:

It's a red alert. No going out unless it's necessary.

My brother isn't a rescue team, and an off-roader isn't a lifeboat. If something happens, are you going to take responsibility?

Lorraine stepped in to smooth things over:

Willow's right, I wasn't thinking it through.

I'll figure something out.

I thought that would be the end of it.

Instead she followed up with one more line:

If I'm not at the office tomorrow morning, could someone please call the police for me.

The second that landed, the boss spoke up.

He sent a long voice message.

Willow Barnes, you're a department supervisor. Looking after new hires and coordinating employee safety is your responsibility.

Lorraine just joined the company. She's new to the area, and now she's stranded in a flood. What's wrong with having your brother make one trip?

If you dodge even something this small, how is the company supposed to trust you with anything bigger?

My brother heard the message playing out loud and quickly stood up.

Sis, why don't I just go.

He'd only just started his freshman year, his eyes still clear, with no idea how ugly the world could get.

I pressed his hand down.

Sit.

But didn't your coworker say her place flooded and she can't stay there?

I looked at him.

Even if it did flood, it's none of your business.

I opened the company chat again.

My brother has personal matters. He can't go.

Lorraine Pruitt, if you're really in danger and you don't show up at the office tomorrow morning, I'll be the first to call the police for you.

2: 2

The group chat went quiet for a moment.

Then a coworker posted a single question mark.

? Willow, isn't that a little cold-blooded?

A string of people copied it and flooded the chat.

The boss called me out by name:

Willow Barnes, you'd better be ready to answer for what you just said! If something actually happens to Lorraine, this is all on you!

Then Lorraine Pruitt posted a photo:

Wood floor completely underwater, a pink slipper floating beside it, a big soaked patch spreading up the foot of the bed.

Mr. Finch, please don't blame Willow.

There's a hurricane out there. She just doesn't want her brother out in it.

It's fine, I'll wait a bit longer. Maybe the rain will let up soon.

That set the whole chat off, righteous and furious.

How's this rain going to let up anytime soon?

Supervisor Barnes, you're well off, you live in a big house. You don't know what it's like for the rest of us renting.

Your brother just has to drive over and pick someone up. Nobody's asking him to wade in and save a drowning person.

My dad heard the commotion and came out of his study:

The wind's fierce out there. Don't let Ray leave the house.

In my last life, he'd said the exact same thing.

But I didn't listen.

I kept thinking about Lorraine Pruitt, a young woman fresh out of college.

Alone in a big city, trying to make a living. It wasn't easy.

Later, strangers online tracked us down to our door, hung banners, threw red paint, pointed at my parents and screamed that they'd raised a rapist.

My always-dignified parents were pelted until they were covered in rotten eggs, and both had heart attacks right there.

Sprawled on the ground, hands stretched out, begging for help.

In that moment the regret was more than I could bear.

My overflowing sympathy had, in the end, destroyed my own family.

My phone was still buzzing.

Seeing that I wasn't answering, the boss tagged me again:

Willow Barnes, the group's management appointments go before the board next week!

When this company promotes someone, what counts isn't seniority. It's vision and the willingness to take responsibility.

If you can't even solve a problem for your own subordinate, why would the board feel safe handing you the East Coast region?

I took a deep breath and typed calmly:

The way I've handled this is fully in line with company emergency procedure.

Lorraine Pruitt, send your exact address, building, and unit number. I'll call 911 and have rescue sent to you.

Lorraine replied fast:

Never mind, don't bother.

I'm renting a partitioned room. My landlord doesn't want us making a scene.

If the fire department shows up, he'll definitely kick me out.

I just graduated. I can't afford to go find a new place.

The coworkers all felt for her:

Lorraine already has it this hard. Supervisor Barnes, quit hiding behind procedure to make things difficult for her.

I was making things difficult for Lorraine Pruitt?

Why didn't any of them stop to think that Lorraine asking me for something like this was making things difficult for me?

Supervisor Barnes always seemed so good to her people. Turns out it was all an act.

It's the easiest thing to do, and she'd rather just stand by and watch. So selfish.

Stuck with a supervisor like that, Lorraine really got unlucky.

I gave a cold laugh:

Whoever thinks she's so pitiful can go get her. Either way, my brother is not leaving this house.

I sent it, turned off the screen, and stopped answering.

I'd made up my mind. Pressure me all they wanted, worst case I'd just quit the job.

But the next second, my brother's phone screen lit up.

A friend request had come through on the messaging app.

Somewhere Lorraine Pruitt had gotten hold of his account.

The request carried just one line:

Sorry for the trouble I've caused you.

My brother held up his phone:

Sis, she added me.

I took his phone and tapped decline on the spot.

He said quietly:

Sis, she seems pretty polite. She doesn't seem like a bad person.

I looked at him and said, dead serious:

Ray, remember this. Someone truly in danger will find the person who can actually save her.

Only someone with an angle goes around 911, goes around the property manager, and insists on coming to you.

He blinked, thinking it over.

I pushed him into his room.

From now on, you stay in this room. Don't set one foot outside.

Got it?

Got it.

My brother's bedroom door closed in front of me.

I finally let out a breath.

My eyes went a little damp too.

This time, I wouldn't let my brother and my family be hurt again.

Except the next day, the moment I got to the office, I heard someone shouting upstairs:

It's bad! Lorraine Pruitt jumped off the building!

3: 3

In my past life, I'd heard these exact same words.

A ringing filled my head.

My legs nearly gave out.

In a daze, I followed the crowd up to the rooftop.

The wind hadn't died down, and rainwater ran down the railing.

The same scene played out in front of me again.

Lorraine Pruitt stood at the edge of the rooftop, her skirt suit crumpled beyond recognition.

She clutched a wad of torn fabric in her hand.

Her eyes locked onto me in the crowd, tears spilling over.

"Willow, look what Ray did!"

Weeping, Lorraine lifted the shredded strips of underwear.

"Willow, I really didn't want to make a big deal out of this."

"But every time I close my eyes, it's all last night."

"I'm so scared! Your brother ruined my life!"

The murmurs around me grew louder.

Plenty of people turned to look at me strangely.

The boss's face was grim.

"Willow, where's your brother?"

I said nothing. I pulled out my phone and called Ray.

"Sis?"

I put it on speaker.

"Where are you?"

"At home."

"Did you go out last night?"

Ray paused, confused.

"No. Didn't I do what you said and stay in my room all night?"

Lorraine's head snapped up.

"You're lying!"

She screamed at the phone through her tears.

"It was you last night! You wore a black jacket, you drove an SUV!"

She sobbed until she could barely breathe.

The boss's brow furrowed.

"Willow, get your brother down here right now."

"This ends today, one way or another!"

Fifteen minutes later.

Ray arrived at the rooftop door.

Facing a Lorraine crying so hard she was almost fainting, he was terrified.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was in my room playing games all last night."

Lorraine acted as if she'd suffered some unspeakable disgrace, screaming hysterically.

"Liar!"

"It was you last night!"

"You had on a black jacket, you drove an SUV, you said your sister talks tough but she's soft-hearted, that she'd still sent you to come get me, so I got in your car!"

The tears came pouring out again.

"I'm a decent girl. Why would I ruin my own reputation just to frame you?"

The way my coworkers looked at Ray and me turned even more contemptuous.

"Rich kids really are shameless. He does something like this and still denies it to your face without blinking."

"This brazen? His family's company needs a full investigation!"

"This isn't his first time, I'd bet. Animal!"

Ray was frantic.

"It has nothing to do with me!"

"I really was playing games all last night. I have a witness!"

"Don't believe me, ask"

Before he could finish, Lorraine burst into loud sobs.

"Willow's your sister, of course she's on your side!"

She cried until she could barely catch her breath.

"Wasn't it enough to bully me, to violate me? Now you have to twist it all around and blame me too. Won't you be happy until you've driven me to my death!"

Seeing her like this, the coworkers worked themselves into a frenzy.

"This is too much! Picking on a girl with no one to protect her?"

"Do something awful and then smear the victim? Is there no justice left?"

A few worked-up male coworkers balled their fists and moved to hit Ray.

"Stop wasting words on him. Beat him first and let Lorraine have her justice!"

Just as I moved to stop them, a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Don't touch him!"

I turned and saw my parents hurrying up onto the rooftop.

"There has to be a misunderstanding here!"

"Our Ray is such a good boy. He'd never do something like this!"

The male coworker who wanted to throw a punch sneered.

"You're the rapist's own father. Of course you won't admit it!"

My dad's face went red with panic.

"No. We have a security camera at our front door. One look and you'll know whether my son left the house or not!"

4: 4

Lorraine shot back at once, her voice shrill:

"What good is a camera at your front door? Who's to say it hasn't been tampered with?"

"You installed that camera yourselves. Doctoring the footage would be nothing to you."

The people around them chimed in from every side:

"Yeah, footage from your own camera proves nothing. You could edit it however you want!"

"No wonder they're so smug. They had the fake evidence ready all along. What a vicious mind!"

My mother was shaking with fury:

"You have no proof. You take her word alone and call my son guilty. This is slander!"

Hearing that, Lorraine gripped the railing and pulled herself upright.

Her eyes were red and full of hatred:

"Ma'am, are you saying I threw away my own good name just to frame your son on purpose?"

"Yes. Your family has money. A regular person like me can't fight people like you."

"Today I'll stake my life on it, but I'll get justice for myself!"

Mr. Finch hurried forward two quick steps:

"Lorraine, don't do anything rash!"

"Whatever you want, just say it. Everything's negotiable!"

Lorraine bit her lip, her voice hard and final:

"I want ten million!"

"They didn't just violate my body. They trampled my dignity too!"

"Pay me ten million, I'll carry all this trauma alone, and we settle this out of court right here!"

When she finished, she edged back half a step toward the roof's edge:

"Otherwise I jump right now and die in front of you all!"

She leaned half her body out over the ledge.

A ripple of panic went through the crowd.

"Holy crap, she's really going to jump!"

"Barnes, it's not like your family can't afford it. Just pay her, don't let this turn into a death!"

"Exactly. What matters more, money or a human life?"

Mr. Finch whipped his head toward me and shouted:

"Willow, a life's on the line here!"

"Just agree to her terms first. The money's nothing to your family. Don't let this blow up past the point of fixing it."

Lorraine swung one leg over the railing and hung there off the edge of the roof, teetering:

"If I die, I'll haunt Ray as a ghost for the rest of his life!"

"I'll make sure that rapist, that murderer, never has a moment of peace!"

Her eyes were wild, like a pitiful woman driven to the end of her rope.

Mom and Dad were terrified.

"Miss, don't jump!"

"We'll pay, we'll pay, just don't do anything rash!"

My father pulled out his checkbook with trembling hands.

I knew he wanted to talk Lorraine back from the edge first, then sort out the truth slowly afterward.

But he didn't understand this: once that money changed hands, the truth wouldn't matter anymore.

Just as my father pinched the pen, about to write in the amount,

a light broke loose in Lorraine's eyes that she couldn't hold back.

"Hold on."

I reached over and pressed down on my father's pen.

Under the shocked stares of everyone, I turned and looked straight at Lorraine:

"Lorraine, I'll ask you one last time."

"You're sure the person who came to you last night was my brother, Ray?"

Lorraine stared hard at the checkbook and nodded with force:

"I'm sure! I'd know him even if he were burned to ashes."

I nodded and pulled out my phone:

"Fine. In that case, what you're after, I'll give it to you."

Lorraine swallowed, an eagerness slipping into her voice:

"Phone transfer? Sure!"

"Ten million, and not a cent less!"

I let out a scornful laugh:

"Ten million?"

"What I said was, the justice you want, I'll give it to you."

I tapped my phone and opened a livestream replay.

"Take a good look. Who is this."

On the screen, Ray's face showed up clear as day.

I looked at Lorraine and said each word slowly:

"My brother livestreamed all night long."

"Face on camera the whole time, dropping a cash giveaway every half hour, pulling in a hundred thousand viewers the entire night."

I pushed the phone forward:

"The witnesses he mentioned aren't just our family."

"They're the hundred thousand people in that livestream."