His Turn to Take the Boulder

In my past life, I took a falling boulder for my team leader, Cole. It cost me my left leg, dragging me from the world's summit down into a wheelchair, where I could only gaze up at the sky.

He married me out of guilt, giving me a decade of material comfort but nothing more than a polite, suffocating distance.

It wasn't until I was on my deathbed that I discovered he’d tossed all 199 Polaroids I’d taken of him—each one a memory of my love—into a dusty corner. Meanwhile, a photo of another woman was framed and locked away in his safe.

As my life slipped away, all I received from him was cold indifference. The last words he ever said to me were, "Next time, don't shove that boulder aside for me."

Only then did I understand: he would rather have died than be shackled to me by a life debt.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back before it all went wrong. Fate had given me a second chance.

This time, I would sever this cursed tie between us for good.

But when the boulders came crashing down again, he was the one who shoved me out of the way.

"This time, it's my turn to protect you."

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1

The moment I regained consciousness, my ears filled with the excited chatter of my teammates. Someone was shaking my shoulder, hard.

"Luo Li! Hey, Luo Li! Time to vote! Are we summiting Denali or not? We're waiting on you!"

I blinked, my vision slowly coming into focus.

Familiar, vibrant faces surrounded me, their energy so palpable it made the air crackle.

The seven of us were members of North America's top mountaineering expedition team.

But that avalanche in Alaska had changed everything.

My best friend, Maya, was buried at the campsite trying to salvage supplies. I lost my left leg.

The phantom pain of that shattered dream was so sharp that the mere memory made my fingertips tremble.

"In or out? Say something! The captain's waiting for the tally."

Seeing me still in a daze, Maya, sitting to my left, smacked the back of my head.

The slap was hard. It stung.

Seeing her alive—so vibrantly alive—my eyes welled with tears.

God, you actually heard me.

I was really back. Back ten years, before everything fell apart.

"What are you spacing out for, Luo Li? Did you hear? Captain Cole is leading the team himself. Are you so happy you're speechless?"

The mention of Cole’s name sent a familiar pang through my chest, like an invisible hand squeezing my heart.

It was the instinctual pull of our shared history, the very root of all my pain.

In my last life, the expedition leader, Cole, suddenly decided to personally lead our attempt on Denali.

Our reserved campsite was unusable due to weather, so the original plan was to set up a temporary camp at a lower altitude.

But with our perfectionist captain in tow, we opted for a more challenging—and far more dangerous—campsite.

That night, the avalanche struck without warning, swallowing the camp in ice and snow.

Seeing a huge boulder hurtling toward Cole, I instinctively shoved him out of the way, only to have my own left leg crushed.

My bones were shattered, my climbing career ending in an instant.

And Maya, in her attempt to salvage emergency medical supplies, never made it out of that snowfield. She never opened her eyes again.

Afterward, Cole took meticulous care of me. As soon as I recovered, he knelt before me in front of all our teammates and proposed.

I accepted.

Our ten years together lacked the fiery passion of a true marriage. All we had was a quiet, suffocating politeness.

I tried so hard to win his heart, capturing every moment that made my pulse race on Polaroid film.

Before I died, I found all 199 of them tossed in a corner of the storage room.

And locked in his safe was a photo of another woman.

On my deathbed, the last thing he said to me was,

"Next time, don't shove that boulder aside for me."