Chapter 1

In my past life, Ethan rushed out of the burning car wreck with Lena in his arms. He left me, his wife, to burn into charred remains.

As my soul left my body, a voice spoke.

"You harbor deep resentment. You are granted thirty days of life, after which you will completely disappear. Do you accept?"

I answered, "Yes."

I woke in excruciating pain as Ethan's gentle voice came beside me.

"Sophia, my mother made me promise to take care of Lena before she died. I only see her as a sister."

I let out a cold laugh. If he really saw her as a sister, how could he have slept with her?

His hand covered my chest, right where I had taken a bullet for him eight years ago.

In the past, this would have moved me to tears.

But now, I only felt nauseous, though I still obediently embraced him.

"Ethan, I understand."

I lowered my eyes and smiled, but my gaze was cold as ice.

This time, I wouldn't go crazy. I would just quietly watch them walk toward their destruction.

Sophia's POV

I woke to the searing pain of being burned alive.

In that car accident from my past life, I was trapped in the twisted driver's seat. I watched Ethan carry Lena out of the inferno without a second thought.

I was left to burn into charred remains.

The moment my soul left my body, I heard a cold voice echo in the void.

"Deep resentment detected. You are granted thirty days of life. After thirty days, you will completely disappear from this world. Do you accept?"

I answered firmly in the flames. "Yes!"

When I opened my eyes again, blinding white light filled my vision.

Beside me, Ethan's gentle voice reached my ears.

"Sophia, before my mother died, she said she had wronged Lena's parents and made me promise to take care of her."

"Lena is innocent. I'll look after her for three years on behalf of my mother."

"After three years, I'll take you to Switzerland to remove that bullet fragment from your chest. I'll be with you forever."

As he spoke, his warm palm gently covered my chest.

It was where I had blocked a bullet for him eight years ago.

If I had heard this confession in my past life, I would have been so moved that I'd throw myself into his arms and nod in agreement.

But now, looking at Ethan's affectionate expression, I only felt intense nausea churning in my stomach.

But I didn't push him away.

I obediently lowered my eyes, forced out a tear, and even reached out to embrace him, my voice trembling. "Ethan, I understand. Your mother would understand too."

Hearing my words, Ethan's tense body instantly relaxed. He rested his chin on top of my head and let out a long, satisfied sigh.

"Sophia, you're always so kind. You're wonderful."

He didn't know that in the corner he couldn't see, I was coldly staring at my left wrist resting on his back.

A faint red line had appeared there, and at the end of the line, a row of blood-red letters floated that only I could see.

"Time until death: 30 days"

"I won't be home tonight. Lena just got back, and she's afraid of the dark. She needs someone with her."

Ethan tucked the blanket around me and placed a light kiss on my forehead. "Get some rest. Remember to take your medicine."

The door closed.

The expression on my face vanished instantly.

I threw off the covers and walked barefoot to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Downstairs, Ethan walked toward a black Bentley.

The passenger door opened, and a woman wrapped in a beige coat impatiently threw herself into his arms, standing on her toes to kiss his lips passionately.

Lena.

The future superstar who would become famous nationwide next month.

Watching the intimate couple under the streetlights, I turned away expressionlessly and quickly walked to the desk, pulling open the bottom drawer and prying open the hidden compartment with a knife.

Inside lay an old manila envelope and a hospital document that had slipped from Ethan's suit pocket.

These were the secrets I hadn't discovered until my death in my past life.

I pulled out the letter. On it was written Ethan's mother's desperate curse: "I will not allow Lena to marry my son! Even in death, I forbid it!"

And the hospital document was an ultrasound report.

Twelve weeks pregnant.

I gripped the ultrasound report tightly, my fingertips pale white, my heart feeling like it was being pierced by countless needles.

Ethan said he had only agreed to care for Lena a month ago at his mother's deathbed.

But three months ago, they already had a child together!

What dying wish, what three years of care. All lies!

He was just using his recently deceased mother as an excuse to keep his mistress, pregnant with his illegitimate child, right under my nose.

All the rage and desolation churned violently in my chest, but in the end, I didn't shed a single tear.

I calmly put the letter and ultrasound report back in the hidden compartment.

In my past life, I had confronted him like a madwoman with this evidence, only to face Ethan's anger and punishment.

In this life, I wouldn't ask a single question.

Until the day I died, I would leave these things for him as the heaviest gift of his life.