Chapter 14
The divorce certificate hit the nightstand with a sharp smack, making the lawyer beside him jump.
Sean caught a glimpse of his own ghost–white face in the floor–to–ceiling window. Behind him, half the walk–in closet was empty. The red dress Bella always wore was nowhere to be seen–just empty hangers swaying in the night breeze.}
His fingers still tingled with leftover warmth as he flipped to the page with the date: May 23rd.
The day Bella’s plane went down.
That morning, Sean had handed Bella her plane ticket himself, telling her he’d see her off, that some time abroad might help her clear her head.
The moment Bella stepped onto that plane, the clerk at the courthouse stamped their divorce papers.>
And just like that, both Bella and their marriage vanished from his life–completely, irreversibly.
Sean’s vision started to blur, the divorce certificate twisting in his hand until it looked like a hot iron branding him. His palm ached; only then did he realize he was crushing the papers in his fist, just like, in another life, he’d clung to Bella’s hand, begging her not to go after Brent.&
A bitter, metallic taste crept into his mouth. Blood welled at the corner of his lips, and the room seemed to tilt and darken.
Suddenly, a sharp ringing tore through his head, like a tidal wave crashing over him. The date on the certificate echoed in his mind, again and again: May 23rd, 2025. The 23rd…}
He’d lost Bella. Again.
***
Three days later. Cemetery.
Rain poured down in sheets, black umbrellas gathering around him like a moving cage.}}
Inside Sean’s suit jacket, the divorce certificate was soaked through, their signatures blurring and dissolving in the rain.”
Sean stared blankly at Bella’s picture on the gravestone, the last few days playing on a loop in his mind.§
He’d carried Bella’s urn from the black funeral car, walked the winding path to her grave, then knelt in the mud, lowering her ashes into the earth with trembling hands. He’d covered her urn himself, handful by handful of cold, wet soil. Finally, he’d stepped aside, watching as the workers sealed her away with concrete–separating them for good.§
Sean crouched down, reaching to wipe the rain from Bella’s headstone. But his fingers slipped through nothing, the world spinning-
-and he was eighteen again.”
The first time he’d seen Bella on campus, just one look and he was done. No one else existed after that.
He’d fallen hard, crushing on her from a distance, writing her poems he never dared to give. He’d played piano in the sunlit music room, hoping she’d hear. He’d played basketball with wild energy whenever she and her friends walked by, hoping she’d notice him.)
But Bella’s eyes were always on Brent. Never on him.”
It hurt, but Sean never gave up.
Eventually, their families arranged a marriage. Sean finally got to marry the girl he loved.
F TE α = W I IF A F
He’d promised himself he’d do anything to make Bella happy–but her heart was never his. It always belonged to Brent.
He tried. He fought. But in the end, all he got was Bella running away–and then the fire that took both their lives.”
This time, life gave them another shot. They could have been happy, if only he’d let go of his pride and jealousy. But he hadn’t. He’d pushed Bella to the edge, and lost her. For good.
The light in Sean’s eyes faded, leaving only emptiness.
Last time, after he died holding Bella, he woke up in a new life.
If he died here, at Bella’s grave, would he get another chance? Could he turn back time and save her this time?!
The thought moved him like he was on strings. Sean pulled a knife from his pocket.
He lifted it slowly, pressing the tip against his chest, right over his heart.
He was just about to push the blade in when a shrill ringtone shattered the silence.
“Young master! Your father’s awake!“}
