Chapter 1

The day before the shuttle launch, I was anonymously reported for concealing a mental illness and stripped of my crew seat.

After being locked away in a psychiatric facility for three years, my husband, who had become a decorated hero in the space industry, came to take me home.

“I only put you in there because the situation forced my hand,” he told me. “I requested a demotion just to bring you back. Let’s live peacefully from now on.”

Blaming myself for ruining his career, I stayed in the kitchen and walked on eggshells caring for him for the rest of my life.

It wasn’t until my deathbed that our daughter uncovered a letter reporting me―written in my husband’s own handwriting.

Along with it was thirty years of correspondence between him and his fallen comrade’s widow.

The letters revealed that to honor a promise to take care of Lorelei Frost, he had forged a fake psychiatric report and slipped it into my astronaut application.

He sent me to the asylum just to give my seat on the crew to her.

A glass slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor, the sharp shards piercing straight through my heart.

I was the one who was supposed to fly into space.

Yet my own husband sacrificed my entire life’s work for another woman!

I died in bitter sorrow.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the astronaut final selection.

This time, when Derek Spencer offered to submit my application files for me, I refused.

1.

Derek paused, his grip on the folder tightening.

“Honey, we talked about this,” he said softly. “You need to get some rest these next few days.”

“Let me run this errand for you.”

My knuckles turned white as a bitter ache filled my chest.

I had always trusted him completely.

In my past life, he used that trust to slip forged papers into my file without me suspecting a thing.

That led to three dark, agonizing years trapped in a mental hospital.

It threw my entire life into a nightmare.

I refused to let history repeat itself.

I fought to keep my voice steady, though my hands shook as I reached for the folder.

“I just remembered there’s a section I haven’t finished filling out. Once I finish, I’ll take it in myself.”

When I pulled the folder back, a flicker of panic crossed Derek’s face.

“Where isn’t finished? I can help you with it.”

I locked the folder directly into the desk cabinet and forced a smile.

“No need, I can handle it.”

“Isn’t there stew simmering on the stove? Go keep an eye on it.”

Reluctantly, Derek was ushered out of the room.

The second the door closed, I pulled the documents out.

Sure enough, tucked between the pages was a forged medical certificate diagnosing me with a severe psychiatric disorder.

A wave of ice crashed over me.

Every single bit of it was true.

When Derek walked back in carrying a bowl of hot soup, I swiftly shoved the folder back into the cabinet, my eyes stinging red.

Panic flared in his eyes as he set the bowl down and pulled me into his arms.

“Why are you crying?”

Swallowing back my tears, I took a deep breath.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to apply to break our flight-partner assignment?”

“I agree.”

In my previous life, Derek had brought this up countless times.

We had been mission partners for ten full years, and I believed nobody knew each other better than we did.

Our agency always paired male and female astronauts together.

I had been too stubborn back then.

How could I willingly hand my husband over to another woman as her flight partner?

But now, I knew all too well what would happen.

If I didn’t agree to dissolve the partnership, he would have me committed in two weeks.

In this life, I chose my own future.

Derek froze for a second before a look of overwhelming joy spread across his face.

“Babe, you finally came around!”

“Dissolving the partnership is just for better overall training anyway.”

He had already prepared the dissolution form long ago.

As he handed it to me, I looked deep into his eyes.

I looked for any trace of regret, reluctance, or hesitation.

After all, we had been flight partners for a decade.

There was none.

Only pure excitement.

What else was left for me to hope for?

The moment I signed, Derek planted a kiss on my cheek as if rewarding me.

“How did I get so lucky to marry such an understanding wife?”

“Don’t worry. Even if we aren’t flight partners, I’ll always look out for you at the agency!”

I pulled the corners of my mouth into a dry smirk, disgusted by the irony.

He didn’t even wait for me to speak before rushing out toward the facility.

On his way out, he was already pulling out his phone to call Lorelei Frost.

That beaming smile on his face was one I recognized.

He wore that same smile when he flew across the country just to see me.

He wore it when he proposed to me, and when he found out I was pregnant.

I burned the forged medical certificate into ashes.

Then, I filled out a brand-new application for the space crew and submitted it directly to headquarters.

This time, nobody would stop me from reaching orbit.