Chapter 1

“Bang!”

“Argh!”

A gunshot ripped through the night, followed by a woman’s chilling scream.

Kelsey Young’s eyes widened in disbelief as a man stood before her, shielding her from harm.

“Tyler, why did you—”

Why was he the one who came to save her?

Kelsey had always seen Tyler Lang as the enemy. Revenge was the only thing keeping her by his side.

She was determined to bring down the Langs.

Yet now, Tyler took a bullet for her.

“Run!” Gritting through the pain, Tyler hissed.

However, another shot rang out.

Kelsey watched him take another bullet to the back.

The air was thick with the stench of blood.

That was when Cooper Lyon surrounded them with a dozen men in black.

“I bet you didn’t see this coming, Tyler.” Cooper sneered with a gun pointed at Kelsey and Tyler.

Tyler’s emotionless eyes met Cooper’s. “Let Kels go.”

Cooper curled his lips mockingly. “You are in no position to make demands.”

Kelsey could not believe her eyes.

“Um… Cooper. What’s going on?”

Here she thought Cooper was abducted together with her.

Somehow, Cooper appeared alive and well, right in front of her. He even led a group of men, their guns aimed directly at them.

“Can’t you tell by now that this was Cooper’s setup all along?” A curt voice, belonging to a woman, was heard.

Kelsey turned her head to the source of the voice and saw Josephine Young, her sister of another mother standing tall and smug.

Her eyes widened. “What are you doing here, Josephine?”

Josephine looked askance at her. “I’m here because Cooper and I orchestrated the whole thing. You were bait for Taylor.”

Kelsey was shocked. “What? Y-You…”

Josephine clung to Cooper’s arm right in front of Kelsey’s face before staring her down defiantly.

“To tell you the truth, I am the woman Cooper loves. We have been dating in secret for years. We were together even before he met you. I told him to approach you.”

Kelsey shook her head in disbelief. “Please tell me she’s lying, Cooper.”

The only emotion Cooper held for Kelsey in his eyes was a chilling emptiness.

His once-gentle face was devoid of love for her.

Kelsey’s heart was broken.

Ever since she married Cooper, she had been committed to being a good wife. Sacrificing her career, she poured her energy into supporting his ambitions. With his family business taking off, the Lyons had ascended to the exclusive ranks of Abervale’s top four families.

It never occurred to Kelsey that Cooper had long betrayed her and gotten together with her half-sister.

Kelsey shook with rage.

The truth dawned on her. The man she had poured her heart and soul for was nothing more than a stranger.

Josephine nestled in Cooper’s arms with a taunting smug. “Blame it on your foolishness, Kels. Do you think Cooper loves you? He was just using you because you’re Tyler’s one true love.”

“Cooper…” Kelsey glared bitterly at the aloof man.

For years, the bastard persuaded her to help him crush Tyler under the promise of eternal love.

Cooper repeatedly manipulated her into seeking favors from Tyler while secretly engaging in underhanded tactics.

This time, he put her life at risk just to lure Tyler into a trap.

“Thank you for helping me to ruin Tyler, Kelsey.” Cooper smirked cruelly. “But my heart doesn’t belong to you.”

Kelsey was shocked.

She could not wrap her head around the fact that she was not the love of Cooper’s life.

Kelsey looked up in anger. “In that case, why did you marry me?”

Cooper looked sinister. “If I didn’t, how was I supposed to defeat Tyler?”

The realization hit Kelsey.

So that was the real reason why he married her.

She was so foolish and blind.

Kelsey could not believe that she had married a two-faced monster.

“You aided us in taking Tyler down, Kelsey. Without you, he wouldn’t have fallen for it and be in this situation.”

Jealousy contorted Josephine’s face as she sneered coldly.

“Do you think he caused your mother’s death? You have been hating on the wrong person. The one who killed your mother is—”

Cooper cut Josephine off before she could finish.

“Don’t waste your breath on them. They only have seconds to live anyway.”

Cooper barked an order to the men in black maliciously. “Kill them!”

He then turned his back on them and took off with his arms around Josephine.

The gun barrels erupted in a flash of fire, spitting bullets toward Tyler and Kelsey.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Kelsey’s mind went blank.

A hail of bullets tore through Tyler as he pinned her down. He crumpled at last, his lifeless weight crushing her.

Even in his last moments, he shielded her with his body.

“Tyler! Wake up, Tyler!” She shouted.

Tyler met her gaze with a struggle, his voice hoarse. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect you.”

A wave of despair washed over Kelsey.

“No, it’s all my fault!”

She shook her head desperately and tried to help him up.

“Ugh…”

Tyler coughed out blood, his arm trembling as he reached out to touch her pale face.

“Would you marry me in another life if there is one at all?” He asked, clinging to a glimmer of hope.

Alas, he closed his eyes in agony before Kelsey could give an answer.

Kelsey was horrified.

She could not believe that he was gone.

Tyler, the most powerful man in Abervale, breathed his last in her arms.

It was the day she had always dreamed about.

Yet, she felt shattered.

Given a chance for a do-over, she would never subject herself to such despair again.

She vowed to make Cooper’s and Josephine’s lives a living hell.

“Tyler, I’ll repay you for all that you have done for me in another life.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Blood pooled under Kelsey.

She could not determine whether the blood was hers or Tyler’s.

Their blood mixed and merged into one.

Kelsey died with her eyes open.

She did not rest in peace.

The resentment consumed her at her time of death.

…

The only thing Kelsey felt was pain.

It hurt badly.

The throbbing ache ripped through her.

Kelsey opened her eyes, finding herself in a messy bed.

“Ugh.”

She gasped sharply at the sting in the lower half of her body when she tried to move.

The physical pain proved that she was alive.

She wondered if she had come back to life.

Kelsey was in a daze for a while.

“You’re awake.”

Suddenly, a laid-back, husky voice interrupted her thoughts.

Kelsey looked up.

She realized she was sharing the bed with a man.

When her gaze met his, the shock flickered in her eyes.

Kelsey did not expect to see the man there.