Chapter 1

Ten years after my husband Joshua Graham's death from cancer, I unexpectedly traveled to a parallel universe.

I met Samuel Pearson, who looked exactly like my husband.

After three years of persistence, I finally married him again.

Everyone knew how deeply I loved him, but nobody realized I had given him the love from two lifetimes.

But on our anniversary, he left me to accompany his assistant for a prenatal checkup.

Three years were enough for me to see things clearly.

He was never truly my beloved.

So I boarded a flight that was destined to crash, determined to escape this absurd world.

I freed myself, and him from another time and space as well.

I felt relieved as I looked at the confirmed plane ticket.

Based on memories from my past life, this plane would crash in two weeks.

When that happened, I could leave this world.

"What are you looking at?"

Samuel's hair was still dripping, and as he dried it, his gaze landed on my screen.

"Planning to go out and have fun?" he asked.

I turned off the screen and nodded quietly.

Seeing me like this, Samuel sighed.

He rested the towel on his shoulder, then sat beside me and gently held my hand for comfort.

"Are you still upset?" he asked.

I shook my head, about to deny it, but tears streamed down my face first.

Thirteen years ago, my husband Joshua passed away from illness.

After his death, I drifted aimlessly for a long time and even considered ending my life.

We grew up together in the orphanage and were the closest people to each other.

Maybe it was fate's kindness, but three years after he left, I unexpectedly traveled to a parallel universe and met another version of him.

In this universe, he was called Samuel Pearson and was in good health.

Everything here was exactly the same as the other world, except for one thing. Samuel didn't love me.

I managed to marry him, but even after the wedding, his attitude toward me remained indifferent.

I thought that Samuel was simply cold by nature until I saw him gently stroking another woman's belly.

I just realized that in this timeline, the person he loved was not me.

Since that was the case, there was no reason for me to stay any longer.

I took the tissue offered by Samuel and wiped away the tears on my face.

Seeing I was still willing to talk, he spoke gently.

"It was wrong of me to skip our anniversary yesterday. But there was a reason. Tamia needed someone to accompany her for a prenatal checkup, and I'm her boss, so I should take better care of her."

Tamia Sloan had been his assistant since he hired her a year ago.

If I had heard him say this before, I would have argued with him fiercely.

I couldn't accept Samuel falling in love with another woman.

But now I understood.

No matter how similar two people looked in different timelines, their souls could never be the same.

The person I loved died thirteen years ago.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then looked seriously at Samuel.

I said, "I understand. She's pregnant, and her husband is missing. It's only right for you to look after her more."

My words were sincere, but after hearing them, Samuel frowned.

"I'm seriously explaining this to you. Don't always speak with sarcasm. She knew yesterday was our wedding anniversary and kept urging me to hurry home to be with you. Don't hold so much resentment against her."

Did I resent her?

I looked at Samuel, forcing an awkward smile.

We'd argued a lot recently, all because of Tamia.

In that timeline, Joshua and I never fought, whether we were dating or married.

I never expected that all the fights we never had before would happen in this timeline instead.

He was just not Joshua after all.

I held back my tears and exhaled in relief.

"I was overreacting. It won't happen again."

There wouldn't be a next time.

When Samuel heard what I said, a strange look briefly crossed his face for reasons unknown.

He turned away stiffly, and his tone was still unpleasant.

"Suit yourself," he said.

But right now, I had no time to care about what he thought; as soon as I got out of bed, I started packing.

I had left many traces in this home over the past three years.

Now that I was leaving, I had to clean everything up.

I looked around, and my gaze settled on the small hair clip on the curtain.

Before going to bed at night, I usually clipped the hairpin onto the curtain so I could easily take it the next day.

After moving in with Joshua, I continued this habit.

I hadn't noticed this behavior until I came across a sentence in his notes.

"After the wedding, traces of her began to appear everywhere, and the home that once felt empty now brimmed with warmth and life."