Chapter 1
My wife had my initials tattooed over her heart, a constant reminder of how she held me captive.
I’d accidentally torn her silk stockings, so I’d woken up extra early to buy her favorite gourmet cinnamon rolls.
Yet she said, “Chris’s birthday trip is to the Caribbean, and it’s a bit risky there right now, so I have to go with him.”
“But…”
Suddenly, a torrent of flashing text erupted in my mind’s eye.
【Shut up, Alex! Let the toxic woman go!!)
【That ‘CS‘ she tattooed? It stands for Chris Scott! Not Alex Chen! She never loved you!!)
On this very day in your previous life, you knelt and begged, but couldn’t keep her. After you started working at the National Cata-
strophe Alert Center, you predicted an avalanche would hit her hometown at eleven PM. You raced to the airport, tore up her ticket,
and frantically forced her to return to save her parents. Only then did she manage to rescue them just before the avalanche stru-
ck!)
【But Chris vanished from a foreign cruise ship, his body discovered later, barely recognizable, a mere shell of what he once was! 】
【A week after Chris’s disappearance, she tricked you with a fake pregnancy to join her on a cruise, then sold you overseas for a
pittance. You were imprisoned, brutalized, your very being exploited until your dying breath…]
I froze.
1
The bullet comments continued to scroll madly, and a chilling muscle memory of my own brutal demise flooded my limbs, as if I
had lived it all myself.
Just then, Elara Thorne grew impatient.
“Alex, nothing you say matters! Chris and I are going on that trip, and I won’t let a single hair on his head be harmed!”
I watched her red lips move, refusing to believe. Could she truly resent me if Chris got into trouble, heartlessly push me overseas,
and let me suffer a torturous death?
We both worked at the National Catastrophe Alert Center, and over time, feelings blossomed between us. It wasn’t until our wedd-
ing day that Elara confessed: all these years, she had never forgotten her college sweetheart. She couldn’t commit wholeheartedly
to our relationship and hoped I would understand. All our family and friends were there. I didn’t want to cancel the wedding, so I
married her, a knot of unease twisting in my gut.
–
After our wedding night, she voluntarily told me she’d tattooed ‘CS‘ – my initials, or so I thought closest to her heart. I believed
she had truly changed her mind, and I showered her with even more affection. But our blissful days didn’t last long before Chris
reappeared. She even brought Chris into our home, exiled me to the guest room, while they shared the master bedroom. I deeply
loved this woman, forcing myself to believe their bond was purely platonic.
But the memories of my past life made it clear: I had to let go, to respect her predetermined fate. Now, given this opportunity,
wouldn’t be a fool again.
“Are you deaf? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Elara, seeing my lack of reaction, asked coldly.
I gazed at her, a long, deep look, then opened my work laptop, printed a stack of schematics, and thrust them into her hand.
But the memories of my past life made it clear: I had to let go, to respect her predetermined fate. Now, given this opportunity, I wouldn’t be a fool again.
“Are you deaf? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Elara, seeing my lack of reaction, asked coldly.
I gazed at her, a long, deep look, then opened my work laptop, printed a stack of schematics, and thrust them into her hand.
“Elara! Willow Creek is going to be hit by a Category Five avalanche tonight at eleven! Your hometown will be devastated!”
Elara glanced cursorily at the schematics, then promptly tore them to shreds. She tossed the scraps in my face, a cold sneer twist- ing her lips.
“Alex, have you lost your mind? You’re actually joking about an avalanche now! You’re truly this desperate to stop Chris and me from going on our trip?”
I looked at her, my voice unwavering. “I’m not joking, Elara! There will be Category Eight winds today, the direct cause of this avala-
nche…”
As I spoke, Elara slapped me hard across the face. Her expression was already contorted, and her next words dripped with hatred. “Shut up! Our hometown hasn’t had an avalanche in centuries! We’ve survived Category Ten winds before without a scratch, and now a mere Category Eight wind will cause an avalanche? You’re full of lies! Chris’s birthday trip is happening, no matter what you say. If you really can’t stand it, then we’ll get a divorce when I get back.”
With that, she didn’t spare me another glance, dragging her suitcase behind her as she swept out the door.
