Chapter 1

"I'm handling another mission runner in the Other World. Just hang tight for three days. Once your body gives out, I'll be there to take you home."

The familiar, mechanical voice buzzed inside my head, leaving me in a trance.

My face paled as I forced the corners of my lips into a bitter smile. "I'll be waiting."

Seven years ago, I gave up everything to stay in this world, utterly convinced that Sierra Parker and I would grow old together.

I never expected to hear from the system again. Yet here we were, exactly seven years later, watching reality tear our marriage apart at the seams.

The front door clicked open, signaling that Sierra was home from the office.

She was stunning, with a slender, elegant build.

The distant look she usually brought home from the office vanished into a soft, affectionate smile the second she spotted me.

She hurried over, dropping onto the cushion right beside me and wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.

"Caleb, where was my lunch today? I'm absolutely starving." She pouted, her voice laced with a hint of grievance. "You always drop off my food."

I stared at her as she exaggerated her dismay.

Looking down, I said, "I forgot."

Sierra was a workaholic who routinely blew past lunch whenever a major project caught her attention. That terrible habit had eventually led to her developing stomach issues, which drove me to spend months perfecting a custom diet just to nurse her back to health.

Even now, she would still suffer from stomach pain whenever she went too long without eating.

Because I couldn't stand seeing her in pain, I spent the last seven years making homemade stew and delivering it right to her office desk every single day, rain or shine.

That day was the first time I had missed a single delivery.

But a forgotten lunch was the least of my worries. I had been losing track of a lot more lately.

In the past, the system warned me that no mission runner ever got a happily-ever-after with their target.

I refused to believe it, arguing that Sierra was different from anyone else.

The system made a bet with me right then. If her feelings ever wavered, my memories of our life together would begin to slip away, and my physical health would deteriorate until I died.

Parts of my memories had already vanished, but I had only just realized the truth. Sierra's heart now belonged to someone else.

She leaned in closer, pressing her forehead against mine as she searched my eyes.

"Did you really forget? Or are you giving me the cold shoulder because I spent the weekend at the hospital looking after Riley, so you're starving me on purpose?"

I shook my head. "I really forgot. The system is erasing my—"

"I've heard enough."

Sierra let out a helpless sigh and stood up abruptly. "We've been married for seven years. Haven't I treated you right? You and I both know this whole system thing is just a story you made up, so stop threatening to walk out on me just to get your way."