Chapter 1: Rebirth

The sirens wailed through the city as Shantal Harver lay helpless on the stretcher. Her vision blurred. Her body ached. But her ears… they were sharp.

She heard the nurse’s voice beside her.

“Hello? Is this Shantal Harver’s husband? Your wife was in a car accident. She’s badly hurt. We’re taking her to the hospital now, ”

A cold, emotionless voice cut in.

“Is she dead?”

The nurse froze, stunned. “N-No, not yet.”

“I’m busy. Call me when she’s dead. I’ll pick up the body.”

Beep…

The line went dead.

Shantal’s chest tightened. Her body was weak, but nothing hurt more than her heart. She knew that voice.

Ullysis Ray Ford.

The man she had loved with everything she had.

The man she thought would protect her.

The man… who couldn’t care less if she lived or died.

A bitter smile touched her pale lips as darkness crept into her vision.

So foolish, she thought. How could I believe a heart as cold as his… could ever love me?

Her hand slipped from the stretcher, limp.

“The patient’s heart has stopped!” a doctor shouted.

Everything faded to black.

…

But when Shantal opened her eyes again, she wasn’t in the hospital.

She was in her bedroom.

Her own bed.

Her hands were uninjured. Her body, perfectly fine.

Confused, she looked around. Everything was familiar… yet impossible.

She turned to the clock on the wall.

January 1, 2020.

Her eyes widened.

No… that’s impossible.

She ran to the nightstand, yanking open the drawer.

The untouched diary. The familiar papers. The date.

All of it told her the same thing.

She had been reborn.

One year before the accident.

Tears welled in Shantal’s eyes ,  but this time, they weren’t tears of pain.

Thank you, God, she whispered.

This time, she wouldn’t beg for love.

This time, she wouldn’t trust the wrong person.

This time… she would take back control of her life.

And when Ullysis Ray Ford saw her again…

He would realize the woman he threw away was no longer the same.

Shantal’s gaze fell on the divorce papers on the nightstand.

A sneer curved her lips.

Of course, he hadn’t even given them to her in person. Just sent them through his lawyer, like she was nothing.

In her past life, she had been so foolish. Refusing to sign. Clinging to a marriage that was already dead.

The more she tried to save it, the colder he became.

He stopped coming home. Stopped speaking to her.

And when he did come home…

It was like she didn’t even exist.

Back then, Shantal didn’t know why she kept fighting.

Maybe because she loved him.

Maybe because she believed that as his wife, she could one day melt his icy heart.

What a joke.

The truth cut deeper than any knife. Even when she nearly died in that car accident… Ullysis didn’t care.

He was waiting for her to die. Waiting to be free.

Shantal’s heart twisted at the memory. She had chased after a man who only knew how to hurt her.

His words. His coldness.

They stabbed her again and again.

Yet she held on.

But not this time.

The past had taught her well.

Shantal picked up the divorce papers and slowly read through them.

Ullysis might not have loved her… but at least, he was generous.

The assets and money were more than enough for her to live comfortably ,  probably for several lifetimes.

In her past life, she ignored this chance at freedom.

But this time… she wouldn’t waste another moment.

With steady steps, Shantal walked to the study. A few minutes later, she returned with another file in hand ,  her revised divorce papers.

She picked up her phone and dialed Ullysis’s lawyer.

“Mr. Lawrence,” she said, voice calm and steady. “I’ve signed the divorce papers. I made some changes. Please take them to Ullysis. If he agrees… tell him to sign.”

There was no fear in her voice.

No sadness.

Only strength.

This time, she was walking away first.

****

There was a knock at the president’s office door at Ray Ford Corporation.

“Come in,” Ullysis Ray Ford said, his voice cold and even.

Mike Lawrence, the company’s chief consultant and lawyer, stepped inside, holding a folder. His expression was complicated as he approached Ullysis.

Without looking up, Ullysis asked, “She still refuses to sign the papers?”

His voice was like ice ,  sharp, emotionless.

Mike shook his head. “No. She signed them… but, ”

“But what?” Ullysis cut him off, his eyes lifting from his work.

Mike hesitated, then handed over the documents. “She made changes… to the property division.”

Ullysis sneered, his face unreadable. “Did she think I didn’t give her enough?”

Of course. Just another greedy woman.

No matter how much they claimed to love him… love never seemed to win against money.

That’s what Ullysis believed.

Mike stayed quiet, lips pressed in a line as Ullysis unfolded the signed divorce papers. But as Ullysis’s eyes scanned the documents, his hand froze.

It wasn’t the stack of agreements he had sent her ,  with detailed asset division, property lists, and fine print.

It was a single page.

Clear. Simple. Final.

Shantal would take nothing.

There was more. A stock transfer agreement. Shantal had agreed to hand back her 5% shares in Ray Ford Corporation ,  the shares gifted to her by his grandfather.

The shares that guaranteed financial freedom for life.

Ullysis’s expression darkened. The woman who had clung to this marriage… had signed the papers?

And now, she wanted nothing?

Not even what should’ve been hers?

“What did she say?” Ullysis asked, voice low, sharp with suspicion.

It made no sense.

Shantal had always done everything to please his grandfather ,  even marrying him to fulfill the old man’s wish.

Why would she suddenly give up her place as his wife so easily?

His hand tightened around the divorce paper, creasing it as frustration twisted inside him.

Nearby, his assistant Weldon Williams watched the change in Ullysis’s face.

He assumed Shantal had demanded more money and silently shook his head.

After all, Weldon had been present when Ullysis instructed the lawyers to prepare a fair settlement. He knew Ullysis hadn’t shortchanged her.

If she still wasn’t satisfied… it only proved, in Weldon’s mind, that Shantal cared more about money than love.

Curious, Weldon leaned over to glance at the papers.

But as soon as he read them, his eyes widened in shock.

Shantal hadn’t asked for more.

She had asked for nothing.

Not only that ,  she had willingly given up her 5% company shares.

Weldon couldn’t believe it.

Those shares might seem small, but the yearly dividends alone would’ve made Shantal wealthy for life.

And now… she had handed it all back.

A divorce… with no fight.

A divorce… with a parting gift to Ullysis.

What exactly was Shantal planning?

“No… Mrs. Harver wants you to take your time… so the divorce can be finalized as soon as possible,” Mike explained carefully.

But his words didn’t settle Ullysis.

If anything… they stirred something deeper.

Frustration.

And… something else. Something he couldn’t quite name.