Chapter 1

“Ah!”

I jolted awake, still feeling the sharks tearing into my flesh.

I could even feel the sickening pull as one of them ripped off my arm.

They had devoured me piece by piece.

And my daughter’s tiny body had been swallowed so completely that nothing remained.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?”

My daughter ran over on her little legs and wrapped her arms around me.

The moment I touched her warm cheek, I pulled her tightly against my chest and burst into tears.

Then I grabbed my phone and checked the date.

It was the day my in-laws and Ryan’s younger sister were going to get into that accident.

Ryan Larson and I had married to unite our families’ business interests.

After the wedding, his parents treated me like one of their own.

His younger sister adored me. She followed me everywhere and always took my side.

Ryan was the only exception.

He didn’t love me.

A year into our marriage, I got pregnant.

One night, he came home completely wasted and called his first love.

“If Lily Lewis’s company couldn’t help mine survive this crisis, I never would’ve married her.

“But it won’t be much longer. The moment I get the chance, I’ll divorce her. Just wait for me a little longer, okay?”

Ryan and I had a terrible fight, and I demanded a divorce.

His parents and sister were beside themselves.

They made him put his promise in writing and delete Serena Winter’s contact information.

I held on to the hope that one day, he might change his mind and choose me.

So I stayed.

I held on to him and to our marriage.

And it cost me my life.

The time on my phone made my anxiety spike.

In just a few minutes, a massive pileup would happen on the highway, leaving countless people dead or injured.

The blood bank would run dangerously low.

In my previous life, Ryan had rallied everyone at his company to donate blood. That was the only reason his parents and sister survived.

This time, I could handle it myself.

Just as I released my daughter, Ryan came downstairs carrying something and headed for the door.

I recognized it immediately.

It was the necklace I’d admired at an auction the month before.

Ryan had bought it afterward.

His sister told me it was a gift for me, and I’d been happy for days.

Clearly, it had never been meant for me.

Noticing my stare, Ryan hid the necklace behind his back and regarded me coldly.

“I have plans today, and I won’t be coming home. Don’t contact me unless it’s an emergency.”

My phone rang abruptly.

I answered it right in front of him.

“Lily.”

His sister’s voice was frighteningly weak.

“We’ve been in an accident. We need help.”

A loud thud came through the phone as it fell to the ground.

Then the line went dead.

Ryan gave a mocking laugh.

“Don’t you get tired of making them put on these little performances for you every day?”

Our daughter didn’t like his tone and rushed toward him.

“Daddy, say sorry!”

Ryan shoved her aside and continued toward the door.

“You’re just like your mother. I can’t stand the sight of either of you.”

I rushed over to help my daughter up.

When I looked at him again, my eyes were filled with hatred.

That was the same excuse he’d used in my previous life when he murdered our daughter and threw her into the ocean for the sharks.

That was the moment all the love and hope I’d clung to for years had finally shattered.

“Ryan, your parents and sister really were in an accident. It’ll be on the news soon.”

“I don’t care where you’re going. But their accident is real.”

In the past, I’d always done everything I could to stop him whenever he went out.

This was the first time I’d made no attempt to stop him from leaving to meet his first love.