Chapter 2

It hit me!

Last year, when my heart disease flared up, I had to stay home on bed rest for an entire month.

Liam acted like the most devoted boyfriend ever. Pretending to worry sick about me fainting alone, he installed that camera in the living room.

Did he see my lottery ticket through the live feed?!

Wait, the camera was there in my past life too!

Why didn't he murder me back then? Why did he take a knife for me instead?

Staring at my cold corpse in the mirror, my head felt like it was going to split open.

I bit down hard on my tongue until the metallic taste of blood brought me back to my senses.

I had to figure out what was different between the two timelines.

In my past life, the second I learned he was going to kill me, I blocked him everywhere.

In this life, terrified of tipping him off, I hadn't blocked him yet. I had only planned to pack up, move away, and cut ties once I was safe.

"Could it be that because I blocked him instantly in the past life, he panicked and never checked the camera feed?"

That was the only logical explanation!

Without wasting another second, I repeated what I did before.

I blocked his number on everything, grabbed the mirror, and moved out into the night.

This time, I rented a unit in a luxury, high-security downtown high-rise.

I also bought a heavy-duty stun gun for self-defense.

By the time I finished setting everything up, night had fallen.

In my previous life, tonight was the night Liam died protecting me from a burglar.

In this fortress of a building, no thief could possibly slip in.

I was safe.

The thought had barely crossed my mind when frantic knocking rattled my front door.

"Chloe! It's me! Open the door!"

"I know you're in there!"

Goosebumps exploded across my arms.

It was Liam's voice!

How did he track me down here?!

Before I could react, he began pounding on the door with fury: "What is wrong with you?! You hit the jackpot and immediately block me? Are you terrified I'll ask for a dime? Is our relationship that worthless to you?"

"Chloe, don't you dare forget who paid for your heart surgery last year! Without my money, you'd be six feet under right now!"

My mind spun completely out of control.

I had done the exact same thing as my past life—blocked him at virtually the same time.

How did he still find out about the lottery?

Did some tiny butterfly effect make him check the surveillance footage anyway?

I forced my racing heart to slow down.

No matter what he said, I could not open that door.

Gripping the stun gun tightly, I pulled out my phone with trembling fingers and dialed 911.

Outside, his pounding grew frantic. "Chloe, please, I'm begging you! Open up!"

"The building's on fire! If you don't get out right now, we're both going to burn alive!"

He was lying. He had to be!

How could there suddenly be a fire?

I stayed dead silent, refusing to swallow his bait.

Thirty seconds later, my phone chimed. The building management blasted an emergency fire alert in the resident WhatsApp group!

Thick, suffocating black smoke began creeping under the doorframe.

The crisp, air-conditioned room turned sweltering in seconds.

There really was a fire?!

*BAM!*

With a thunderous crash, the front door was kicked off its latch.

Billowing smoke rolled in like a tidal wave.

Liam limped into the room, his leg twisted at an awkward angle as if fractured, grimacing through agonizing pain as he dragged himself toward me.

Shaking uncontrollably, I tried to switch on the stun gun, but my clammy fingers wouldn't cooperate.

"Stay back!"

"I swear to God, don't come near me—"

Before I could finish, Liam grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward the hall.

"Run! If we don't move now, we're dead!"

He didn't make a single move to hurt me. He just dragged me straight toward the emergency stairs.

Out in the hall, flames were licking the walls. Thick, blinding smoke burned my eyes and clawed down my throat, making it impossible to breathe.

All around us were the terrifying screams of panicked residents.

"The 19th floor is way too high! Fire truck ladders won't reach! Head down!"

Liam roared over the chaos, shielding my head with his arms as we pushed through the mob.

The stairwell was completely jammed with terrified people. Nobody could move.

To shove me ahead into an opening, Liam poured every ounce of strength into one final push. The momentum carried me forward, but he lost his balance, got swallowed by the frantic crowd, and fell under dozens of trampling feet.

In the end, I barely made it out alive.

Liam died inside that burning tower.

Why?

He clearly knew about the lottery ticket this time.

Why did he still throw his life away just to save mine?