Chapter 2

On the other end of the line, Mason's low and hoarse voice was laced with anger. "Felicity, where did you go? I turned around to save a person, and suddenly you were gone!

"Can't you just be a little more understanding and stop causing trouble for me? Do you have any idea that Millie almost jumped into the ocean today? If it weren't for me, she'd be dead by now!

"When will you finally learn to be considerate?"

In the background, I could hear Millie softly soothing Mason, trying to calm his emotions.

While listening to his completely unjustified rage, my heart filled with unbearable grievance. My hands trembled uncontrollably from the overwhelming emotions, and it took all my strength just to call out his name.

I spoke softly. "Mason, do you know that I almost died too?"

Mason scoffed. "Quit the act, Felicity. You're just upset that I care about Millie so you're trying every trick in the book to get my attention. Let me tell you—it won't work! I'm not coming home tonight, so go back by yourself."

And just like that, he hung up.

We had been together for eight years—I had always thought that even if Mason didn't love me deeply, at least there was still some warmth between us.

But he could so ruthlessly push me down into the water over and over again.

Tears welled in my eyes instantly, and the lingering suffocation from swallowing seawater surged back up my throat. I couldn't help but cough violently, and the pain forced me to bend over.

However, none of this compared to the utter despair I had felt in my past life when I teetered on the edge of death time and time again.

John, seeing my condition, slammed his foot on the gas and sped toward the hospital.

He helped me inside once we reached the hospital entrance. Just before the doctor took me away for examinations, he turned to me with a grim expression and asked, "Is your husband Mason?"

I remained silent.

But he had already recognized Mason's voice over the phone. His expression darkened further as he immediately dialed Mason's number.

"Mason, did you bring your wife to learn diving? Do you even know that she almost died today?"

Mason sneered. "John, she actually went to you with this? Don't believe her nonsense. Her acting skills could win awards! She's always making a scene just so I won't teach others. I'm beyond sick of it.

"She's been driving everyone crazy. Even my friend was nearly forced into the ocean because of her! If Felicity is with you, tell her this—if she keeps this up, I'm divorcing her."

On the other end, Millie added fuel to the fire, her voice sounding gentle but perfectly timed. "Mason, this is all my fault. Next time, I'll find somewhere without you to commit suicide. From now on, you and your wife should live happily together."

Mason panicked immediately, hanging up in a hurry to comfort Millie.

John's face turned ashen with rage. He paced back and forth, unable to contain his fury.

I remained silent for a long time before following the doctor into the examination room.

As I lay on the examination bed, I answered the doctor's questions in a soft voice, but my mind had drifted away. It was as if I had returned to the night I died in my past life.

Back then, Mason's gaze had been filled with tenderness and seemed to overflow with affection. He had asked me to take a walk with him along the beach.

I had never expected that the moment we arrived at the shore, that tenderness would turn into a dagger, stabbing straight into my heart.

I would never forget the look on his face when he used all his strength to press me down into the ocean. His bloodshot eyes were filled with a hatred so deep it seeped into my bones.

I struggled, and as I gasped in between breaths, I pleaded with him and questioned him—why was he doing this to me? I begged him to let me go.

But his voice was ruthless, and every word he shouted seemed to drip with agony. "You're asking me why I'm doing this to you? Felicity, if it weren't for you, I would've saved Millie! You killed her!

"She was swept away by the waves! Her body was never found! All because of you! Why did you have to call for me? It was just a cramp. Couldn't you have endured it? You survived, but Millie will never come back!

"Is the ocean cold? Felicity, stay here forever and atone for your sins with her!"

As he finished speaking, he burst into a manic laugh, chilling in the night air where only the waves crashed.

And in the next moment, he pressed me down into the ocean with all his might. No matter how I thrashed, I couldn't break free.

As my consciousness faded, I felt myself being thrown into the water, left to be swallowed by the waves. I began to sink, deeper and deeper.

It was only when my lungs were completely filled with seawater did the agony of dying finally end.

…

I snapped back to the present and noticed my medical examination was already complete.

After I took out my phone, I saw Mason's messages flooding the screen.

"Felicity! What the hell did you do? The internet is blowing up!"

"Because of you, John wants to fire me!"

"Now everyone is cursing at me and Millie! Are you happy now?"

"Reply! Are you dead? If not, say something!"

Before I could even respond, a video call request popped up on my screen. I picked up, and Mason's furious face appeared.

While looking at his face, hatred surged through me—one that spanned two lifetimes.

His complexion turned from flushed red with anger to ashen as he gritted his teeth. "Felicity, you just won't stop, will you? Do you really think I'll keep forgiving you, no matter what?

"The entire internet is cursing me now, and I lost my job because of you. Are you satisfied? How jealous can you be? Just because I saved someone, you want to ruin me?"

I stayed silent. Mason seemed to have vented half of his anger.

He exhaled heavily and suddenly pretended to be magnanimous. "Go clear things up now. Say you were just acting. Say George didn't save you because he saw through your performance. Say I was just doing my job. Tell them to stop attacking Millie. She's innocent."

I pursed my lips together and coldly spat out one word—"No."

Mason tilted his head slightly. "What did you say? No? Felicity, are you insane?

"I've put up with you for eight years. Don't push me into divorcing you for real."

I dug my nails hard into my palms, and the taste of blood filled my mouth. The sheer force of my hatred kept me standing. I chuckled.

"Then do it!" I retorted.

Just as he was about to speak, his gaze flickered past me and landed on the disease prevention poster on the hospital wall behind me.

In an instant, his sharp tone shifted, and his voice was stiff with begrudging concern. "Why are you in the hospital?"