Chapter 2

2.

"You think I'll fall for your lies again? Your pack is fine!"

Elara stared at me coldly as she reached my last finger.

"The river is below us. At most, you'll get a little wet."

"You're so wicked, you deserve a lesson!"

My pack was actually broken this time. If I fell, I was dead.

"Don't..."

Before I could finish, she pried my last finger loose.

I was sucked into the violent air currents.

The wind roared in my ears, deafening and sharp.

I scrambled for my satellite phone to call Margot Hayes, Elara's colleague.

I remembered Margot was leading a group in this same airspace today.

There was no point in calling the police from mid-air. Only she could save me.

The call connected quickly.

"Save me! My pack is jammed!"

Margot didn't sound worried. She sounded bored.

"Silas, stop playing games. Elara already told us you were going to pull this."

I felt like I was being pushed into a bottomless abyss.

Elara was so cold-blooded she had already warned everyone I was a liar.

To survive, I had to call Elara back.

"Elara, I'm serious. The pack won't open! Jump down and save me!"

I screamed into the wind, looking up.

I could see her plane directly above me.

If she jumped now, she could catch me.

But her voice on the line was icy. "Still committed to the bit, are we?"

"You can fool others, but not me. I know you better than anyone!"

"I'm not lying to you!"

"Liar! Beckett told me everything. You invited him here to sabotage his gear!"

"I didn't!"

I tried to explain, but she just spat, "I don't believe a word you say," and hung up.

In my last life, Beckett was the one who challenged me to a four-thousand-meter jump.

He had said, "Let's see who can do it without an instructor. If you win, I'll leave Elara alone."

"If I win, you give her up to me."

I loved skydiving, and that height was nothing to me.

I was tired of him stalking her, faking illnesses to get her attention.

We had fought about him so many times. I just wanted him gone, so I agreed.

I didn't realize it was a setup to frame me.

But if that was the case, why did he die in the first life?

I drifted through the air, looking down at the churning river below.

I'm terrified of water. In my last life, that's where I died too.

It felt like fate was repeating itself.

I relaxed my body and closed my eyes, consumed by despair.

If I couldn't change my destiny, I might as well give up.