Chapter 1

I died ninety-nine times on a luxury cruise ship. Every single time, the ship struck the rocks and sank at exactly midnight. And every single time, I failed to find the traitor responsible for the disaster.

Ninety-nine loops. Trapped in a cycle with no way out, my body worn to nothing and my mind on the edge of breaking.

When the hundredth loop began, I gave up. I stopped fighting. All I wanted was to spend my last few hours holding my brand-new wife in my arms.

But the moment I pulled her close, my hands found something hidden beneath her elegant evening gown — something ice-cold, hard, and already inflated. A miniature life vest.

Suffocation.

My lungs felt like they were being stabbed by hundreds of red-hot needles all at once.

The freezing seawater was alive — coiling through my nose and mouth, forcing its way down my throat like serpents.

I thrashed wildly, arms and legs flailing in the pitch-black deep, grasping at nothing but empty water.

My consciousness began to slip. The world around me dissolved into a vast, endless blue.

Then — silence. Dead silence.

...

"Haah—!"

I jolted upright in bed, gasping, my entire body soaked through with cold sweat.

The soft velvet blanket slid off my shoulders.

No salt, no brine — just the faint, calming scent of premium agarwood incense drifting through the air. No crashing waves — just the low, steady hum of the cruise ship's engines.

I wasn't dead.

I was back.

I turned my head and stared at the priceless Patek Philippe custom clock sitting on the nightstand.

The second hand ticked steadily.

8:00 PM.

This was the hundredth time I had woken up at this exact hour, in this exact bed.

"Eleanor, did you have a nightmare?"

The bathroom door swung open softly. Victoria stepped out in a cloud of warm steam. She wore a silky wine-red robe, her damp hair falling loosely over her bare shoulders, her breathtaking face full of concern.

Just the sight of her made my racing heart begin to slow.

For the past ninety-nine loops, I'd run around this ship like a madman.

I'd tried warning the captain. I'd tried forcing the ship off course. I'd even tried blowing up the engine room to stop it entirely.

None of it worked.

No matter what I did, the moment midnight hit, that deafening crack would tear through the hull.

Water would rush in. The ship would capsize. And everyone would go down screaming.

I was exhausted.

Too tired to even lift a finger.

If fate couldn't be changed, then I wasn't going to spend my last four hours fighting it.

I just wanted to be with the woman I loved most — and go quietly.

"It's nothing. Just a bad dream."

I managed a tired smile, threw back the covers, and walked straight toward her.

I opened my arms and pulled her close.

Her body was soft, carrying the clean scent of her body wash — a smell I had never stopped loving.

I wanted to bury my face in the curve of her neck and breathe in this last moment of warmth.

But the second I tightened my arms around her, my hand caught on something at her back.

Beneath the soft silk of her robe — something hard. Something that had no business being there.

It was...

After ninety-nine times fighting to survive in the water, I recognized the feel of it instantly.

A compact, body-hugging, military-grade inflatable life vest！

And it was already partially inflated — primed and ready to deploy.

It was 8:00 PM.

Four full hours before the ship would hit the rocks.

Outside, the sea was perfectly calm. The sky was full of stars.

So why was my brand-new wife wearing a hidden life vest under her robe?