Chapter 1

Lauren Bennett and I were bitter enemies, yet we were legally husband and wife.

She resented me for ruining any chance she had with her first love.

I hated her for tossing a separation agreement into my face on our wedding night.

For seven years, we both wished the other would just drop dead.

On the day we finally decided to sign the divorce papers, the private jet we were on malfunctioned and began to crash.

Yet, she buckled the only parachute onto my waist.

“Lucas Crawford, if you die, how are you going to pay back the prime years of my life that you wasted?”

The moment my parachute deployed, her final words reached me through the roar of the explosion.

“In our next life, stay the hell away from me.”

Later, the search and rescue team found her charred body in the wreckage.

Even in death, she was clutching the keepsake her childhood sweetheart had given her.

That night, holding our finalized divorce certificate, I jumped off the rooftop.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Lauren was rushing to the airport to stop her sweetheart from leaving.

This time, I let go of her hand without hesitation.

In this life, I chose to step aside and let her have what she wanted.

From now on, we were strangers who owed each other nothing.

1

“Go. I won’t stop you.”

Lauren snapped her head up, pure shock flashing across her eyes.

Then, she narrowed her gaze with suspicion.

“Lucas, what kind of game are you playing now? Playing hard to get? Do you honestly think I care?”

I looked at her calmly, my expression as flat as still water.

“You have two legs. Walking away is your choice.”

Hearing that, Lauren let out a mocking smirk.

“If you had been this sensible earlier, things wouldn’t be this way. The more you cling to me, the more I despise you.”

She paused, her tone turning into a harsh warning.

“Make sure you explain this to your family when you get back. I will never agree to an arranged marriage, so don’t even think about using that to threaten me later.”

Hearing the words arranged marriage made me want to laugh.

In my past life, our families forced two people who didn’t love each other together for the sake of business interests.

That was the beginning of seven agonizing years of hell.

“I’ll take care of it. You don’t need to worry.”

I took off the family heirloom pendant around my neck and slammed it onto the floor.

The crisp sound of shattering stone echoed sharply in the air.

“This was the engagement token between our families. Now that it’s broken, you’re free.”

In my previous life, I had knelt at the airport, begging her to stay.

I had even used that very heirloom as leverage.

If the Bennett family broke the pact, they would have become the laughingstock of the entire business elite.

Trapped by her family’s reputation, Lauren had no choice but to leave the airport with me.

A few days later, news broke that her childhood sweetheart, Garrett Hudson, had been killed in a violent riot abroad.

Lauren hated me for seven straight years because of that.

If I hadn’t stopped her that day, she could have convinced Garrett to stay.

“Lucas Crawford, you’re a murderer.”

“Looking at your face makes me sick to my stomach.”

“I would rather die than ever love a piece of trash like you!”

I had heard those vicious words far too many times.

I knew she only agreed to marry me to torment me.

She wanted to make sure I knew that I would never, ever have her heart.

After endless years of cold shoulders and emotional torture, I was exhausted.

I had agreed to take one last trip with her before signing the divorce papers.

Yet that very woman, who hated me to the bone, had pushed the only parachute onto me right before the plane went down.

She would rather die than owe me a single thing.

“Lucas, are you serious? You won’t come chasing after me again?”

A rare trace of hesitation crept into Lauren’s voice.

“Yes.”

My reply was emotionless as I glanced up at the airport departure board.

“You’d better hurry. If you waste any more time, Garrett’s flight will take off.”

I waved my hand as I turned around.

I threw one last sentence over my shoulder.

“I wish you two the best.”