"Amara…I regret it. Spending this life with you was the biggest mistake of my life. If I were given another life…I would choose to be with Planette."

I had believed that through sixty years of wind and rain, they had become the inseparable flesh and blood of each other’s lives, waiting only to renew their vows in the next life.

But his words were like a venomous dagger.

My lifelong pride, the man I had poured my entire soul into loving, had trampled my sixty years of devotion into the mud and shattered it completely, using the most vicious method at the very end of his life.

"Puff." A mouthful of blood suddenly sprayed across the pristine white bed sheet.

I didn't even have time to let out a complete cry of agony. My pupils instantly dilated and lost focus as I fell rigidly backward.

In the end, I couldn't survive the night.

When I woke up again, I was reborn back to the age of twenty-eight, the very day after we got married.

By the bedside, my grandchildren presented a platinum ring encrusted with diamond. Lucius gripped it so fiercely that his knuckles turned ashen. Turning his head toward me, tears carving tracks through the lines on his face, he whispered.

"Amara, I kept my promise to you my entire life. I never betrayed you. But if there is a next life… I will never let Planette leave my side."

I stared at him blankly, my mind a blank canvas of confusion. Planette…Who was that?

Before I could gather my shattered thoughts, my grandchildren laid the truth bare. When Lucius was twenty-six, he had rescued a dancer named Planette Moore from harassment at a bar, hiding her away in a secluded villa and visiting her in secret. But at thirty, she died in a car crash. Back then, Lucius had reacted with a terrifying serenity. No one had suspected anything. Everyone believed he had returned to the family for good. That was the foundation upon which our love story was built.

Hearing of his hidden devotion, a deafening roar echoed in my skull, as if I had been struck by lightning. A trembling hand rose to point at him, my lips quivering, yet no sound escaped my throat. My lifelong affection and hard-won pride were instantly pulverized into a million jagged pieces. I stared fixedly at Lucius, my chest heaving violently as the metallic tang of blood flooded my throat. With a sudden, wet spurt, I collapsed backward like a marionette with its strings severed, dying on the spot from sheer, unadulterated rage.

When I opened my eyes again, I had been thrust back to the second day after Lucius and I were married. My body ached with a profound heaviness, as though I had been run over by a truck.

Without any hesitation, I hailed a cab and headed straight for that suburb villa.

The estate was enveloped by towering plane trees. In my previous life, Lucius had told me they were the symbol of unwavering love, which was why he had planted them throughout the yard. In that moment, a bitter epiphany struck me that plane tree was a homophone for Planette.

Peering through the window, I watched Lucius holding Planette in a desperate, passionate embrace. She was sobbing against his chest. "Lucius, are you really going to send me away?"

His answer was absolute, resolute. "Never. Planette, in this life, I will never let you leave me. Not even in death."

In that instant, I knew Lucius had been reborn, too. I didn't intrude upon their reunion and simply turned and walked away.

That night, Lucius sent me a message. "Amara, I have to work late at the company. You don’t have to wait up. Go to sleep early."

A wry smile touched my lips, followed by a strange sense of gratitude. His dying words from my previous life had already completely hollowed out my heart. Lucius would never have the chance to hurt me again.

The next morning, I woke to find Lucius kneeling on the floor beside my bed. I furrowed my brow, assuming I was still trapped in a nightmare.

But then he pulled me into his arms and confessed everything, his tears soaking the hollow of my neck.

"Amara, I had a dream. I dreamed that Planette only had two years left to live. She was suffering, and then she died in an accident."

I remained perfectly still.

"I want her by my side. We won't overstep any boundaries. I have only ever viewed her as a sister. What do you think, Amara?"

He wept uncontrollably. After a long silence, I turned to him. "Lucius, are you sure?"

He nodded vigorously. But catching the sorrow in my eyes, he immediately backtracked.

"If you dislike it, I can send her away. Planette is just a cheap life, anyway. What does it matter if she dies? But I cannot live without you, Amara."

"You don't have to." I interrupted softly. "Let her stay by your side. She is a poor soul."

A flash of pure delight crossed his face. He pressed a hard kiss to my cheek, his voice dripping with soft, manufactured affection.

"Thank you, Amara. I love you. If I ever betray you, may I die a horrible death."

It was the exact same vow he had sworn in my previous life. I wondered why his memory was so conveniently selective. He claimed to love me so deeply, yet he remained entirely blind to my true feelings.

I sighed, shaking my head slightly. "Just go ahead."

Lucius lowered his head to send a message as he left, his shoulders bouncing with barely contained excitement.

Behind him, he remained blissfully unaware. As he walked out the door, I had already sent a text to my lawyer. [Help me draft a divorce agreement.]

The reply was instantaneous. [No problem.]

The landline at home shattered the silence. The caller ID flashed an unknown caller.

“Is this Mr. Lucius Corleone?” a crisp voice asked.

“Who is calling?”

“We are Aurum Elegance Jewelry. Mr. Corleone has a custom wedding ring ready for collection, but we haven't been able to reach him. Could you please pass along the message?”

“Just have it delivered to his home.” I answered.

Twenty minutes later, a salesclerk arrived at the door, a velvet box in hand. “The ring was inscribed exactly to Mr. Corleone’s specifications.” she said politely. “You may verify it inside.

I took the box and opened it. The moment my eyes fell on the inner band, my fingers began to tremble. The ring nearly slipped from my grasp. The words “Planette Moore” were engraved.

The inscription mocked me. This diamond ring was entirely different from the one in my previous life. It meant Lucius had rushed this custom-made for Planette.

A wave of sheer absurdity washed over me. All the affection and devotion I had poured into him in my previous life had amounted to nothing but a cruel joke. A sharp, sour ache surged from my chest, suffocating and bitter. I clamped a hand over my mouth, fighting back an uncontrollable urge to retch.

Suddenly, the front gate slammed open. Lucius strode out of his car, his gaze locking instantly onto the ring in my hand. “Amara, give it to me.

I stared at him, my expression perfectly calm as I let the cold sarcasm bleed into my voice.

“Getting ready to propose to Planette?”

“Don't let your imagination run wild!” he snapped, impatience fraying his tone. “It’s just a birthday gift from a brother to his sister.” He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a desperate plea.

“Amara, I’ve kept my distance from her. Why do you have to keep pushing me?

I let out a hollow laugh and, with a swift flick of my wrist, hurled the ring straight out the open window. “Kept your distance? Then why do you still carry her scent on you?”

“Shut up! You’ve gone too far!” Lucius roared.

I watched through the window as he sprinted down the steps without a second thought, dropping to his knees on the dewy grass. He scrabbled frantically through the wet weeds, desperately searching for the lost treasure.

But what Lucius didn’t know was that the ring I had just thrown was the one he had handcrafted for me when he proposed in my previous life. I opened my palm, staring rigidly at the new custom diamond ring meant for Planette.

Just then, the smart home system chimed, “Welcome Home.”

I turned to see Planette stepping through the front door, carrying herself as if she were the lady of the house. A cold realization hit me that Planette had already been registered in our facial recognition system.

The soft, innocent facade she always wore was gone, replaced by a venomous smirk. She leaned in close, her breath hot against my ear, making sure I caught every single word.

“Amara, I know you’re angry about the ring,” she whispered. “But there’s something worse that will tear you apart.”

She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, her smirk widening. “When he proposed to you, he was still sleeping with me that very night. He told me dancers have such soft, supple bodies.”

Rage threatened to choke me, but she wasn't finished. She wanted to bleed me dry.

“Lucius also remarked that I have such a slender waist…”

That was the breaking point. Before she could utter another word, I twisted my hand into a fistful of her hair and slammed her forehead against the wall. A jagged, gruesome gash split open on her forehead, warm blood gushing out in heavy waves.

“Why bother pretending anymore?” I hissed, my voice trembling with fury. “You came here to pick a fight because you thought I was some pushover you could toy with?”

Planette tried to strike back, but I pinned her against the wall with crushing force, leaving her no room to move.

Hearing the commotion, Lucius rushed back inside. The scene that greeted him must have triggered a traumatic memory. Planette was lying in a pool of blood, just like in that car accident.

He looked as though he couldn't breathe. His throat bobbed, his eyes turning bloodshot. Blind with rage, he grabbed a heavy porcelain vase from the side table and hurled it at me with all his strength. The impact sent me crumpling backward. I hit the floor, motionless.

But Lucius saw nothing but Planette. He scooped her into his arms, his hands shaking violently, his voice cracking with desperation.

“I’m sorry, Planette… I didn’t get here in time. I’ll take you to the hospital now. You’ll be fine. I promise you’ll be okay.”

He carried her out like a man who had lost his soul, dazed and hollow. Only when he returned did his eyes finally land on me, sprawled on the floor. His brow furrowed deeply, not with concern, but with pure, unadulterated disgust.

“Amara!” he spat, his voice dripping with venom. “I told you not to hurt Planette! How could you be so heartless?”

"Help me… it hurts…" Planette mumbled deliriously in his arms, her body trembling violently with pain.

Lucius didn’t spare a single glance for me on the floor. He scooped Planette up and bolted out the door. I slumped against the wall, my gaze empty and hollow. Blood was pouring steadily from the back of my head, soaking into the carpet beneath me. It was only then that I realized how badly I’d been hurt in the scuffle.

Suddenly, a sharp knock rapped on the door. My intuition told me it was Lucius. Pulling myself up with every ounce of strength I had left, I opened it, only to find my lawyer, Julian Croft, standing outside with the divorce agreement in hand.

Julian was absolutely stunned at the sight of my bloodied face. "I’ll take you to the hospital right now!"

"No, I’m fine. Just give me the agreement."

I scrawled my signature in one swift motion. A drop of my blood splattered across the paper, but I didn’t even blink.

Julian insisted on driving me to the hospital. By the time my wound was bandaged, Lucius had called. I didn't press the answer button until my phone showed over twenty missed calls.

Lucius’s voice came through the line, tight with frustration. "Amara, why weren’t you at home? Where did you go?"

"At the hospital," I replied, my voice flat and devoid of emotion.

I hung up. Not long after, Lucius burst into the ward, a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. He questioned me in a calm, chillingly cold tone.

"Amara, you're perfectly aware of how pitiful her background is. Are you just trying to humiliate her by letting her stay? I don’t understand why you’ve turned into such a shrew."

He kept rambling, showing no intention of stopping. "I told you I dreamed of her lying dead in a pool of blood! Why did you have to beat her until her face was covered in it?"

Every word he spoke was a dagger, a pure accusation. I curled my lip and flipped the divorce agreement to the signature page.

"Sign it."

"What is this?" he asked, frowning.

"A gift for you."

Lucius didn’t think twice before signing. I knew he felt a sliver of guilt for not bringing me to the hospital sooner, so he didn’t care what he was signing.

"Once Planette gets better, I’ll send her away," he muttered.

Right as the words left his mouth, his ringtone blared again. Lucius glanced at me, took a step back to answer the phone, and returned moments later, his expression strained.

"Amara, Planette… she’s been rushed to the emergency room due to excessive blood loss. The blood bank is short on her type. I remember you share the same blood type. Could you…" His voice trailed off, thick with awkwardness.

He was well aware he was in the wrong, but he had no choice right now.

Crack!

I slapped him across the face as hard as I could, my entire body shaking with rage. "Get out!"

As urgent calls kept flooding in, Lucius stepped out of the ward. In that brief window, I booked two plane tickets out of the country, one heading north, the other south. I had finally decided to leave Lucius forever.

When he walked back in, several nurses and his underlings stood behind him. He said nothing, merely gesturing at them with a flick of his finger. They pinned me down tightly. I bit my lip, fury churning in my eyes.

"What are you doing?"

A nurse approached, holding a syringe that looked as thick as my arm. Lucius’s voice was rough, laced with guilt.

"Amara, I’m sorry. Save Planette once again. I can’t afford to lose her anymore."

I screamed at him. "I’m still lying in this hospital bed myself! Are you out of your mind?"

Lucius didn’t even bat an eyelid. I tried to plead with him, my voice breaking. "No… Lucius. Please don’t… please."

But he remained completely unmoved. I twisted and thrashed, fighting with all my strength, but Lucius simply looked away, leaving them to take my blood without another word.

All of a sudden, I gave up struggling. I had always been terrified of needles. Whenever I got sick in the past, Lucius would coax me endlessly, even persuading the doctor to prescribe alternative medicines instead.

Seeing my sudden surrender, Lucius bent down and lifted me into his arms.

"It’s okay, Amara. It’ll be over soon."

But as I stopped resisting, a strange, suffocating tightness crept into his chest. It was an awful premonition, a terrifying certainty that he was about to lose me forever.