On our way home for the New Year, my husband, Elias Thorne, and I were caught in an accident. When I opened my eyes again, we had returned to a time before we even fell in love.
In our past life, we were married for seven years. We treated each other politely, like old acquaintances rather than lovers — and in all that time, he never once agreed to have a child with me. It wasn't until later that I learned the truth: he had never let go of his longtime crush.
Reborn with this knowledge, I made up my mind to set him free. Without a word, we deleted each other from iMessage, kept our distance, and chose separate paths in life.
Seven years later, Elias had become one of the top stock traders, and at a class reunion, he and Lyra Winslow — his longtime crush — made their relationship public.
When he saw that I was still alone, he couldn't resist mocking me.
"Selene," he said with a smirk, "I know I've been your greatest love across both our lives, the best man you could ever dream of showing off... but you didn't need to wait for me all these years."
I didn't respond. Instead, I reached out and held my son's hand.
The color instantly drained from Elias's face. His eyes turned bloodshot as he demanded, "Didn't you once promise to love me for a lifetime? That you'd only have children with me?"
Chapter 1
The next time I saw Elias was at the class reunion, seven years later.
I had just finished several surgeries and was too exhausted to bother fixing up my appearance. I walked straight into the banquet hall without a second thought.
In the center of the room, Elias stood tall amidst the crowd, one arm casually wrapped around Lyra's waist, basking in the flattery of old classmates.
"Elias, you're amazing!" someone exclaimed. "You were only on Wall Street for a few years, and you've already become one of the hottest traders! You're the pride of New York's No. 1 High!"
"Exactly!" another chimed in. "I heard those Wall Street big shots are paying just to have dinner with you! Your consulting fees alone are almost hundreds of thousands — that's more than an ordinary person's annual salary!"
"I've been dabbling in stocks lately too," someone called out playfully. "Do you think, for the sake of our old friendship, you could share a few insider tips and take me along for the ride?"
Amid the laughter, another classmate asked curiously, "Elias, are you and Lyra getting engaged soon?"
Elias lowered his gaze tenderly to the woman in his arms, Lyra.
"Yes," he said warmly. "We're getting engaged on December 20th."
Another wave of congratulations erupted from the crowd.
Someone else chimed in, "Hey, are you still in touch with Selene? Back then, you two were crazy about each other! I heard your first song was written just for her!"
The moment my name was mentioned, I noticed Elias's smile freeze. His eyes darkened slightly.
Standing beside him, Lyra gave a polite, graceful smile and answered for him, "Oh, come on now. Elias and I are about to get married. Those little crushes from our youth don't last — neither does young love. He moved on from Selene a long time ago."
The crowd laughed and continued to shower the couple with compliments about how perfect they were together.
But I knew the truth.
That song — the one they were talking about — wasn't just a passing crush. Elias had written it himself when he confessed his love to me.
In our previous life, we were high school sweethearts, falling for each other at first sight. I could still remember the way he had looked at me back then, eyes full of sincerity, as he said, "Selene, look into my eyes. I love you. Eyes don't lie."
And I believed him.
Unfortunately, in the end, the man from my past life had lied after all.
I kept my expression calm as I stepped into the banquet hall. Some sharp-eyed classmates spotted me immediately.
"Selene! What took you so long to get here?"
"Why did you come in casual clothes? Couldn't you at least change into something more formal?"
"You didn't just get off work, did you? Where are you working yourself to death now? We've got some pretty successful classmates here — maybe they can hook you up with a better job, something easier!"
Seeing the way I was dressed, many of them didn't bother to hide their sneers or sarcasm. I didn't mind. I simply smiled, maintaining the basic dignity I still had.
From the moment I entered the hall, Elias's eyes hadn't left me once.
I greeted him politely, "Long time no see."
Elias seemed momentarily stunned. His gaze darkened, unreadable, before he gave a mocking laugh and said, "Selene, all these years and you're still the same — still no ambition."
Lyra's eyes flashed with resentment as she glared at me. She tightened her grip on Elias's arm, snuggling against him sweetly as if staking her claim, and said in a playful, scolding tone, "How could you say that about an old classmate? Even if she's had a tough life, we shouldn't be cruel. Selene's had it hard enough already."
Then she looked me up and down, a mocking smile curling on her lips. "But seriously, Selene, what are you even wearing? You look so... out of place. You're not young anymore. As women, we should really take care of ourselves. Otherwise, when the time comes, who's going to want to marry someone who's let herself go?"
She tilted her head, her voice dripping with false kindness. "Do you want me to lend you some makeup?"
The moment the words left her mouth, laughter rippled through the crowd.
After all, Lyra was dressed head-to-toe in luxury brands, her makeup flawless down to the last hair, every move she made exuding the effortless elegance of someone born into wealth.
I had just come off a long shift in the operating room. It had been almost 24 hours since I last closed my eyes, and I must have looked like a ghost — drained, worn out, and utterly exhausted. I was dressed in the most comfortable clothes I owned: a plain tracksuit from a small street-side shop, no designer labels, no polish. Compared to Lyra's perfection, I didn't even stand a chance.
"No, thank you. I don't need anything," I replied simply, then made my way to a seat and quietly began to eat. After such an intense surgery schedule, it had been an entire day since I last had a proper meal.
As I sat there, savoring the food slowly, trying to regain some strength, Elias suddenly walked over to me. Without a word, he placed a check for USD100,000 in front of me.
"This is for the sake of our old friendship," he said. "Use it to take better care of yourself. Find a more respectable job, buy some new clothes... learn to love yourself a little more. The past is the past. Don't get stuck in it."
He paused for a moment, then added, almost to himself, "If it weren't for you... forget it. It doesn't matter anymore. The important thing is that you can't lose your will to live just because I left. Promise me you won't give up on yourself, okay?"
I looked up at him, confused. The words he didn't finish left a strange feeling in my chest. What had I done in our past life that made him, even after being reborn, so determined to abandon me?
In our previous life, we had gone from school uniforms to wedding gowns together. He had his dream of pursuing music, and I had wanted to study medicine. Both paths demanded immense time, money, and energy — and inevitably, one of us had to sacrifice. Because I loved him, I gave up my chance to attend medical school for graduate and doctoral studies. I entered the workforce early, shouldering the financial burden for both of us so he could chase his dream.
Again and again, he faced failure.
Again and again, he became frustrated.
Again and again, he fell into despair.
But I had been like an endless power source for him, always recharging him whenever he came home defeated and exhausted. Every time, I would patiently soothe his frustrations, no matter how drained I was myself.
I thought he would eventually understand my love. I was wrong.
One day, when he wanted to buy a new guitar and I had to say no because we simply couldn't afford it, he completely lost control. In a fit of rage, he smashed the guitar to pieces.
"Do you even realize?" he shouted. "If I had listened to Lyra back then and gone to study in the Boston with her, I wouldn't be living this miserable life! I regret ever being with you!"
After that, he stopped playing guitar altogether. He abandoned his dreams.
And I — because of those cruel words, "I regret ever being with you,"
— I often cried silently in the middle of the night.
Still, I made one last desperate attempt to save us. I held him gently and whispered, "Elias, I want to have a baby with you."
But he shoved me away roughly, his eyes filled with a disgust I couldn't even describe.
"Can you even afford to have a child in our situation?" he snapped. "I told you before — I hate kids! I never wanted to have a kid with you!"
Those two sentences shattered the last bit of hope I had left.
And so, during the New Year's trip, when the massive truck came hurtling toward us, ending both our lives, I felt no fear but only relief.
Now that we had both been given a second chance at life, and had chosen to stay away from each other, there was no reason to cling to the past anymore.
I silently pushed the check back toward him and said, "No need. I don't accept things from strangers. Thank you."
