"His name will be Pedro Rocha"
"Why?"
"No reason at all, simply my father's choice"
Pedro was born surrounded by wealth, always being placed at the top by his servants, his mother and father telling him he would be a genius. Since he learned to read at a young age, a tutor was hired to teach him everything.
With his tutor's praise, he thought of himself as greater each time. He had the advantage, so he would use it to the fullest to keep being the best, being praised by classmates and teachers all the way through adolescence.
"I am a genius"
"If you think so"
But there was a girl who never paid him any attention. That girl was supposed to be his fiancée, but the engagement would be canceled if she wished it, because her parents wanted her to choose her own husband. One day, she asked to annul the engagement, and they accepted without much trouble.
That was the first time he was rejected. That girl was perfect for him, the best in their school for a long time—until the day came.
"I present the new student. His name is Saul Moreira, treat him well."
At first, when Pedro saw him, he thought he was pathetic because the boy knew nothing of studies at the start. But he improved so quickly that he surpassed that girl in the very next school test.
"That was amazing, Saul"
"How did you learn so fast?"
"I simply studied a lot"
Saul looked at everyone, remembering how he stayed awake many whole nights just to reach their level—and needed even more to become first in class. Fortunately, it worked.
"What kind of studying did you do?"
From afar, Pedro clenched his fists as he watched the girl he wanted approach Saul, her eyes full of interest in the other boy.
"That bastard showed up and is already trying to take what's mine."
"What do we do, Pedro?"
Clenching his fist, he stood with his lackeys. Because of that wretch, he was now only third in class. He would need tricks to lower Saul's grades.
Putting his hand on Saul's head as he approached, he slammed it on the desk. The girl beside them stood in fury, but his lackeys blocked her and the others. Grabbing a pen, he pointed it at the back of Saul's neck.
"Listen here, boy, from now on—"
Suddenly, Saul forced his arm up, twisting Pedro's hand, then swept his leg, dropping Pedro to the floor. Seeing this, the two lackeys rushed at him.
"You bastard!"
"You'll pay for this!"
Seconds later, both were down. Looking up, Pedro saw Saul's empty eyes, which scared him. On second thought, maybe this was good, since the girl didn't like fighters. So he looked at her.
'Wait—she's blushing?'
He couldn't understand why she was so interested in Saul. Why was she choosing someone who even looked poor? Clenching his fists, he lunged again and ended up like his lackeys.
When Saul walked away to call the teacher, Pedro thought of a new plan. He spoke to his parents, telling them to make Saul's life hell inside and outside school. From then on, he tried to corner him with delinquents, and teachers bribed by his parents made Saul's life harder.
'Why doesn't he care?'
Pedro slammed his fists on the desk, seeing his hired delinquents beaten again. Thanks to rumors, the school began to see Saul as a delinquent, but since his grades kept improving, they wouldn't expel him, seeing his potential.
Each time, that girl drew closer to Saul. Each time, Saul got better grades. Each time, Pedro was surpassed. That shouldn't be possible. Everyone said he was the best, so why wasn't he? This had to be a nightmare.
Going further, he decided to push the limits and hired adults to break Saul's legs. But before he could go further, something happened to his family.
"You filthy traitor, get out of my house!"
"I may be a traitor, but at least I'm not a junkie!"
For some unknown reason, his parents discovered each other's filth and split up. If it had been only that, maybe he could handle it, but corruption in his father's company was also exposed, leading to investigations. Their wealth crumbled.
Trying to discover who did it, he asked all the servants and anyone who saw anything. One day, at the hotel where his father was caught, he saw footage of a boy following him. At first, he didn't recognize him because he was covered, but he found out when confronting the girl—it was she who reported his family's company with her family's influence.
"Why? We were engaged."
"First of all, our commitment was broken. Second, did you really think I'd let you harass him without doing something? I endured this long because he asked me to."
After saying that, she turned her back. From those words, Pedro realized Saul must have been the one who gave her the evidence. From then on, he stayed home, his family drowning in mutual self-destruction. Years passed, and his hatred only grew. He began reading horror stories, imagining Saul suffering in them, making it his favorite genre.
When he tried once again to corner Saul, he ended up on the ground, Saul holding a steel pipe to his face. But instead of finishing him, Saul just sighed and walked away.
"Stop bothering me once and for all. Go away."
'That bastard is giving me a chance? I don't need his pity.'
Years went by without seeing Saul again. On the last day of his life, as an adult, he lived in a small apartment he never imagined he would. Furious, he smashed the furniture, then looked at a knife on the floor. Biting his lips, he made a decision.
"If I'm going down, I'll take everyone with me."
The next day, he sought Saul. By luck, they lived only a few streets apart. He didn't see the girl with Saul, and wondered where she was, thinking they must have ended up together.
'Doesn't matter. She'll be next.'
Seeing Saul enter the perfect place, he followed, ready to end his life. He never imagined he'd die that day. After closing his eyes and hearing a voice, he found himself in the body of a baby. He had reincarnated. As he grew, he discovered he was a vampire. Spending years in that dangerous dimension, he one day offered his brother the idea of fleeing.
'The one thing I never expected was to find him again. But this time, I'll kill him.'
"I'll finish what I couldn't that day, Saul."
"Interesting words coming from a spoiled brat like you."
At first, Enrico saw Pedro's body in his dreams, but ever since meeting him that day, Pedro disappeared from them. Enrico would drag him back there, because there would be no third chance.