After I was reborn, my first priority was to cancel our anniversary trip with my husband, Leo.

I was still trying to figure out how to tell him that our booked flight was destined to crash.

Then I overheard him on the phone with Stella, his childhood sweetheart.

With this second chance, he said, I finally see clearly. You're the one. The regret I can't live with.

That night, he came to me.

"Iris, why don't you go ahead tomorrow without me? Something's come up. I've rescheduled my flight."

In that moment, I knew the truth. Leo had been reborn too.

And this time, he had chosen to let me die alone.


Seeing me dazed, he stepped closer and repeated himself.

"What's wrong? Not happy?"

"Silly, I'll rush to meet you the moment I wrap things up here.."

The bitterness in my chest spread to the tip of my tongue. My clenched fingers dug deep into my palms. My body trembled, almost uncontrollably.

My thoughts were a tangled wreck. The words spilled out before I could stop them.

"Then I'll reschedule with you. We can go together after you're done."

But his eyes skittered away, a flash of pure panic. He couldn't meet my gaze.

"You still go first. The change fees are outrageous. It's a waste of money."

"Be good. I'll drive you to the airport tomorrow."

With that, he decided for me. Without waiting for a reply, he muttered something about work and retreated to his study.

Countless questions warred in my mind, rendering me momentarily speechless. I didn't even know where to begin.

After a daze, I pulled out my phone to check our flight tickets. I tried to delude myself, searching for any evidence that the plane crash was just a nightmare, that Leo and I hadn't been reborn at all.

But the stark, familiar flight number glaring from the screen sent a searing pain through my pupils, scorching my very soul. The pilot's final announcement began to echo incessantly in my ears, each word etched into my mind.

"The flight is going down. Passengers, please help one another and stay strong..."

This year was our fifth wedding anniversary.

Before takeoff, Id been excitedly chatting about our plans. He was distracted, constantly checking his phone. I finally asked, "Are you waiting for someone's message?"

He just said, "No, just checking the time."

It wasnt until we hit violent turbulence over the Caspian Sea that I was truly terrified. I clung to Leo, sobbing.

He fixed an oxygen mask over my face, helped me into a life vest, and held me steady. Then he held my face, his voice urgent but calm. "Iris! Listen to me..."

"No matter what happens, I'll be with you."

"But... if I'm not here, and you have a chance to survive, you must live on. You have to live a good life."

A love forged in the face of death should be unforgettable. So why, when given a second chance, did his choice change?




I hadn't slept at all.

At eight sharp, Leo knocked on my bedroom door.

"Honey, are you awake?"

"We'll be late if you sleep any longer. Come on, up you get."

I dragged myself out of bed and opened the door.

He looked refreshed after a night in his study, while I was completely exhausted. He seemed willfully blind to the shadows under my eyes.

He gently pushed me into the bathroom to get ready.

When I emerged, our luggage was already packed and waiting by the door.

"This early? The flight isn't until noon."

He just smiled, ruffled my hair, and handed me a boiled corn and a coffee.

"Better to be safe than sorry. I've got some things to take care of later."

With that, he picked up the suitcases and walked out.

On the way to the airport, he didn't connect his phone to the car's Bluetooth as he always did. Instead, he placed it on his left, occasionally glancing at incoming messages, an unconscious smile flickering on his lips.

After we arrived, I hesitated before security. He gave me a gentle push. He gave me a gentle push.

"It's the same waiting inside. Iris, I really have to go now. The company is waiting."

I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. Was he really... hoping I'd die?

I picked up my luggage, passed through security, and sat down at the gate. I secretly pulled Leo's tablet from my bag. I'd taken it from his study that morning.

His SnapChat was still logged in. The top contact, saved as "Sweetheart," was Stella, his childhood sweetheart.

Last night, Leo and Stella had been on a FaceTime call for five hours, from ten at night until four in the morning. Even after hanging up, they couldn't get enough of each other.

Leo: "I'll see you tomorrow. Too excited to sleep."

Stella: "Silly, we have a lifetime together ahead of us."

Leo: "You didn't have a wedding the first time you got married. When we get married, I'll make sure you have an unforgettable ceremony."

Stella: "I'll go confront him tomorrow about a divorce. What about you? When will you tell Iris?"

Leo: "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

The tablet in my hands felt like it was about to snap.

Of course, he'd handle it. He wouldn't even need to mention divorce.

Because, he's waiting for me to die...

I opened Leo's Ins feed. He had posted something visible only to Stella.

"You are the regret of my youth, and the joy of my future."

The photo accompanying it was their high school graduation picture. Two innocent-looking teenagers, holding hands in their school uniforms.

And on his Ins feed, all posts related to me had been deleted overnight.

Tears splashed onto the screen.

The boarding announcement began. I sniffed, grabbed my luggage, and walked towards the gate.




Reborn, I wasn't sure if this flight would crash again. I guessed Leo wasn't sure either, which was why he was waiting.

Ten minutes before the plane doors closed, I grabbed my luggage, preparing to get off the plane. The flight attendant asked me, confused, "Ma'am, is everything alright? Do you need any help?"

I said, "I suddenly have a fear of flying, and my heart feels uncomfortable."

"I'm voluntarily ending my trip."

After the flight attendant consulted with the pilot, they let me leave.

I returned to the boarding gate, standing by the glass window, watching the plane taxi to the runway. Then it gradually ascended, disappearing from my sight.

I had thought about warning the people on the plane that it might crash. But rebirth felt too ethereal. I was afraid they'd think I was crazy. So, I could only pray in my heart for their safe journey.

I sat in the airport for three hours, constantly staring at Leo's chat logs.

After dropping me off at the airport, he had immediately gone to meet Stella. They met at a hotel. He had screenshotted the group-buy room details and a delivery order for condoms, sending them to her.

He asked her, "Is there anything else you need me to prepare?"

She replied, "I heard men aren't so good after twenty-five. Are you ready?"

He answered, "Maybe not for others, but for you, you'll be the one screaming you're done."

Shortly after that message was sent, a notification popped up on the screen: a consumption record. The details showed a pharmacy, male enhancement products.

I took photos of all the content in their chat and then took a cab to the old house where Leo and I used to live.

Leo and I were college classmates. Though he struggled financially, he was handsome and academically gifted, which made teachers and classmates alike want to look out for him.

My mother, who was also his professor, was especially kind. She often invited him home for dinner and bought him clothes and daily necessities, treating him almost as her own son.

At that time, I only saw him as a classmate. I never thought about dating him.

It wasn't until shortly after college graduation that my mother passed away from cancer.

Leo, along with other classmates, came to mourn my mother. But while others left, he stayed. He helped me tirelessly with all the funeral arrangements.

My father had left when I was very young. After my mother passed, I felt like an orphan. Friends and relatives urged me to be strong. But those two words were easy to say, yet so incredibly difficult to embody.

Thankfully, Leo stayed by my side during that time. He told me, "Iris, I'm here for you."

"Your mother was so kind to me. Now that she's gone, I'll take care of you for the rest of my life."

At first, I didn't want to accept his kindness. A part of me was afraid of falling for him. But no matter how hard I tried to push him away, he remained steadfastly by my side

Everything changed on the first anniversary of my mother's death.

Grief-stricken, I drank too much. I kissed him wildly, tearing at our clothes and pulling him onto the bed. He didn't refuse me. His touch was nothing but gentle.

The next morning, I told him we could pretend it never happened.
But Instead, he immediately asked me to marry him. I was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly refused.

"I don't want you to marry me out of gratitude."

"You've already repaid your debt to my mother."

He didn't say anything, just got dressed and left. I thought he would never come back. But to my surprise, less than an hour later, he reappeared, breathless, with flowers, a ring, and breakfast.

"I want to marry you because I genuinely love you, Iris."

"Not for anyone else, only for you."

That ring, which he bought with all the money he had, is still on my hand today. Even though he bought me many other rings later, I never replaced it.

I opened the door to the old house. Having been empty for so long, the air seemed to float with endless dust.

The familiar scene made me feel like I was witnessing Leo's proposal again. I chuckled self-deprecatingly.

I took off the ring on my right ring finger and placed it on the console by the entrance. Perhaps he and I were a mistake from the very beginning.




In the afternoon, I was so tired that I drifted off to sleep on the sofa. I was woken by a series of phone calls. All my friends were calling me. Messages flooded in, one after another.

"Iris! Are you okay?"

"You're not on the plane, are you? Please tell me you're not!"

"I'm begging you, text me back..."

"Leo wasn't on the plane, right? Why did you go alone?!"

I glanced at the time: 8:30 PM. I numbly searched for news about the flight. The top trending headline read:

Air disaster, crashed into the sea, no survivors.

Those keywords flashed before my eyes. I understood then; the accident still happened.

I didn't immediately reassure everyone. Instead, I wanted to see Leo's reaction.

He posted a tribute online, titled "In Loving Memory of My Deceased Wife."

It was a rambling, thousand-word essay explaining that he couldn't go with me due to an emergency.

He also recounted our story, how we met and fell in love.

He played the role of the devoted husband, his words brimming with apparent grief.

He even declared that whether I was alive or dead, he would love me forever. He wrote that after the funeral, he would adopt a child to be "our child."

The picture accompanying the post was our wedding photo. Only, my half of the photo had been photoshopped in black and white, while his half remained vibrant red.

In the comments, many comforted him, telling him to accept his condolences. Some even transferred him money, calling it a small token of sympathy.

A sharp pain twisted in my chest. I opened his chat with Stella.

Stella: "Iris is gone?"

Leo: "Yeah, it was an accident."

Stella: "Then what about us... if we get together now, everyone will trash me."

"Leo, I'm with you because of love. I don't want people to think I'm a home-wrecker because of this."

"You promised you wouldn't let me get hurt."

Leo sent several sixty-second voice messages, continuously coaxing her, reassuring her of his feelings. He said, "Regardless of whether this accident happened, you are the only one I love."

"Please don't leave me, you're all I have left..."

"After Iris's funeral, we'll get married."

"And we'll bring you and his child to live with us."

"We'll tell everyone it's a child I adopted for Iris."

"Don't worry, I would never let you be wronged."

"As for Iris's inheritance, her mother's old house, I'll transfer it to the child."

A wave of bitter anger rose in my chest, so potent it felt suffocating. My hands trembled violently. How could he shamelessly say such things?

I took several deep breaths to calm the choking emotions.

So be it. If he's so eager to hold my funeral, I'll be sure to give him a parting gift he'll never forget.