Chapter 1

I was skydiving with my wife and her secret obsession.

Suddenly, my parachute jammed. It wouldn't open.

My wife, a professional instructor, saved me in a heartbeat.

But in doing so, her lover's chute failed, and he plunged to his death.

From that day on, she looked at me with nothing but pure hatred.

She claimed I had planned the whole thing to kill him.

To get her revenge, she lured me back into the sky years later.

She sabotaged my gear and watched as I fell four thousand meters to my death.

But then I opened my eyes.

I was back on that fateful day in the plane.

This time, I don't want her to save me.

1.

"Silas, your pack is acting up. Don't jump today."

I heard Elara's voice before I even opened my eyes.

"But... Beckett prepared this for me. It should be fine."

"He's trying to hurt you! He's a total scumbag," Elara spat.

Her voice was dripping with a rage I knew all too well.

"There's a river right below this zone. That coward is terrified of water."

"I'm going to shove the prick out and let him land in the river to teach him a lesson!"

No! My heart screamed.

I fought to force my eyes open.

The moment I did, Elara's furious face loomed over me.

She gave me a violent shove while I was right on the edge of the cabin.

The high-altitude wind nearly sucked me out instantly.

I managed to grab the edge of the door, my knuckles turning white.

My body dangled in the freezing air, the wind tearing at my clothes.

Beside Elara stood Beckett Thorne.

"Elara, is Silas going to be okay?" Beckett asked, pointing at me.

Elara looked at me, her cold, beautiful face turning into something demonic.

"He'll be fine. He's just faking it for attention," she sneered.

I suddenly realized I had been reborn.

I was back on the day I went skydiving with Beckett Thorne.

God, why give me a second chance but put me in this exact moment?

"Elara, I'm going to die!" I screamed over the wind.

I struggled to pull myself back into the cabin.

Elara leaned down and began prying my fingers off the edge, one by one.

"Stop acting. You won't die. You have a parachute."

"No... this pack is broken!"

In my last life, the chute really was jammed. I couldn't pull it.

She had jumped down and saved me, but it nearly cost both our lives.

Unfortunately, Beckett's chute failed too, and he died.

Later, the police saw footage of me giving Beckett a pack earlier that day.

Even though they proved the malfunction wasn't my fault, the world blamed me.

Beckett's parents treated me like a murderer.

Everyone online harassed me for being a killer.

Only Elara stayed. She smiled and said, "Silas, I believe you."

I thought she meant it.

Until my thirtieth birthday, when she took me skydiving again.

After we jumped, I realized my gear had been gutted.

Elara floated right beside me, her face full of malice.

"Silas, your pack was fine that day. You were just acting," she'd said.

"You broke Beckett's chute and lured me away to kill him. Now it's your turn."

"I want you to feel what it's like to hit the ground at terminal velocity."