Chapter 1
This dating show was unique. It claimed to connect you with your past self from ten years ago.
The other guys were busy fixing old regrets, confessing to the high school sweethearts that got away.
I was the only one sitting there, staring blankly at a "Number Disconnected" error on my screen.
Right across from me sat my husband. He had his arm wrapped tightly around his new flame, watching my quiet heartbreak with cold indifference.
"Drop the act, Sadie. You didn't even know me a decade ago," he sneered. "Alice was the one who saved my life."
His new love, Alice Grant, leaned shyly into his chest. The live chat was going crazy, flooded with viewers calling me a vain, credit-stealing gold digger.
That was, until the main studio screen suddenly flared to life. After a burst of sharp static, a teenage Simon Clarke appeared on the monitor.
He was covered in blood. It was the exact day he was kidnapped and nearly beaten to death.
The boy clutched a blood-soaked photograph. My name was scrawled on the back.
He stared straight into the camera lens, looking right at his future self, and let out an agonizing, animalistic scream. "Listen to me, future Simon. If you ever break Sadie's heart, I will haunt you for the rest of your miserable life!
"You make sure you marry her!"
Dead silence fell over the studio. The present-day Simon went completely pale.
He reached out with a trembling hand to touch the screen, but the feed violently cut out.
I wiped a thin trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth and calmly turned off my microphone. "Well, Mr. Clarke. It seems you just gave yourself a pretty harsh reality check."
*****
The reality show was called Echoes of Love.
On the very first day of broadcasting, Simon, heir to the Sterling empire, made it perfectly clear that love had no echo here. Just a slap in the face.
Right in front of the rolling cameras, he completely ignored me, his wife of three years.
Instead, he personally cracked open a king crab leg for Alice, his supposed savior.
He dipped the plump meat in butter and held it right to her lips. "Try this, Alice. It's easy on the stomach. You need something warm."
Alice giggled. Her eyes darted over to me with a subtle, unmistakable smirk.
A violent wave of agony twisted through my abdomen, instantly draining the color from my face.
The live chat went absolutely feral.
[Alice is so lucky! Simon treats her like a queen!]
[What is up with Sadie's funeral face? You'd think Simon owed her a million bucks.]
[Seriously, look at that resting bitch face. No wonder her husband can't stand her.]
[I heard they've been married for three years and she still hasn't had a kid. Total dead weight. I'd choose Alice too.]
Lowering my eyes, I quietly fished a painkiller out of my pocket and swallowed it dry with a sip of ice water.
The bitter taste coated my throat, barely doing a thing to stop the monster gnawing away at my insides.
Terminal stomach cancer.
How incredibly ironic. Alice just had a mild case of indigestion, yet Simon treated it like a medical emergency.
I was actively dying, and I was nothing but an eyesore to him.
But maybe this was for the best.
My whole plan was to make him resent me.
That way, when I finally passed, he could ride off into the sunset with his golden girl, completely guilt-free.
During the evening's "Truth or Dare" segment, the tension peaked.
The host held up a cue card with an overly intimate smile. "Mr. Clarke, what is your single biggest regret in life?"
Simon took the microphone. His eyes bypassed me entirely, landing warmly on Alice.
When he spoke, his voice echoed through the studio speakers like a cruel, public decree. "My biggest regret is marrying Sadie three years ago."
The studio erupted. Camera flashes exploded in my direction, nearly blinding me.
I could feel the heavy stares from every corner of the room. Pity, mockery, and pure joy at my misery.
Simon wasn't finished. "If I could go back ten years, I would find Alice the very first second I could. I'd tell her I love her."
Alice burst into tears right on cue, burying her face in Simon's chest. "Oh, Simon. I don't blame you. We lost a decade, but thank God it's not too late for us now."
They looked like the perfect tragic couple.
I just felt like a glitch in the system, sitting in the audience of their grand romance.
Another wave of stomach pain hit me, sharper and more vicious than before.
Cold sweat soaked my shirt. I dug my fingernails into my palms, trying to override the internal agony with physical pain.
The show's director, likely sensing the atmosphere was getting a bit too ugly, hurried over with a folder to smooth things out.
He said, "Well, it looks like there's a little bit of friction between Mr. Clarke and Sadie tonight. But don't worry, our production team has prepared a very special surprise!"
The director slid the folder right in front of me. The words Divorce Settlement were printed clearly across the top.
He added, "If Sadie signs right here, she can give Mr. Clarke and Alice their happy ending. Plus, she'll walk away with the 30 million dollar severance package Mr. Clarke promised."
30 million.
He really was sparing no expense.