Chapter 1

War broke out in the overseas conflict zone, but my fiancé caused a massive scene at the airport, refusing to let our evacuation flight take off.

He was holding the entire plane hostage just to wait for his childhood crush, Hailey Brooks, who had slipped away in the chaos to loot a luxury cosmetics counter.

Rebel forces were closing in fast, and the deafening roar of explosions echoed right outside the tarmac.

Seeing that every passenger on board was in mortal danger, I had no choice but to knock him out and fly us to safety.

After returning home, far from the flames of war, we shared what seemed like a peaceful and happy life. I genuinely believed he had forgotten all about that woman.

Yet on our wedding day, he tied me up and rammed his car into me at full speed.

Before my vision faded into black, I heard his demented laughter.

"Harper Cross, you killed my Hailey! You left her behind to be blown into pieces by a rebel missile!"

"She was just an innocent girl who liked pretty things! What was so wrong with that?"

"You owe her your life, and I am going to make you die ten thousand times more painfully than she did!"

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the boarding gate where he blocked the entryway.

This time, I decided to grant his wish and let him stay with his precious girl forever.

1

"The rebels are almost at the airfield! If we don't take off right now, none of us are making it out alive!"

Explosions and gunfire drew closer by the second, accompanied by the terrified screams of fleeing crowds outside.

Inside the cabin, passengers wept and prayed frantically. A few panicked men rushed toward my fiancé, trying to pull him away from the door.

He kicked the first man hard in the chest, knocking him backward.

Glaring furiously at anyone who dared to step forward, Travis Cole yelled, "Hailey is already on her way! What is wrong with waiting a few damn minutes for her?"

The man with glasses clutching his bruised ribs shouted back in fury, "So you expect all of us to die with her?!"

"Our evacuation window is razor-thin, and the insurgents will overrun this runway any second! How much longer do we have to wait for her? Dr. Harold Miller is on this flight!"

He pointed toward an elderly man with pale hair and an ashen complexion seated nearby.

Dr. Miller was the nation's leading medical scientist and the core VIP of our entire evacuation mission.

He had traveled to this war zone on a humanitarian mission to treat refugees. If anything happened to him, countless patients back home would lose their only hope of survival.

"What, your lives matter, but Hailey's life is worthless?" Travis sneered coldly.

"We are all citizens of the same country. We leave no one behind!"

His self-righteous words infuriated everyone, yet left them momentarily speechless.

My first officer turned to me, trembling with anger.

"Captain Cross, you need to talk some sense into your fiancé! This evacuation involves every single citizen trapped in this city!"

"Airspace will be completely shut down within minutes! This is our only chance to get out!"

"Dr. Miller's heart cannot handle this kind of stress any longer!"

In an instant, every desperate pair of eyes in the cabin turned toward me.

As the captain of this flight and one of the primary leaders of the evacuation task force, everyone expected me to restore order.

Travis snapped his head toward me, a dark, venomous flicker flashing through his gaze.

He was terrified that I would order the doors closed without Hailey.

For a split second, I even caught a fleeting glimmer of murderous intent in his eyes.

I took a deep breath and made a choice completely different from my previous life. "Travis is right. We cannot leave any fellow citizen behind."

An immediate uproar of angry boos and protests filled the cabin.

Travis let out a visible sigh of relief, a triumphant smirk spreading across his face.

"Crazy! You're both out of your goddamn minds!" The glasses-wearing man cursed violently as he struggled to stand up.

Travis's expression instantly twisted into pure rage. He punched the man back down into the aisle, then reached into the emergency maintenance rack and pulled out a heavy steel hammer.

As the chief aircraft technician, he knew every tool and corner of this plane inside out.

He slammed the hammer threateningly against the bulkhead, glaring murderously at the passengers.

"If anyone else speaks another word, I'll smash your head open!"