Chapter 1

We were married for eight years, yet my wife never let me touch her once. She always claimed she was completely asexual.

That was until the day I stumbled upon a hidden folder on her laptop.

Inside were dozens of intimate photos of her and another man. They had been secretly meeting up every single month behind my back.

When I confronted her, a vicious fight broke out.

She shoved me hard, sending me crashing into the corner of the glass coffee table, and I bled out on the floor.

When I woke up, I had been given a second chance at life. The very first thing I decided to do was cut her out of my world completely, stepping aside so she could be with that man.

Yet she came running back to me with bloodshot eyes, crying, "Why aren't you hanging out with me anymore? Don't you love me?"

1.

"I love Logan. He's the only one who truly understands me!"

"I've wanted a divorce for years. I'm sick of living like an empty shell with you!"

The moment those cruel words left Meadow's mouth, she shoved me violently.

I lost my balance and crashed hard against the hardwood floor. My temple slammed right into the sharp edge of the coffee table.

Darkness swallowed me in an instant.

When I opened my eyes again, blinding sunlight hit my face. The sharp whistle of our high school gym teacher echoed across the court.

"Alright, everyone, pair up in twos for badminton drills!"

"Sean, let's be partners!"

Meadow ran toward me in her neat school uniform, holding out a racket with a sweet smile.

She was seventeen again.

A wave of realization washed over me. I had traveled back in time.

I was back in high school, long before Meadow and I had ever started dating.

The universe had handed me a clean slate to rewrite my entire life.

"No, I'm not playing with you," I said, rejecting her flat out.

In my past life, I had eagerly agreed to be her partner during this exact gym class.

Back then, she hadn't smiled once. She had played like a mindless robot, barely looking at me.

Logan had been playing on the adjacent court with another girl, and Meadow's eyes had drifted toward him the entire afternoon.

I had been too naive back then, simply assuming she was having a bad day.

Now I knew the truth. She was already in love with him back then.

Her feelings for him had taken root years before our hollow marriage.

The memory of those degrading photos on her laptop flared up in my mind, filling my chest with cold resentment.

In this life, I would never be the pathetic lapdog chasing after her scraps of affection. I was done loving her.