The damp and grimy basement, overrun by rats and creepy crawlies, echoed with Lila Brooks' sharp screeches.
"Sophia Carter, why? Why does Charles Grant, a man like him, go against everyone and anonymously donate his kidney to you?"
"And on top of that, he had the nerve to write a will, leaving all his assets to an idiot like you!"
"What do you even have to offer? It's been years since your divorce, yet he can't seem to get over you!"
Broken and barely alive after relentless torture, Sophia lay defeated on the cold floor. But the moment she heard Charles' name, her dull eyes widened in disbelief and trembled.
What in the world was this woman saying?!
Charles Grant wasn’t just successful—he was the dazzling CEO of a major corporation, admired and envied by many! How could he possibly remember her, a woman who forced him into a divorce, treating him like dirt every step of the way?
And that anonymous donor who miraculously matched her on the day of her illness... how could it be him?!
Fighting through the searing pain, Sophia dragged herself with every ounce of strength toward Ethan Brooks, who stood relaxed on the other side, casually holding a glass of red wine. It was this pair of lowlifes... they were the reason she lost her mind back then and drifted apart from Charles Grant!
If they had gone to the trouble of capturing her, they must know what’s happening to Charles now.
“Ch-Charles... Grant... what happened to him...?”
“Idiot! Stop wasting your breath!” Ethan Brooks kicked the already frail Sophia Carter to the ground.
He looked down on her bleeding figure with utter disdain. “Charles Grant sacrificed a kidney for you, and he’s been getting worse ever since! Now he’s just lying in a hospital bed, waiting to die!”
“When he’s dead, and you’re out of the way, all that inheritance he left you will be ours!”
Ethan laughed smugly as he pulled out a knife gleaming in the dim light and lunged at her.
She had been so, so wrong.
She abandoned Charles, the one who cared about her deeply, for this. All she did was make trouble, hurt him—until it led to this disaster.
Not only had she ruined Charles's life, but now she was about to die at the hands of this vile pair.
“Charles, I owe you too much... too much…”
Tears mixed with pain and regret filled her eyes as she shut them tightly, ready to embrace an ending filled with despair—
Bang!
The death she anticipated did not come. The basement door was slammed open, and she saw the pale-faced man, barely holding himself upright as he rushed inside.
“Sophia, don’t be scared. I’m here.”
His voice betrayed his weakness, but his dark eyes landed on her with a deep and unwavering gaze before he lunged at Ethan Brooks, who was wielding the knife.
The two wrestled violently, and the knife turned toward Charles Grant’s body.
Sophia’s eyes were wide with shock and horror.
Still, he didn’t hesitate, grabbing Ethan tightly and urging frantically, “I’ll hold him off! You need to go! Sophia, leave now!”
“Charles Grant! Do you think you’re still the man you used to be?” Ethan sneered and threw a signal to Lila Brooks.
Without delay, Lila picked up an iron rod and brought it down hard on Charles’ head.
“No…”
Fresh blood instantly filled Sophia’s vision.
Dragging her bruised and battered body, she struggled inch by inch toward the fallen man. “Charles Grant! Why are you so foolish? Why did you come here?!”
With what little life he had left, Charles lifted his gaunt yet handsome face. His eyes held no regret as he spoke in a faint voice.
“Because it’s you.”"If there's a next life, could you… could you love me? Even if it's just a little… just a little…"
Charles Grant leaned against her, his eyes slowly closing. His breath stopped completely.
"No!"
"Charles, I was wrong! It was my blindness, my stupidity that killed you! Why did I only realize everything after you were gone… why!"
Sophia Carter's cry was low and hoarse, her whole body consumed by a pain so sharp it felt worse than death itself.
Tears of regret streamed uncontrollably down her face, falling one after another.
Drip.
A tear landed on the pendant hanging from her neck.
It was the one Charles had given her on their wedding day, a token of their union. Even when they divorced, he never once asked for it back.
So, he'd already loved her that deeply back then…
"Charles, if there’s another life, I swear I'll marry you, cling to you forever, give you the very best of everything. Everything I owe you… I’ll repay it a thousand, no, ten thousand times over!"
Through tear-filled eyes, Sophia stared at the pendant, her voice trembling with the weight of her vow.
Suddenly, the pendant lit up with a blinding flash of light.Pain!
Sophia woke up with a sharp sting coursing through her. The blinding light that had overwhelmed her finally vanished, allowing her to make out the surroundings.
An eight or nine square meter room, it was a modest wooden shack. The floor was worn with patches of discoloration. Next to the bed sat a small bedside table, while a simple square wooden wardrobe leaned against the wall—the only furniture in the room.
Though the place was rundown, it was neat and tidy, with everything in its proper place.
Sophia looked around, finding herself in an environment both foreign and tinged with a strange sense of familiarity.
Wait... this was their newlywed home, the one she had shared with Charles.
Her gaze quickly shifted towards the opposite wall, where a bright red "Double Happiness" character was plastered prominently. Beside it hung a calendar marked with oversized "1980."
1980…
She was reborn!
Sophia couldn’t believe it. Her final wish before death had really come true—she had been sent back to the 1980s, to the second day of her marriage with Charles.
