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Chapter 2

Author: Humming Cicada
Her voice cracked into sobs. "I just want him by my side for a few more days."

I listened quietly, but my gaze drifted past her to the man behind her.

His eyes were fixed on me without blinking. His muscles tensed like a storm was brewing.

The guy who once shadowed me like a protector was now her guard dog. He was ready to lunge and tear into me if I so much as threatened Hanna.

I couldn't pin down the feeling in my chest. I just knew, in this new life, I couldn't selfishly tie him down anymore.

I forced a smile. "Don't worry. I'm here to take you two back rather than break you up."

Hanna jolted, staring at me in disbelief. "Both of us?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "You are his girl now. If I left you behind, he wouldn't come anyway. Pack up. You and Ethan are coming home."

My voice stayed even as I added, "His parents know about you. They're fine with it."

Overjoyed, she grabbed Ethan's hand and beamed at him before rushing off to pack.

Only then did Ethan relax, sure I meant no harm. He pressed his lips together, softening a bit. "Sorry, I thought you were gonna hurt Hanna."

His mood swung with hers now.

No one remembered how, back when Hanna wouldn't leave him alone, he'd burrow into my arms and urge me to claim him.

"Tell them I'm yours and yours alone. Make it sound tough," he had said, making goofy faces for me to copy.

We'd always end up laughing, rolling around on the couch in a tangle.

Unfortunately, that man was no more.

I smiled bitterly, taking them to the Hayes Mansion.

When it came time to introduce me, everyone hesitated on what to say.

I jumped in. "I'm your childhood buddy. You always treated me like a little sister. You even said you'd set me up with someone. Now that you've got amnesia, it's on hold."

The room went awkward for those in the know, but Ethan bought it. He joked, "Alright, once things settle, I will hook you up with a good guy."

...

That night, the firelight woke me.

I pushed the door open and saw everything tied to Ethan and me burning in a pile.

Photos from our childhood, awards we won together, and even the wooden doll he gave me when he confessed crackled into ashes.

My heart ached, like something squeezed it.

Ethan turned to me. "Back then, we didn't have partners, so being close felt fine. But now Hanna is living with me, and seeing this stuff upsets her. So, I burned it. Hope you don't mind."

I dug my nails into my palm, hiding my distress. I muttered, "No big deal. Might as well burn the stuff in my room, too."
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  • Guiding Light to Rebirth   Chapter 13

    Back in the country, Ethan didn't go home.Instead, he headed straight to the chapel on Mount Hope, where he'd fallen off the cliff.He bowed deeply to the priest. "If I trade the rest of my life for a chance in the next one, is that possible?"The priest gazed at him with compassionate eyes, his voice serene. "Sir, cause begets effect, and effect begets cause. You seek the next life, but how do you know this one isn't what you begged for in the last?"Ethan didn't grasp the depth at first until an ordinary night.Scrolling, he stumbled on Debbie's new video on social media. His eyes lingered tenderly. Then overwhelming drowsiness hit.In a daze, like an observer, he saw a completely different life.In that world, his parents dragged him back home. He regained his memory and married Debbie.Soon after the wedding, Debbie got diagnosed with ALS. But unlike now, she didn't see it as a burden. She smiled and said they'd face it together.He told her, "We love each other enough no

  • Guiding Light to Rebirth   Chapter 12

    "You have the nerve to show up here!" Cole snapped.I caught the coldness in his eyes and quickly grabbed his fingers. I looked up with a pleading smile. "You got the car out? Let's go."I tugged Cole toward the exit. Looking back, I said to Ethan, "I'm not mad at you. I don't need your apology either. Just be good to Hanna. That's the best way to pay me back."I meant it from the heart.In my past life, after our marriage, I got diagnosed with ALS. Ethan stayed by my side and cared for me.Even if it started as a duty, he truly stuck with me for life. Many choices I made this time were to repay that debt.I didn't resent him because that was my choice.I was content with my life now, and I didn't want disruptions....On my wedding day to Cole, I got gifts from Ethan's parents and my friends.There was also a massive asset transfer. It was all of Ethan's shares in the Hayes Group.Along with the contract came a pair of wooden dolls sitting on a wisteria swing.Jealous, Col

  • Guiding Light to Rebirth   Chapter 11

    "A betrayer. An unforgivable betrayer." Ethan couldn't bear the thought of me refusing to forgive him.He had treasured me and sworn to marry me. He used to ache at my slightest frown.Now he had hurt me so deeply....At the Hayes Mansion entrance, he begged his parents, "Please, tell me where Debbie is. I'll make it right and bring her back.""Enough!" Gloria cut him off, fed up.Her eyes were filled with a grief he couldn't read. "Debbie called off the engagement when you lost your memory. Even if you win her over, what then? She won't come back!"Her voice dropped, weary. "She didn't want to hold you back, so she convinced us to drop the memory recovery. Then she went abroad.""Hold me back?" Ethan echoed numbly.Gloria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "She didn't want us to tell you, but you deserve to know her sacrifice. Right after we found you, she got diagnosed with ALS. She came with the report to break off the engagement. Said your heart was only with Hanna.

  • Guiding Light to Rebirth   Chapter 10

    The name echoed in Ethan's mind. It carried a dull familiarity.A slender figure suddenly surfaced in his memories.The girl stood amid a yard full of lilies, smiling at him. "Ethan, the butterfly orchids in the greenhouse are blooming. Let's go check them out together."He watched himself hurry over eagerly. But as he touched her, she shattered into countless butterflies and flew away.Her sad, ethereal sigh lingered in the air. "Ethan, we have no future."In the hospital room, Ethan's eyes snapped open.His cry shattered the silence. "Debbie!""Ethan! You're awake!" Hanna's face lit up with joy, then crumpled. "Thank God. If you didn't wake up, I wouldn't know what to do. Your folks would hate my guts, and I'd feel guilty forever. I never should've asked you to get the rosary beads for me. It's all my fault."Ethan listened quietly. His gaze fixed on the woman he'd treasured during his amnesia.He rasped, "Where is Debbie?"Hanna froze, then bit her lip. She wasn't giving u

  • Guiding Light to Rebirth   Chapter 9

    I wondered, "What does Cole mean? Like Ethan? Like how he'd suddenly forget me one day and hurt me for someone else?"I quickly shook the thought out of my head.Cole wasn't Ethan. He'd never do that.But his vague words still bugged me.He always did that, dropping half-sentences and leaving me guessing.I stomped out to the yard, grabbed a shovel, and hacked at the ground a few times, pretending the snow was Cole's smug, mysterious face.The shovel suddenly slipped from my hand, thudding to the ground.I tried to bend down and pick it up, but my arms froze mid-air. I couldn't move them.Before I could call for help, my body was lifted off the ground. Cole scooped me up steadily in his arms.Pressed against his chest, I heard his strong, steady heartbeat. Thump after thump, like a reassuring drum.According to doctors, ALS was an incurable illness. Drugs and care could only slow it down.Muscles would gradually lose strength, stiffen, and waste away. Eventually, I'd be froz

  • Guiding Light to Rebirth   Chapter 8

    "You always say your birthday is at the start of the month, so you can't see the moon." The girl's voice trembled with sobs. "From now on, even without the moon, it's fine. I'll give you a whole galaxy instead."Ethan reached out to wipe her tears. The warmth at his fingertips burned his heart with pain.He struggled desperately in the water. Not for air, but to push aside that fog and see the face.His brain throbbed like countless needles stabbing it. He curled up in agony but refused to let go of that sliver of clarity.After what felt like forever, just before his consciousness faded completely, he finally saw it.Those eyes, teary yet smiling, belonged to Debbie."Debbie..." he murmured.As the water engulfed him, all the sealed memories rushed in like a tidal wave....These days abroad had felt like a century. From the initial culture shock to settling in now.My stepbrother, Cole Norton, took great care of me. He accompanied me to every hospital, big and small.He fo

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