Chapter 1: After Rebirth

Hannah Cooper opened her eyes, confusion clouding her vision. "Where am I? Am I in a ward? In the hospital?" she wondered. Wasn't she already dead? She touched her chest, surprised to find no wound. Yet, she vividly remembered being stabbed in the heart with a knife by her husband, Charles Sawyer, who everyone considered the perfect spouse.

Was it just a dream? If so, it felt incredibly real! She could still hear Charles's voice in her dream, "Hannah, I've never loved you. And I'm tired of sleeping with you. Sarah is much better and sexier in bed; you're like a dead body, cold and stiff..."

In the dream, Hannah didn't cry or cause a scene. She was too well-bred, enduring the pain until she finally took her last breath. "You love me a lot, right? Then go to hell so that I can be with Sarah. I'll be grateful for you!" he'd said in a gloomy voice, pulling the knife from her heart. Blood splattered on his handsome, gentle face, making him look ruthless. He then offered a light smile, as if looking at a stranger, not his loyal wife who had been devoted to him for ten years.

In that dream, Hannah died with her eyes wide open, vowing never to forget or forgive his cruelty and ruthlessness. Was it truly a dream? But she could still feel the phantom pain in her heart. Or had someone saved her? Could medical technology be so advanced now that it could save someone stabbed in the heart?

She went to the bathroom and stared at her reflection. "The heart operation made me look younger?" she thought, impressed by the advanced medical technology. "Or was I just dreaming that my beloved husband killed me?" A myriad of questions plagued Hannah.

She turned on her phone and saw the year 2022 on the screen. "No way! That's impossible! There must be something wrong with the phone!" She rushed out of the room. The nursing attendant at the door, seeing her awake, instantly stopped her and called doctors and nurses for examinations.

"What's the date today? Which year is it?" Hannah urgently asked everyone she met. They looked at her curiously. Suddenly, Hannah, who had seemed disoriented, quieted down.

"The concussion is gone. You can go home tomorrow," a doctor announced after the examination. The crowd dispersed one by one.

After the doctor left, her best friend, Susan Phillips, cried out happily, "Oh dear lord! It's awesome! Thank God! I'm calling Miguel and Michelle! They've been staying with you here for two days. They just left for a rest this morning."

"Susan," Hannah, who had been silent, called her name out of the blue. Susan turned and saw Hannah looking disbelieving, tears streaming down her face. Hannah was confirming to herself that she was still alive. So were her parents and Susan. It was wonderful! She wouldn't want to wake up if this was a dream. How she wished she could go home and see her parents now!

"Miss Cooper, my master will be here tomorrow. Please be sure to meet him then," a man suddenly said.

"Who's your master?"

"Hannah, his master is the man who hit you," Susan whispered in her ear.

"Okay. I'll make some time for him," Hannah nodded. She also wanted to know what had happened and why she was back to the day she was 22. Or was she simply 22, and everything she remembered was just a dream? But that didn't make sense! If it was only a dream, she couldn't have remembered every detail so clearly and precisely. Or was it an accident? Was it God's plan? Perhaps God saw that her life was miserable while evil people thrived. By no means would she let it happen again if the future was going to unfold as she remembered.

"Susan, I want to take a break. You'd better go home and get some good rest too. I bet you must be exhausted these past few days. Don't worry about me. I'm okay. I can go home tomorrow." Hannah looked at Susan's dark circles. Susan was truly a worthy best friend. However, Hannah couldn't tell her too much, as Susan was impulsive and straightforward.

"Okay, Hannah. Have a good rest. I'll go take a nap in the restroom." Susan had been too worried to sleep well recently, so she lay on the bed and immediately fell asleep.

Hannah tucked her in and closed the door. She had to verify some things, to prove if they were facts, predictions, or only a dream. She picked up her phone and dialed a number. "I'll pay you 30,000 to keep watch on a suite in a fancy apartment complex and see if you can find those two people in the photo going in and out of it. I'll pay you ten thousand dollars as a deposit, and I'll transfer the balance to your bank account after you take photos of them entering that door."

"You got it. Send me the photo via email," the man agreed quickly. This private detective agency specialized in investigating love affairs. As far as she could remember, Charles had been acting strangely, and she had hesitated to call a private detective agency to find out the truth in her memory. In the end, she chose to trust her husband and gave up the investigation. So, she had proved the first thing. The number, the detective agency, and the email address all existed, and they could conduct the investigation. She didn't ask for much; she just needed to prove that Sandra Stein lived at that address. Then, she could further prove her memories. Moreover, if Sandra was found to be having an affair with Charles, that would be the third thing that needed to be proved. If these things were proven, she might either have future memories or be living in a parallel universe. And she was back to being 22 again.

Hannah slowly pieced it together—here was what was going on: she had returned to her 22nd year and restarted everything. Lying on the bed, Hannah saw her parents enter, and her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She hadn't seen them in a long time. She missed them so much! Her mother held her dearly, comforting her, thinking her sweet daughter must have been badly hurt in the accident, otherwise she wouldn't have cried so hard. In the end, Hannah was exhausted and cried herself to sleep.

Hannah had dinner with her parents, then urged them to go home and rest. Her bosom friend, Susan, also went home. They saw her safe and sound and agreed to go back and refresh themselves. They had all been exhausted these past few days.

Hannah was woken up by her phone in the middle of the night.

"Hello, my honored client. We had a lucky day. These two people happened to spend the night in the apartment last night. I've finished the task in only one day. I have plenty of time. Would you like me to take more photos? I've sent the information you need via email. Please transfer the balance payment ASAP if you're pleased with my service."

"Very well. No need for more shots. I'll transfer the balance payment right away. So much for our cooperation. Keep it confidential, or you'll ruin your trust," Hannah threatened.

"Got it. We're professional and won't let the cat out of the bag. Thanks for your trust!"

Hannah saw Charles and Sandra kissing passionately in the photo. Charles seemed so strange to her at that moment. By this time, she had completely accepted her earlier suspicions. Moreover, she felt thankful for this experience in her life. In her memories, to be more exact, in her previous life, it must have happened. Thus, it was all true. He had cheated on her from the beginning, but she had been so stupid as to trust this hypocrite all the time.

They had been married for ten years and were childhood sweethearts. Hannah was intelligent from a young age. She married Charles at 22, then hid her brilliance and worked hard to be a loyal and responsible wife to him. She had given up everything for herself and done whatever she could to help him rise from a rich businessman to a nobleman. But she had never imagined that Charles would kill her personally someday, and that he would kill all her family as an engagement gift for the woman he loved. She hated him. She hated his guts.

Fortunately, she was blessed by God. The car accident had brought her back to her 22nd year, before she married Charles. She swore she would change her future!

The next day, Hannah stared at Oscar Wells, the man standing in front of her, who had crashed into her car. He was the third son of the Wells family, born into the family that headed the four strongest powers in the country, Northfield. He had a charmingly handsome face. He was over six feet, and his physique was as perfect as a model's. Absolutely, he was the most stunning guy in Kensbury. But a man so well-born turned out to be the most notoriously spoiled playboy in Kensbury. The number of women he'd been with was much larger than the men she'd ever met. It was hard to imagine how much he'd indulged himself in sensual pleasures. Moreover, he was the only man Charles had failed to beat in her previous life.

"Are you falling for me, Miss Cooper?" Oscar's deep eyes lightly fell on her as she kept staring at him without blinking. His voice was magnetic and special; even his flirting words sounded pleasant.

"Yes," she came back to earth and admitted it.

Hearing this, her bosom friend Susan yelled furiously, "Hannah, are you out of your mind?"

Oscar looked a little surprised but appeared to sneer at her.

"Do you have any idea who he is? Do you know he's a jerk?" Susan shouted at Hannah, "He's good-looking and good at playing around. Besides, he's good at nothing. Jesus! You said you've fallen for him? What's wrong with you? Are you blind?"

Well, she admitted that she had been blind to have fallen in love with Charles, a very cunning and scheming hypocrite! They had gone to a church to pray in the early morning but were hit by a red sports car on the way back. Fortunately, the driver of the sports car was sharp and quick enough, turning abruptly to avoid a head-on collision, but they still crashed into each other. Their cars were slightly damaged, but no one in the car was injured except that she had passed out. Doctors were unable to see any physical wounds on her, so they could only diagnose her with a concussion. Surprisingly, she had returned to her 22nd year in the accident.

Hannah ignored Susan's question and turned to Oscar, asking, "You've got the guts to take me away from my wedding?"

"Hannah!!" Susan couldn't help but exclaim again. Undoubtedly, Oscar was a dreamboat, but how could Hannah give up her marriage for a playboy like him?

"I'm getting married on the 18th next month. Do you dare to come?" Hannah uttered the words clearly, one by one.

It took a few seconds for Oscar to digest Hannah's words. "Miss Cooper, I'm afraid that you need to go to the hospital and have a brain CT," he said lightly. Saying this, he casually took a bank card from a pocket of his black suit pants, held it with his slender fingers, and handed it to her arrogantly, "I'll pay."

Hannah glanced at the super VIP black card. Everyone knew that Master Oscar was a big spender, and the women who had hooked up with him were always paid generously. Hannah took it. Oscar looked a little surprised then. All people of Kensbury knew that Hannah was well-educated, soft, and elegant, and never fooled around with rich playboys. She only hoped to marry Charles and be his wife.

"I'll take it as the engagement gift," said Hannah. Susan, who was standing beside them, was totally shocked.

Oscar softly pursed his perfect lips, put on a meaningful smile, and chose to remain silent with a poker face. She had no idea if he had accepted it or if he was just waiting and seeing.

"I'll go with you as long as you show up at my wedding," said Hannah. In fact, she was answering a question he had asked her before. In her previous life, she was too excited to fall asleep the night before the wedding. Then, she received a stranger's call at four o'clock in the morning.

"Will you come with me if I come take you away on the wedding tomorrow?" he asked bluntly.

"Who are you?" Hannah frowned and asked.

"Charles isn't a good man," he said.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm not a good man, either." Then, he simply hung up the phone. Hannah thought it was a prank and the man sounded drunk, so she didn't take it to heart. Later, she accidentally learned that it was Oscar's phone number, but she didn't even care. She had always despised rich playboys. Moreover, she had never had any connection with Oscar. She didn't understand what Oscar meant until she returned to her 22nd year now. But Oscar didn't show up at her wedding back then, so she wasn't sure if he meant it or just said it. Anyway, she wouldn't marry Charles again in this life, whether Oscar came or not. She did it only to seek a more brutal revenge. That was all!

Then she turned and left. Susan quickly caught up with her, and they got back to their car. Oscar watched the car drive past him and thought Miss Cooper, whom all men of Kensbury wished to marry, was very interesting!

In the car, Susan couldn't hold back anymore. "You were just out of your mind to tell a jerk like Oscar to come and take you away on your wedding day, right?"

"No. I knew what I was doing." Hannah was driving, looking very calm and somewhat cold-blooded. She couldn't forget that she was still cruelly tortured by Charles right before the car accident.

"Then, what about Charles? You're a perfect couple to everyone in the country. You simply can't imagine how jealous they are of you. Gosh! Are you going to cheat on him before the marriage? What do you take him for?" Susan found it hard to believe.

"What's the big deal about cheating before the marriage?" Hannah smiled coldly. She had seen Charles having sex with another woman, stark naked, on the bed. "To me, Charles is an animal!" she gnashed. He didn't deserve to be a man!