Chapter 1

I completely lost it when I heard Dad's voice again, screaming for him to get lost.

If it weren't for what he said, how could my little brother, Asher Langford, and my nephew, Jasper Langford, have died?

Even so, I kept my son, Billy Calloway, under constant and careful watch. However, when I woke up after holding him through the night, Billy had stopped breathing.

I refused to believe that he was gone. Holding him in my arms, I ran toward the hospital, but we ended up in a car accident on the way.

Right before I died, my husband, Felix Calloway, climbed out of the driver's seat, his face full of despair. "Honey, please don't die… Please…"

…

The pain of getting hit by the car hadn't even faded when I suddenly heard Dad's grief-stricken and desperate whisper in my ear.

"Amara, save your brother. The old stone bridge at the town entrance has cracks… It's going to collapse… He'll die…"

I gasped for air, cold sweat instantly covering my forehead.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Felix placed his hand against my forehead, finding it very cold. "Why are you sweating so much?"

I snapped back to reality, but my throat felt so dry I couldn't utter a single word.

Dad's voice still echoed in my ears, urging me to save my brother.

Wait, my brother! Asher was in danger!

I shakily pulled out my phone and dialed his number, but all I got was the busy signal.

I mentally urged him to pick up as my palms turned clammy. Staring fixedly at the phone screen, I felt my heart pounding anxiously.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

I had no time for Felix. My hands kept trembling as I dialed Asher's number again and again. On the seventh try, he finally picked up.

"Amy, what's wrong? I'm in the car right now and didn't hear you earlier."

Wind rushed in his background, and his voice sounded a little unclear.

"Asher, where are you going? Are you planning to go to Foxglove Hollow to gather herbs? Listen to me—don't go! Stop the car right now! Stop!" I gasped, clutching the phone desperately, my back already soaked with cold sweat.

"Amy, what on earth is going on?"

The wind in the background seemed to have stopped, and his voice became clearer.

I quickly sorted through the memories from my previous life.

Back then, Dad had warned that the stone bridge at the town entrance was in danger of collapsing, so I told Asher to take another route out of town. But on that road, he encountered a serial killer and was brutally dismembered.

Meanwhile, that old stone bridge stood firm the whole time. The townspeople came and went, with nothing unusual ever happening.

The old people in town used to say that some souls who died unjust deaths would return on the seventh day to take their family with them.

So, had Dad just been deliberately misleading me back then? Had he intentionally made Asher switch routes so he would run into the serial killer?

No. Absolutely not! This time, I absolutely wasn't going to let my family fall into danger again.

With this thought in mind, I took a deep breath and spoke solemnly into the phone.

"Asher, listen carefully. Starting from today, don't leave the house for the next three days. Delay any herb-gathering work. No matter what, don't go out. Listen to me, okay? I'll explain everything to you in person in three days. I'm begging you."

"But…" Asher hesitated for a second before sighing. "Okay, I'll listen to you. Don't worry. I won't go anywhere for the next three days. I'm heading home right now."

Only after hearing his promise did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After hanging up, I immediately called the police and tipped them off to where the serial killer had been hiding in my past life.

By the afternoon, when I received confirmation that the killer had been arrested, I finally felt completely at ease.

With the killer now in custody and Asher staying at home… He should be safe now, right?

Now that I had fully relaxed, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion swept over me, and my mind slipped into unconsciousness. But just as I was drifting between sleep and wakefulness, my phone rang, sounding especially urgent.

I answered groggily, only to hear my sister-in-law, Delia Winslow, crying over the line.

"Amy! Asher… Asher's dead!"