With This Goodbye, I Leave the Past Behind

One of the kidnappers spat in Serena's face, looking utterly irritated.

“What a load of bullshit! So much for being the future Mrs. Grant. We kidnapped the wrong woman this time!”

The other man gave a sinister grin and loosened his belt.

“Looks like Marvin Grant isn't coming for her. Why don't we just...”

Serena's eyes widened in terror.

Her face contorted with pain as she struggled to breathe.

“N-no, please! Just let me call him, okay?

“I'll give you as much money as you want. I swear I won't go to the police!”

She lay trembling on the floor.

After a long silence, a grimy hand finally held out a phone.

The call connected after a few brief rings.

Serena was overwhelmed with relief.

“Marvin...”

But before she could say anything else, a woman's voice came through the phone.

“Marvin, it's an unknown number.”

Serena stared at the familiar number on the screen in disbelief.

There was no mistake.

It was Marvin's number.

But why was Grace Grant there?

Grace was Marvin's adopted younger sister.

She'd moved overseas the very day Marvin and Serena started dating.

In their previous lives, she'd never returned home, not even before their untimely deaths.

So why was she here now?

“Just hang up,” Marvin said indifferently.

Serena's heart sank.

But Grace's hesitant response sent an even deeper chill through her.

“But Marvin, you said Serena was kidnapped around this time in our previous lives. Are you sure she'll be okay if you don't go rescue her?”

Serena's eyes widened in disbelief.

Her breathing grew ragged, and her entire body began to shake.

Previous lives?

What did that mean?

Had Marvin been reborn too?

If he had, why hadn't he come to save her?

Weren't they supposed to find their way back to each other?

What on earth was going on?

Trembling, Serena opened her mouth to speak.

But then Marvin's voice came through, each word deliberate.

“Grace, now that heaven has given me a second chance, I don't want to live with regrets again.

“This time, I want to follow my heart and live a different life.

“In our previous life, I never had the courage to take your hand. But this time, can I?”

Serena felt as though she'd been struck by lightning.

Her bloodshot eyes widened in shock as she desperately tightened her grip on the phone.

But the next moment, one of the kidnappers stomped hard on her hand.

“You lying bitch!” the man snarled. “You tricked us! That guy doesn't give a damn about you!”

Smack!

A brutal slap struck Serena across the face.

The blow left her barely able to speak, her pleas for help coming out as incoherent murmurs.

She was certain Grace had heard them.

Because a moment later, Grace asked, “But Marvin, Serena really has been kidnapped...”

“She'll be fine,” Marvin replied coldly. “The kidnapping is just an act she staged to force me into marrying her. Even if I don't show up, nothing will happen to her.

“I lost both my legs for her in our previous life. I'm not going to be that stupid again.”

Then Serena heard the unmistakable sounds of kissing through the phone.

All the strength drained from her body.

When she'd been reborn, she'd believed she and Marvin would have another chance at love.

But now she realized she'd been the only one hoping for that future.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Serena watched the vicious man slowly approach her.

Then her lips curved into a cold, bitter smile.

“Whatever you want, I can give it to you. All of it.

“But there's one thing I need you to do for me.”

The two men exchanged bewildered looks.

Then one of them actually asked, “What is it?”

“Help me... die.”

Both men stared at her in shock.

“What did you just say?”

Serena gave a humorless smile.

“You've heard about the Spencer family massacre seven years ago, haven't you? I'm the only surviving member of the family. All the Spencer fortune is in my hands.”

She paused.

“But there's a catch. If you want that money, you need me alive.”

Lowering her eyes, she continued calmly.

“So when I say I want you to kill me, I don't mean actually kill me. I want you to help me fake my death.

“I want myself and every cent of my money to disappear completely from Marvin Grant's life. And I'll pay you generously for helping me.”

In her previous life, Serena had poured nearly everything she had into the Grant family business, helping it reach heights they could never have achieved on their own.

But why should she do that again?

In this life, Marvin had decided to choose a different future.

And so would she.

This time, she was done with him.