Chapter 1

Before the flight took off, my fiancé, the Captain, brought a suitcase onto the plane.

He claimed it was a special gift from his childhood sweetheart and forbid me from touching it.

I couldn't shake the bad feeling, so I sneaked a look and found high-risk contraband hidden inside.

I turned it in immediately, using my own professional merits to offset his negligence just to save his career.

His little sweetheart was arrested, detained, and sentenced to prison.

He didn't say a word at the time, but during a later flight emergency, he took a pair of shears to my parachute.

"Gwen Shaw, you were just jealous of Faye! You intentionally failed her during flight attendant training and then framed her!"

"Did you think doing that would make me love you?"

"In your dreams! I would never marry a woman as petty and cold-hearted as you!"

I plummeted ten thousand feet from the sky, ending up as nothing more than a pile of bloody remains.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw the girl who had come to see him off.

I saw the suitcase in his hand.

I silently took a step back.

This time, I won't save you.

1.

"Luke, according to protocol, this bag needs to be checked and registered," my junior attendant reminded him politely.

Lucas Thorne frowned. "It's filled with gifts Faye got for me. What could possibly be wrong? Put it under my name. No need to check it."

Beside him, Faye Nightingale chimed in with a sweet, coy voice. "I've been through the training, too. I know the rules. I wouldn't make a mistake with something like this."

The attendant offered a thin smile but didn't move, still blocking the way.

Another crew member whispered nearby, "Knows the rules? Please. She failed the training three times. Gwen had to pull strings just to get her a retake, and she still flunked."

Faye's face immediately fell.

Luke's expression darkened. "That's only because Gwen was intentionally making things hard for her."

"I should have filed for a formal review a long time ago! Faye is talented. There's no way she would have failed otherwise!"

He turned his head sharply to glare at me, his teeth gritted.

"Look at your people. They have the nerve to insult Faye right to my face. God knows what nasty things they say behind her back!"

I remained expressionless, simply watching him in silence.

Faye stood there acting like an innocent victim, though her eyes were dripping with provocation.

"Luke, who really has the power here? Is it the Captain or the Lead Purser? Gwen seems so intimidating that your words don't even seem to matter."

Hearing this, Luke's rage boiled over. He kicked the boarding stairs and raised his voice.

"You won't let me board? Fine! I'm not flying this leg today!"

I lowered my gaze as fragments of my past life flashed through my mind.

Back then, I was so afraid his temper would ruin the flight that I suppressed all objections.

After boarding, I checked the bag in secret. When I found the contraband, I was so worried about his future that I used my own awards to swallow the penalty for him.

I protected his wings.

But in the end, my reward was him personally cutting my parachute as I screamed toward the earth.

How pathetic.

I looked down, my voice soft. "Luke is the Captain. He knows the limits of his authority."

"Since he said it's under his name, we won't check it. Let him board."

Seeing me back down, Faye's eyes flickered. She immediately started wheedling. "Then I want to fly with Luke, too. It's been so long since I've been on a plane."

Luke nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Faye hasn't flown in a year. Let her experience the flight this time."

"That is against regulations," I said, finally looking up. My voice was icy calm.

Luke's face twisted. He stared at me with a look full of undisguised fury and warning.

"What did you say?" he hissed. "Do you want to lose your wings? Fine. Then you don't fly today!"

"None of them do! The whole crew is grounded!"

The other attendants looked panicked. One tried to speak up for me, but I stopped her with a single look.

Just then, the intercom crackled with a dispatch order. "Pre-flight check complete. Cabin crew, please prepare for boarding."

Luke let out a cold snort. "I don't care. It's just one flight for me. But after today, don't even think about stepping onto one of my planes again."

"Think carefully about your next move!"

I pushed down my surging emotions and answered in a low voice, "I understand."

At the same time, I gave a subtle nod to my assistant. She understood the signal perfectly.

Luke, if you're so eager to find your own grave, I won't stand in your way this time.