Chapter 1

I had traveled through time.

I came back to life in the third year of my marriage to Kamron Rhodes.

That was also the last year he ever loved me.

Not long after, he'd meet the one who was truly meant for him.

For her, Kamron went so far as to stand against the whole Rhodes family, put immense pressure on my parents, and in the end, crushed our family's business.

He drove my parents to take their own lives, and my brother and sister were forced into a place with no way out.

As for me, I leapt into the freezing ocean, carrying my unborn child with me.

This time, I was done fighting.

I didn't want anything anymore.

I was done with Kamron Rhodes.

I just wished for my family to stay safe. That was all I asked for.

The morning sunlight in spring was always so beautiful, so much so that I almost forgot what it felt like to have it warm my skin.

I gazed at Kamron as he slept. He was young and strikingly handsome, his jawline sharp and defined, as if carved by a master's hand.

But it was also as sharp when he dealt with the William family—utterly cold, without a shred of mercy for what we once had.

Even when I was willing to sign the divorce papers and give up my place as Mrs. Rhodes, letting Paulina Stewart take that spot, he still wouldn't let up.

He had to push every last member of the William family over the edge, taking us down one by one, with no way out.

Only then did he feel certain that no one could ever harm Paulina, his one and only.

"Hey, why didn't you wake me up? I could've made us breakfast," Kamron said, still sleepy and warm.

He barely cracked an eye open, pulled me close, and planted a kiss on my forehead.

Kamron's kisses were always so gentle.

He was a rising star in business, sharp as a blade, and all those industry veterans watched him with nervous eyes.

Anyone on the outside was terrified of him.

Only with me was Kamron truly different.

But this man, who once seemed so good, in the end, drove away without a single look back as I chased after his car in desperation, falling again and again, my body covered in cuts and bruises.

I was just begging him to spare the William family, to give us a way out.

But he didn't stop.

He didn't care that I was left bleeding on the road—my head gashed, arms and legs shredded, flesh torn as I lay broken behind him.

When he loved me, Kamron's tenderness went beyond words.

But when that love faded, he turned more heartless than any stranger.

"I'm not hungry," I replied quietly.

Kamron picked up on my mood instantly. He sat up, worry etched across his face as he looked at me.

He gently cupped my face in his hands.

"What's wrong, Vero? Was I too much last night, or are you mad at me?" Kamron teased, mischief glinting in his voice.

He gave me that playful look, his eyes locked onto mine like I was the only person in the universe.

Ever since those memories crashed over me before dawn, I hadn't slept at all.

We grew up side by side, never really noticing how the years just floated away. As a clueless girl, I barely even realized just how deep my crush was.

Maybe that was why I had always been dead sure that I loved this man in front of me—with everything I'd got.

But not anymore.

I just couldn't let myself love him again.

Loving him cost me far too much. I couldn't bear it anymore.

I met his smiling eyes head-on.

And I said steadily, "Let's get a divorce." That was all I had left to say.

Kamron was still messing around with me right up until he left for work. He kept insisting I was just grumpy because he couldn't restrain himself last night—figured he'd gotten me mad.

So of course, he thought me bringing up divorce early in the morning was just me trying to mess with him again.

After he headed out, I sat all by myself at the table, looking at the breakfast feast he'd whipped up.

But I didn't feel like eating a single bite.

If it were before, I would've cleaned the plates until there was nothing left.

Kamron was a real pro in the kitchen—Barbara Rhodes, his mother, made sure he learned his way around the stove from a young age.

Barbara always said she wanted him to be able to make me a different kind of breakfast every morning, no matter what I felt like.

The Rhodes family and the William family had been close for ages—not just business partners, but next-door neighbors, too.

At first, my mom and Barbara couldn't stand each other, always butting heads, but soon enough they turned into inseparable besties, sharing every secret.

And when they both became moms, they even seriously talked about making us childhood sweethearts—almost like sealing the deal between our families.

But in the end, they both decided against it. They said they'd let us kids decide for ourselves—no way they'd ever force us into anything.

Kamron was three years older than me, and the only son of the Rhodes family.

When Barbara was pregnant, she got kidnapped, and my mom Jaycee didn't even hesitate—she rushed right in and saved Barbara, no matter how dangerous it was.

Barbara could never shake off the guilt from all their past drama, and kept saying sorry nonstop.

But my mom was always carefree. She'd just laugh off those old fights and say she was only being the bigger person, letting Barbara win on purpose.

Barbara couldn't help but laugh at that, and from then on, the two of them grew closer day by day.

Unlike Kamron, who was always by himself, I had my big brother Bryant and my older sister Anabel.

No matter where they were in the world, they'd always go out of their way to send the best things straight to me.

But in the end, people as good as them... they all wound up dying, each one suffering more than the last.