"You-You..." Soren was so shocked that he couldn’t speak. His entire body went rigid.
Tahlia gave a small shrug. "If I knew she had already signed the divorce agreement, I wouldn’t have needed to plan that accident."
The truth crashed over him with unbearable force. His chest tightened so violently that he couldn’t bear it.
"No..." A broken sound escaped his mouth.
Elowen’s face flashed across his mind. The way she had looked at him for the last time. The sadness in her eyes. The tears she had refused to shed in front of him.
’I hope you find happiness with the person you love.’ Those words echoed through his head.
Even though she had been heartbroken, she had still wished him happiness. She had loved him until the very end. And he had only given her pain in return.
"Sorry... I am sorry," he sobbed.
Another violent cough wrecked his body. His heart tumbled one beat, then another. His lungs struggled for air, and every breath felt like it was tearing him apart.
He knew he was dying. Yet the anger burning in his eyes didn’t disappear.
"The heavens are watching you," he squeezed out those words through his clenched teeth. "You will pay for what you did. You will never get peace in your life."
Tahlia threw her head backward and laughed.
"Your curse won’t affect me." She looked at him with a smug smile. "I’ll live in peace and joy for the rest of my life."
He laughed, showing his blood-stained teeth. "You betrayed me. Someone will betray you too. You will suffer the same fate I am suffering now. Tahlia... you will regret everything."
"You are so annoying." Impatience crossed her face. "Why don’t you die already?"
She kicked him hard in the stomach.
Soren doubled over. He coughed and coughed. His vision began to darken. His strength was draining rapidly.
"If there is another life, I’ll make you pay."
His fingers dug weakly into the ground. "Heavens. If you are listening to me, send me back to Elowen. I promise, I’ll protect her with my life. I’ll never let her suffer."
Tahlia laughed. "The poison has gotten into your head. You are not thinking clearly. Dead people can’t return."
Her laughter continued.
But Soren could barely hear it anymore. His life was receding. The surroundings started to fade. Tahlia’s mocking laughter became distant as though it were coming from the other side of a vast tunnel.
She yanked at him again by his collar. "Since you are dying, let me reveal one last secret. The accident six months ago—my boyfriend orchestrated it. He tampered with your car."
She shoved him down.
Soren’s chest heaved as he coughed weakly. ’So that’s it. She killed Elowen and my children. And then she and her boyfriend conspired to kill me.’
The betrayal twisted his insides. ’This is what happens if you trust the wrong person.’
Soren went still. His heartbeat stopped. He died, carrying anger, resentment, hatred, regret, and unfulfilled desire.
His body became weightless. The pain disappeared.
He could feel himself moving upward gradually. There was no wheelchair beneath him.
Soren looked around. He was floating above the clouds.
’Am I dead? Is this what comes after life?’
Soren slowly raised his head.
"If there is God, if you are listening to me, please grant me a wish." His voice echoed through the endless white space. "I want to go back. I want to make things right. Please give me one last chance."
A bright light surfaced in front of him, almost blinding him.
Soren instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes.
"Your regret is genuine," a deep voice emerged from the light. "But her pain was real. You abandoned the woman who loved you. You believed a lie."
Soren lowered his arm, then dropped to his knees. "I know I was wrong." He hung his head down. "I was blinded by my own hatred and pride. Give me a chance. I’ll cherish her, love her, and protect her."
He lifted his tear-filled eyes to the light. "I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for what I did to her."
Silence followed.
Then the deep voice echoed around him again. "Three months. You have three months. Go back and try to win her heart."
Soren grinned, his eyes shining. "Thank you. Thank you for giving me another chance."
"It will not be easy. Her love for you has already died because of your years of indifference and constant neglect. She no longer trusts you."
Soren’s smile faded.
"If you fail to win her heart within three months, you will die. But if you make her fall in love with you again, you will live until you are one hundred years old."
Soren’s smile returned, happy and relieved at the same time.
He had never hesitated to take challenges. Renewed determination filled his heart. "I’ll definitely win Elowen back."
"Good luck."
The light vanished.
Soren’s body jerked backward. A powerful force seized him. He felt himself falling faster and faster. The endless white space disappeared as if he were being dragged into a bottomless abyss.
He tried to scream, but no sound came. Then everything went black.
When he woke up again, he found himself in his old bedroom. He shot upright. His chest heaved as he desperately sucked in air. He looked down at himself.
’My legs...’
He could move his legs. He swung them over the edge of the bed and stood.
’I’m standing.’
Joy exploded on his face.
"I am alive. I am really alive."
He remembered what that deep voice had said.
Three months. That was all he had.
"I was given a second life. I won’t waste it. I will win Elowen’s heart. And this time, I won’t lose her again. I won’t let anyone hurt her."
The door opened suddenly. And Elowen walked in.
Soren turned and froze. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.
Elowen was alive and healthy. She looked beautiful. Her long brown hair naturally fell over her shoulders, and her familiar face looked exactly as he remembered it from three years ago.
Soren’s heart raced wildly. He wanted to rush over and hug her. But he couldn’t move. Overwhelming emotion trapped him in place.
He simply stared at her, afraid that if he moved, she would disappear.
Elowen looked at him blankly.
"You are awake," she said flatly. "Last night, you were drunk. So I waited for you to wake up. Now that you are sober, I am leaving."
Leaving?
His heart lurched.
She turned toward the door.
Soren moved. In a few quick steps, he reached her and grabbed her hand. "Where are you going?" he asked, panicking.
Elowen glanced down at his fingers clasping her wrist and then looked at him.
"I already packed my bags. I’m moving out with Sera."
The sky seemed to crash on his head. It was the day she had moved out, the day after they had signed the divorce papers.
Soren’s face tightened with frustration.
’God,’ he muttered under his breath, feeling dejected. ’Why couldn’t you send me back before the divorce? Why on this day?’
Then he suddenly remembered something disturbing. It was the same day Elowen had an accident.
’No...’ A cold fear rushed through him. ’I won’t allow that to happen again.’
His grip around her wrist tightened. "You are not going anywhere."
Elowen frowned. "We are divorced. It’s inappropriate for us to continue living in the same house."
"We are not getting a divorce. I won’t let you leave me this time." As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled her into his arms.