Chapter 1

Lamont Steward rushed into the hospital clutching an unconscious Lena Hayes. He was soaked to the bone and on the verge of collapse.

“She was critically injured in the earthquake! Quick! Get her into surgery now!”

He stumbled from department to department and knocked on doors to find a doctor. He even kneeled before them.

The grown man wept pitifully and desperately pleaded in utter humility.

Everyone present sighed in sympathy. Their hearts went out for Lena—the woman in his arms.

Doctors and nurses rushed Lena into the operating room.

Lamont stood outside the door. His face was etched with worry and anxiety, as he muttered prayers to the gods to save her.

Usually cool and composed, he took off the rosary he had worn for nearly thirty years and clutched it tightly, hoping his first love could be saved.

Had the nurses not held him back, he would have pressed himself against the operating room door to watch the surgery.

The light outside the operating room had barely flickered on before it went dark again.

The door opened.

Lena was wheeled out on a hospital bed. The lead surgeon hesitated as though he wanted to say something.

“Done so soon?

“Doctor, was the surgery successful? Is she okay?”

Lamont rushed forward in panic as he held the doctor’s hand in a death grip. His voice faltered.

The doctor patted Lamont on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, young man. Your girlfriend is perfectly fine. Just a bit shaken.”

Lamont froze.

“But... but she passed out! Was the examination not thorough enough?

“I was right beside her when I saw that slab of concrete and rebar fall and hit her—”

The doctor cut him off.

“Your girlfriend doesn’t have a single scratch on her body.”

Lamont froze and stammered in protest, “That’s impossible! I saw it with my own eyes! Doctor, please, re-examine her…”

The doctor grew impatient with Lamont’s pleading.

“We’ve examined her inside and out. She just fainted from fright. She can leave after resting for a bit.”

Learning that Lena was completely unharmed, Lemont patted his chest in relief as tears of joy streamed down his face.

“As long as she’s okay, I don’t care about anything else! Thank you, Doctor. I’ll go see her now!”

As the doctor watched Lamont, who was nearly thirty, dash into Lena’s hospital room with the excitement of a youngster, he smiled helplessly. He shook his head and returned to his office.

“Young people these days... I do envy that kind of love.”

In the hospital room, Lena slowly regained consciousness.

Seeing Lamont sitting by her bedside, she sobbed and threw herself into his arms.

“Lamont, I thought I’d never see you again! I was so scared!”

Lamont pulled Lena tightly into his arms and stroked her back.

“It’s okay now. It’s okay.

“You just passed out, you silly girl. You scared me!”

Lena cried for a long while as she buried herself in Lamont’s embrace. Suddenly, she remembered something and wiped her tears away.

“Serena! Lamont, is Serena still trapped under the rubble?!

“She’s your newlywed wife, after all. We have to go and save her!”

After lingering in tenderness, they finally remembered someone else was still trapped beneath the rubble: me, impaled on a rebar.

At the mention of my name, Lamont’s expression instantly turned icy.

“Lena, you truly have the heart of a saint!

“I believe tonight was all part of Serena Dallas’s scheme. She knew about the earthquake and wanted to use it to get rid of you!

“She’s consumed by jealousy and can’t tolerate any woman by my side!”

Lamont had already convinced himself that I was a malicious woman. He had never once considered that if I had the ability to predict earthquakes, my future would have been very different indeed.

“It’s also because of your kind heart that the Lord protected you and let you escape the earthquake unscathed!”

I laughed bitterly. ‘Kind-hearted? Protected by the Lord?’

If she had not pulled me in front of her to block those falling rebars, would she have emerged completely unharmed?

“But...”

A sharp gleam flashed in Lena’s eyes.

Lamont smiled as he slipped off the rosary and put them on Lena.

“There’s no ‘but’ about it!

“This rosary has been with me since childhood. They’re blessed and will protect you.

“It’s thanks to them that you’re safe and sound today!”

Lamont gently helped Lena back into bed.

“Just rest. As for Serena, I’ll call the rescue team later.

“Don’t worry. She won’t die.

“She deserves to be taught a lesson for being so ungrateful. If she does die, it’ll be her own fault for crossing the wrong people!”

Lamont blew on the hot soup, tested its temperature, and fed a spoonful to Lena.

“Besides, this was her trap all along!

“She must have planned her escape. Once she’s out, I’ll make her kneel before you and beg for forgiveness!”

Lena closed her eyes in satisfaction as she enjoyed Lamont’s attentive care.

Lamont fed her, and they flirted with each other unabashedly. He made a grand show of fetching water and borrowing clothes from the hospital to bathe Lena and change her into fresh garments.

The entire hospital knew that a pair of devoted lovers who had escaped the earthquake had checked into the inpatient ward.

With limited rooms available and at Lena’s gentle and indirect invitation, they slept in each other’s arms that night, just like a real couple.

No one knew Lamont’s newlywed wife was still buried under the earthquake rubble, impaled by a rebar, with blood flowing like a river.

When I regained consciousness, I found my soul floating at the door of Lena's ward.

Seeing Lena sleeping peacefully in Lamont’s arms, my heart twisted in agony, and my rage boiled over.

Lamont pursued me for five years before I finally agreed to be with him.

I believed that after chasing me for so long, he must love me as much as his own life.

Little did I know that the moment Lena was divorced, his true colors would be revealed.

His first love, Lena, only needed to stand before him to outshine me.