Chapter 1My husband's mistress slipped off the cliff. He lunged after her. "AURELIA!"
I yanked his backpack.
"There's nothing to grab—you'll go down with her!"
Aurelia ended up brain-dead.
Jaxon blamed ME for everything.
Locked me in a freezer at -20°C.
I screamed. Begged. Pounded the door till my hands bled.
He snarled through the metal. "If you hadn't stopped me, I COULD'VE saved her."
"You put Aurelia in a bed for LIFE. Now you get to feel what it's like not to move!"
I froze to death. Alone.
Then I opened my eyes again. Back to my husband lunging for her.
This time?
I let go.
Go jump. Rot with your little whore.
...
The glass skywalk cracked under my feet.
I was standing right behind Jaxon Reid.
Hundreds of feet straight down into the canyon.
The guide had just shouted "Don't push!" when the glass in front shattered.
Next second, Aurelia's foot slipped through the broken glass.
She DROPPED.
She screamed and clawed at the fractured edge, half her body dangling over the abyss, her face white.
Jaxon lunged for her without thinking.
"Aurelia!"
He threw himself flat on the walkway, arm reaching out.
Last life, this was the moment everything changed.
I grabbed his backpack strap, begging him not to go.
Because I could see it clearly.
The glass was cracked all the way to the steel frame. The railing next to it was loose.
If Jaxon went any further, he wouldn't save Aurelia.
He'd just get dragged down with her.
I yanked him back with everything I had.
Aurelia fell.
She got lucky. Caught on some branches halfway down. Didn't die.
But her spine snapped. Vegetative state.
From that day on, Jaxon hated me.
"If you hadn't stopped me, I could've saved her!"
His mom Diana slapped me.
"Aurelia was such a sweet girl. Why did it have to be her?"
His dad Kenneth made me kneel outside her hospital room.
"You owe her a life."
I explained over and over.
I said the glass skywalk was collapsing.
I said Jaxon would've died too.
No one listened.
Then Aurelia's parents came after us. The Reids paid out a fortune.
Jaxon blamed me for that too.
He started staying out all night.
Started drinking.
Started locking me out on the balcony in the freezing cold.
The last time, it was the walk-in freezer at his family's restaurant.
He shoved me inside. Locked the door.
I pounded till my palms were bloody.
He stood outside. Voice like ice.
"Kira, you put Aurelia in a bed for life."
"Now you get to feel what it's like not to move."
Twenty degrees below zero.
I went from screaming to choking to losing my voice.
From standing to kneeling to curled up on the floor.
Right before I blacked out, I heard Diana outside.
"Jaxon, don't let this go too far."
Jaxon answered coldly, "She's better off dead."
Then I opened my eyes again.
Back on the glass skywalk.
The crack right under my feet.
Aurelia was hanging off the edge, screaming. "Jaxon, help me!"
Jaxon had already rushed forward.
My fingers brushed his backpack strap.
One move and I could yank him back. Just like last time.
But this time?
I let go.
I even took a step backward.
Yet shouted through fake sobs, "Jaxon, don't—it's dangerous!"
He didn't look back.
All he saw was Aurelia.
"Aurelia, grab my hand!"
He caught her wrist.
Aurelia clawed at him like he was her last lifeline, desperately scrambling upward.
Jaxon leaned halfway over the edge. His backpack strap swung right past me.
Tourists around us screamed.
"Stop pulling her up—it's gonna collapse!"
"Get back!"
Jaxon gritted his teeth and hauled her up.
Just as he dragged half her body onto the walkway, the railing mount suddenly snapped.
Jaxon's body lurched forward.
He finally turned his head and looked at me.
That look—panic, desperation, disbelief.
Like he was asking why I didn't grab him.
I stood back in the crowd. Tears right on cue.
"Jaxon!"
The next second, he and Aurelia both went over.
The canyon echoed with screams.
Everyone lost it.
Someone called 911.
Someone yelled for rescue.
Someone's legs gave out.
I gripped the railing and slowly sank down, trembling like I was in terrified.
But no one knew the hand I had tucked in my sleeve was perfectly steady.
Jaxon Reid.
Last life, you said I ruined your great love story.
This life, I'm giving you precious mistress back.
Better catch it.
Chapter 2
Rescue team found them forty minutes later.
Aurelia got caught on a crooked tree. One broken arm. Scrapes all over.
Jaxon wasn't so lucky.
He fell deeper.
When they hauled him up, his face was covered in blood.
His legs bent at angles they shouldn't. Barely conscious.
But he was still mumbling, "Aurelia—save Aurelia first—"
The tourists nearby overheard him and started whispering.
"Guy's really devoted, huh?"
"His wife's right there and he's calling another woman's name?"
"Wait—is that girl his mistress?"
When Aurelia was carried onto a stretcher, she heard them.
Her face immediately flushed red.
She explained weakly.
"No, it's not like that. Jaxon and I grew up together. We're just friends."
Just friends.
Last life, she said the same thing.
She'd call him on our wedding anniversary. "My stomach hurt."
She'd sit on our couch in pajamas. Sweetly call me "sis-in-law."
She'd act in front of everyone.
"Jaxon always treated me the best."
"If only he'd met me a few years earlier."
Then turn to me with puppy eyes.
"Sis, don't get me wrong. I didn't mean anything by it."
Of course she didn't.
She just needed MY husband to always have a place for her in his heart.
The ambulance arrived.
Paramedics loaded Jaxon in first.
I followed. Diana's call came through right then.
"Did you guys make it to the mountain?"
"Aurelia posted something—what happened? Where's Jaxon?"
My voice shook.
"Mom, Jaxon fell trying to save Aurelia."
Dead silence.
Then Diana screamed.
"What did you just say? What happened to my son?"
I choked out.
"We don't know yet. They're taking him to the hospital."
She immediately snapped.
"What kind of wife are you? Why didn't you grab him?"
I lowered my eyes to the unconscious Jaxon on the stretcher.
Last life, I did grab him.
And not one of you thanked me.
"Mom, I tried."
"But Jaxon was desperate to save Aurelia. I couldn't stop him."
Diana went quiet.
That sentence—it hit her right where it hurt. Right where she was selfish.
Did she like Aurelia?
Of course.
Aurelia was sweet-talking and charming.
She’d been in and out of the Reid house since she was little.
Diana always said, "Aurelia's more thoughtful than a real daughter."
But no matter how thoughtful, she wasn't Diana's real kid.
Right before the ambulance doors closed, Aurelia walked over clutching her arm.
Her face was streaked with tears.
"Sis, can I come? I want to stay with Jaxon."
I looked at her and spoke softly.
"You should get your arm treated first. I've got Jaxon."
She bit her lip.
"But he got hurt because he was saving me—"
I cut her off.
"Exactly. So you need to take care of yourself."
"Otherwise, Jaxon's gonna worry when he wakes up."
It sounded considerate.
But people around us were already giving her looks.
Someone muttered.
"She really wants to ride along? His wife's right there."
"Guy nearly died for her and now it's awkward."
"Awkward? She was screaming his name pretty loud before."
Aurelia's face went pale.
She looked at me, hurt and slightly panicked.
I nodded at her.
"Don't worry, Aurelia."
"Jaxon cares about you so much. He won't blame you."
Whether the Reids would blame her? That was another story.
The ambulance sped to the city hospital.
By the time they wheeled Jaxon into the ER, Diana and Kenneth had arrived too.
Diana rushed over and grabbed my arm.
"Where's my son? How is he?"
Before I could answer, her hand was already in the air.
Last life, she hit me like this all the time.
Because Aurelia was bedridden and she felt bad.
Because Jaxon was drinking and she blamed me.
Because the Reids paid out money and she blamed me for that too.
But this time, her hand froze mid-swing.
A nurse burst out.
"Family needs to sign—patient has multiple fractures, possible spinal damage."
"It's serious!"
Diana's hand trembled.
She forgot about hitting me and rushed over to sign.
I stood there.
Watched the red light above the ER door flick on.
This time, you're the ones waiting outside.
Chapter 3
Jaxon's surgery took seven hours.
Diana sat in the hallway chanting prayers.
Kenneth chain-smoked.
I handled the payments. Talked to doctors. Took photos of every test result.
Last life, I cried myself sick in this hospital.
Jaxon just told me to go kowtow at Aurelia's bedside.
"If she doesn't wake up, you don't get away with this either."
Now he's the one lying on the table.
Wonder if he finally thinks that's fair.
Two in the morning, the doctor finally came out.
Diana's legs gave out. Almost collapsed.
"Doctor, how's my son?"
The doctor pulled off his mask. Looked exhausted.
"We saved his life."
"But the lumbar spine and pelvis are severely damaged."
"How much function he gets back depends on rehab."
"Worst case—wheelchair-bound forever."
Diana's vision went black, and she fainted on the spot.
Kenneth caught her. His face turned gray.
I stood beside them, eyes red.
"Dad, get Mom to the ER. I'll stay with Jaxon."
Kenneth looked at me.
Something softer in his eyes than before.
He used to look at me like I wasn't good enough for Jaxon.
My family was working-class. Parents died young, leaving me nothing but an old house.
After college, I opened a small noodle shop.
Business got good, so I expanded into home-style cooking next door.
When Jaxon was chasing me, he said he loved how down-to-earth I was.
After we married, he complained I smelled like kitchen grease.
Diana always said.
"Aurelia's a dancer. She glows in a crowd."
"You? You're like a maid."
But now, this "maid" could pay bills, sign forms and handle things.
Aurelia didn't show up till morning.
Her arm was in a cast, her face pale, with her mother beside her.
The second she reached the room, she burst into tears.
"Jaxon—"
Jaxon was still out.
He lay there with no color in his face. Tubes everywhere.
Diana had been sitting by the bed wiping tears.
But when she saw Aurelia, her gaze went ice-cold.
Aurelia froze.
"Mrs. Reid, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
Her mom jumped in.
"Diana—Aurelia's terrified. She got hurt too. Nobody wanted this."
Diana used to fall for this routine.
The second Aurelia's eyes got misty, Diana would melt.
Not this time.
She just kept her head down.
Gripped Jaxon's hand so tight her knuckles went white.
The silence was brutal.
I stepped over and set a thermos on the table.
"Mom, I made you some oatmeal. You should eat something."
"Jaxon's gonna need you when he wakes up. You can't collapse."
Diana finally looked up at me.
Exhaustion in her eyes. And something like dependence.
"Kira... thank you."
Three years of marriage.
First time she'd ever called me by my name instead of just "you."
I lowered my head.
"I'm Jaxon's wife. This is what I'm supposed to do."
Aurelia's face stiffened when she heard "wife."
She used to love rubbing her history with Jaxon in my face.
How they went to school together.
Skipped class together.
Shared bowls of soup.
Like if she'd known him long enough, she had more right to stand beside him than his legal wife.
But now? I was the one who signed his critical-condition paperwork.
When doctors called for family, they called ME.
Noon. Jaxon woke up.
First words out of his mouth: "Where's Aurelia?"
Diana's tears froze on her face.
Kenneth's brow furrowed.
Aurelia rushed over.
"Jaxon, I'm here. I'm okay."
Jaxon saw her. Actually smiled.
"Thank God."
Diana's expression darkened instantly.
I stood at the foot of the bed, watching in silence.
The doctor came in to check on him. Asked if he could feel his legs.
Jaxon hesitated.
The doctor tapped his foot with a pen cap.
Nothing.
Tapped his calf.
Still nothing.
The room went dead silent.
Jaxon's breathing picked up.
"What's wrong with my legs?"
No one answered.
He tried to lift them.
The veins in his forehead bulged with the effor, but his body under the blanket didn't move.
His face went white.
"Am I... crippled?!"
Aurelia grabbed his hand, crying.
"No, Jaxon. You're gonna get better."
Jaxon snapped his head toward me.
His eyes were vicious.
"Kira Hayes. Why didn't you pull me back?"
My eyes welled up.
"I did."
I held up my wrist—red mark where his backpack strap cut in.
"But you were so desperate to save Aurelia. I couldn't hold you."
Diana followed my wrist with her eyes. Her face went dark.
Jaxon froze.
I lowered my eyes, my heart as still as still water.
Jaxon Reid, don't rush.
Your suffering's just getting started.
