Blurb：
Marcus Shaffer is given a second chance at life after a tragic end with his wife Carol Lockhart. Reborn ten years into the past, he must navigate a marriage built on lies and unrequited love. Carol Lockhart, the aloof and arrogant woman who secretly loves Thomas Shaffer, has always mocked Marcus’s sincerity. But when fate intervenes, Marcus learns shocking truths about her sacrifice. In this emotional rollercoaster of regret and redemption, will Marcus choose to fight for Carol or let her go to Thomas Shaffer? Dive into a story of heartbreak, rebirth, and the International Peacekeeping Forces, where every decision echoes through time.
Content：
On the night of our wedding, my wife, Carol Lockhart, leaves me and goes to stay at a hotel instead.
It’s because she’s an aloof, arrogant young woman who has always been in love with my younger brother, Thomas Shaffer.
Over the next ten years of our marriage, I treat her as sincerely as possible and give her my entire heart, but the only response I get in return is her mockery.
“Marcus Shaffer, I would rather be a nun for the rest of my life than fall in love with you!”
However, when a heavy truck comes skidding toward me, the woman who has hated me all her life suddenly throws herself at me and shoves me away, saving my life.
Before passing out, I see her grabbing the doctor’s hand, while blood flows from her mouth, begging, “Don’t tell that idiot that I was the one who saved him
“And don’t let my parents blame him for my death”
My eyes fill with tears. I finally understand now that she wasn’t the only one who made the wrong decision during our wedding.
After I’m reborn and given a second chance at life, I decide to join the International Peacekeeping Forces and head out into the war as a frontliner.
Since I can no longer live out the rest of my life with her, I wish her a lifetime of happiness, and I hope that we will never meet again.
Chapter 1
“You’re completely out of your mind! How could you threaten to jump from the building to force me into marrying you? Why don’t you just scale a skyscraper and jump down from there instead?”
I heard a cold, heartless voice, and suddenly opened my eyes in response.
The first thing I saw was Carol Lockhart’s beautiful face. She was someone who had hated me for ten whole years, yet gave up her life for me when I was in a life-threatening situation.
I never thought that I would be given a second chance at life, reborn ten years into the past.
I looked at Carol with an expectant look in my reddened eyes. My throat was dry and parched.
“Carol You’re still alive Thank god.”
“You’ve finally stopped pretending to play dead?” Carol asked, getting up on her feet. It was obvious that she hadn’t slept the entire night. “Stop trying to kill yourself. I’m leaving now. Goodbye.”
“Stay with me for a while longer,” I asked, instinctively trying to reach out to her. However, she avoided me completely. Then, she turned and left.
I got out of bed barefoot and hugged her from behind.
Carol froze at once. “Let go.”
I shut my eyes tightly and greedily tried to memorize her warmth.
“I just need a minute. Just one minute,” I said, allowing myself the luxury of just another 60 seconds. Then, I would step away from her.
Carol immediately pried my fingers apart forcefully, and it hurt a lot.
“Marcus Shaffer. You can’t force someone to have feelings for you.”
“I know that.”
“You know that?” Carol echoed with a scoff. “You said the same thing when you were on the precipice of that building. But you still jumped to force me into marrying you. You probably still don’t understand the principle anyway, do you?”
I was shoved back onto the bed. Then, she slammed the door shut after leaving the room.
I could still feel the ghost of her warmth on my fingertips, but it was slowly beginning to fade away, too.
The corner of my lips twitched upward, and I smiled bitterly. “It’s really not the same anymore.”
I had been childhood friends with Carol since we were very young. I had liked her for a while, but she only treated me as the older brother she never had. She treated me like family, and that was all.
In my past life, I fought hard for her hand and even tried stealing her away from my younger brother, Thomas Shaffer. Carol and I did get married in the end, but she only had eyes for Thomas.
She and I were married for ten bitter years, and we became enemies. In the end, neither of us was happy at all.
This time, I decided to let her go. I would fulfill her wish and the wishes of all the other people around me.
My phone buzzed with an incoming notification just then. The screen lit up.
The text read, “Mr. Marcus Shaffer, you have passed the selection assessment for the International Peacekeeping Forces’ body disposal team. Kindly report for duty on the 15th of the month at the headquarters. Reply ‘OK’ to confirm.”
I stared at the words “body disposal team” for a very long time. My finger was trembling as it rested against the screen.
The International Peacekeeping Forces, or IPF, were currently helping out at an active warzone about half a globe away from where I was.
If I really went there, I would no longer have Mom, Dad, Carol, or Thomas to keep me company. The only things keeping me company there would be corpses and medical tents smelling of disinfectant.
I had also passed the selection assessment in my past life, but I had decided to give it up because I simply couldn’t bear to leave Carol, my only source of warmth, behind.
This time, I typed out “OK” determinedly and sent back my reply.
After packing up for a bit, I finished the hospital paperwork for discharge and left.
When I arrived back home and opened the door, the warm light shining from the inside, accompanied by my family members’ conversations, somehow felt like an invisible barrier to me.
“Marc knew all along that I’d been dreaming of studying abroad for the longest time! And yet, he still contacted the lecturer and stole the only spot away from me!” Thomas exclaimed, sounding so upset that he was about to break into tears.
“Mom! Marc’s trying to drive me into a corner!”
Chapter 2
“Don’t cry, Tommy,” I heard Mom say, trying to comfort Thomas. “I’ll talk to Marc when he’s back and make him give up his spot for you.”
Carol spotted me and pressed her lips into a thin line. Meanwhile, Dad set down his coffee mug heavily on the table and said, “Marcus. Come here and explain yourself.”
I still had bandages around my head, and I walked into the center of the living room with a pale face.
Four pairs of eyes were suddenly all on me, and they were all cold and hateful.
Nobody asked me how I felt or how I was doing. Nobody seemed to even care that I’d just been discharged from the hospital.
Thomas’ eyes were reddened. He held the acceptance letter in his hand and demanded, “Marc, you already have everything you ever wanted! Why must you still steal the only spot to study abroad from me?”
I echoed his words lightly. “I have everything I ever wanted?”
I had nothing.
Mom and Dad favored only him. Carol was in love with him. Even the best room in the house facing the sun belonged to him.
So, did that mean I was to hand over the spot to study abroad that I’d earned fair and square?
Was it because I was his older brother by two years, and by default, I always had to be more considerate of him for everything?
I was the one who had everything stolen away from me. But now, I was standing in the middle of the living room being questioned and judged by four people who thought I was nothing but a thief.
Carol stood up and looked at me coldly. “Marcus. Give up your spot for Tommy.”
I looked at her. “He didn’t even pass his college admission examination, and I got full scores for the tests. Why must I give up my spot for him?”
Dad slammed his fist onto the table. “Because you don’t need it!”
Meanwhile, Mom hugged the crying Thomas in her arms and chided me. “Marcus! Don’t ruin Tommy’s future just because of your pettiness!”
Seeing that I wasn’t caving to their demands, Thomas immediately began coughing his lungs out.
Carol immediately grabbed the asthma inhaler without hesitating and got down on one knee to carefully hand it to him.
“Don’t be afraid, Tommy.”
“Marc,” Mom said, looking at me beseechingly with red eyes. “You know that Tommy has a weak and frail body. You’re his older brother, and you’re doing so much better than he is. Would it kill you to just give him what he wants?”
I looked at the closest four people to me who were now driving me into a corner.
Everything was always justified because I was the older brother, and Thomas was sick and frail. I had given up my toys, my room, and even my parents’ love and care.
In my past life, the only thing I had refused to give him was Carol, but Carol’s heart had always been with him from the very start.
When they sat together, they looked more like a family than I did. I just stood in the corner, hidden by shadows and completely forgotten, like I was the odd one out.
“I was the one who earned that spot with my own efforts,” I said calmly. “But it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’ll talk to the lecturer about it.”
It had always been my dream to further my studies overseas after graduating from college. However, since I had already decided to join the IPF, I decided that I didn’t need to be so attached to all these things anymore.
I had initially returned home tonight to inform them of my decision to join the IPF and to say my goodbyes to them properly.
But I never thought that I’d still be unable to do what I wanted.
If that were the case, then I would just forget about it.
Carol froze for a bit. She then frowned and looked at me. However, Thomas’ sudden sobbing immediately got her attention again.
“Carol My chest hurts so much”
“I’ll bring you to the hospital,” she said, immediately helping him stand. She didn’t even bother sparing me a single glance when they walked past me.
Mom and Dad also rushed out after them.
I had always dreamed of Mom and Dad showering me with the same amount of love, care, and concern that they did Thomas. However, I never received it in my past life, and I still never did in this new life.
I suppressed the tingling feeling in my nose and forced a bitter smile on my lips.
“It’s fine, Marcus. It’s okay to be alone.”
My phone suddenly buzzed with a phone call. I answered it.
“Mr. Shaffer, we would just like to confirm with you on the final flower arrangements at the wedding venue. Would you still want us to use your favorite champagne roses?”
I gripped my phone hard until my knuckles turned white.
I was the one who made all the arrangements for the wedding when Carol and I got married. I remembered carefully selecting all the decorations for the venue, still feeling full of hope for our future together.
The memories hit me like a freight train.
Chapter 3
I had been wearing a formal wedding suit and vest, eagerly waiting for Carol’s arrival.
However, when she arrived, I realized that she was dressed in black, as if she were mourning instead.
Then, the wedding officiator asked us to exchange our vows, and Carol took the microphone and said in a cold, icy voice, “Marcus Shaffer, I would rather become a nun for the rest of my life than fall in love with you.”
I snapped out of my reverie then.
I answered the person on the phone in an eerily calm voice, “Let me forward your call to Mr. Thomas Shaffer. He is the groom who’ll be marrying Carol instead.”
The other person on the line was confused. “But your invitations all contain your”
“It’s cancelled.”
I hung up on the person. Then, I sent my lecturer a text message and began packing my things in a suitcase.
Mom and Dad never came home for a whole day and night.
I was almost done packing up then.
Sometime after waking up and washing up the next morning, the apartment door was suddenly shoved open.
When I saw Carol standing at the door, I asked instinctively, “What are you doing here?”
Shouldn’t she be busy taking care of Thomas at the hospital?
Carol didn’t answer me. She just shuffled in and placed a beautiful slice of cake on the table.
“You like blueberry cheesecake. Eat it.”
I was stunned.
When I snapped back to my senses, I then realized that she was trying to comfort me in some sort of way.
It was the same as before, when our friendship was still intact. If she realized that I was upset or unhappy, she would always buy me a slice of blueberry cheesecake to cheer me up.
This was what she always did to me. She would talk to me coldly while still remembering everything about me.
Every time I came down with a fever or the flu, Mom and Dad would basically ignore me, but Carol would make me chicken noodle soup and get me to take my medications.
I was allergic to mangoes. Mom and Dad never could remember that, but Carol would actively avoid anything with mangoes in it.
Mom and Dad would stay overnight at the hospital to take care of Thomas if he had a high fever, and Carol would stay home with me in the living room because she didn’t want me to feel sad or lonely.
When I attempted suicide by jumping off a building, she was the one who stayed by my side and watched over me day and night.
Carol was also the one who instinctively saved my life when I nearly got crushed by a heavy truck in my past life.
She treated me with kindness every day, and I had grown so attached to it that I couldn’t possibly forget her anymore.
I misunderstood that as her being in love with me. I simply thought that she never realized it.
That was the only reason I’d refused to give up on her in my past life.
But now, I finally understood that she didn’t do all those things for me because she loved me. She only did all those things because she was a good person.
She was simply trying to repay me for the day I shielded her from a falling panel of shattered glass when she was 12, leaving me cut and bloodied from head to toe.
I suddenly came back to the present and smiled back at Carol.
“It’s fine. I don’t like blueberry cheesecake anymore.”
Carol was shocked. She looked at me in pure confusion.
“Since when have you disliked it?”
A long time ago, ever since that tragedy had happened to Thomas.
All of a sudden, I remembered the incident that would happen to Thomas. It felt like it was just around this time as well. I hurriedly took out my phone and looked at the calendar.
Today was the 1st of May.
And today was the day Thomas would attempt to drown his sorrows in alcohol, but end up being abducted, abused, and then eventually kill himself by throwing himself off a building.
This also marked the beginning of the time when everyone started outright hating me.
But this time, I had already given up my spot for him, and I wasn’t getting married to Carol anymore. Yet, I didn’t know for sure if he was still going to drink and drown his sorrows in alcohol or not.
I didn’t bother explaining to Carol anymore and rushed out of the apartment like a madman.
Based on my memories of my past life, I hurriedly called the police beforehand and ran straight toward the back of a bar in the alley.
To my surprise, Thomas was still there, in the alley, and he was surrounded by a group of men who were basically forcing him to drink. Thomas’ face was very red, and he looked obviously drunk as he grinned happily at his drinking companions.
“Thomas Shaffer!” I exclaimed, rushing up to him and grabbing him by the arm. “Come home with me.”
“Marcus? What are you doing here? Stop meddling in my business!”
The men exchanged glances with each other. Then, a man approached me and said, “Are you his brother? Wow, you’re a lot more handsome than he is. Care to join us for a drink?”
The stench of alcohol on the man’s breath was revolting. I spoke in a cold voice, “I’ve already reported you all to the police. You’d better leave if you know what’s best for you!”
However, the men didn’t seem scared and just bared their yellowed teeth at me fiercely.
I panicked and hurriedly grabbed Thomas’ arm before hightailing it out of there.
Chapter 4
However, it was impossible for me to make it far with a very drunk Thomas lagging behind me. We were caught and apprehended immediately by the gang of men.
I picked up a brick from the ground and tried to hit them, but they punched me first in the face and pushed me to the ground.
Meanwhile, Thomas seemed to have finally woken up from his drunken stupor. He shook and shivered in fright and quickly fled.
I was held down on the ground, their knees digging painfully into my back. I could also feel sharp glass shards stabbing into my back, and it hurt so much that I could only grit my teeth in agony.
“I’ve really called the police on you! They’ll be here in a few minutes! You can still run if you leave now!”
However, that only earned me two more slaps to my face. I was so dizzy from their hits that my ears began to ring. I heard them calling me a meddling nuisance, and they even threatened to teach me a good lesson.
Then, I heard the wailing of the police siren in the distance.
“Damn it!”
The men cursed aloud and quickly dispersed.
I lay on the cold, hard ground, gasping loudly as I tried to catch my breath.
At least, this was a good thing to have happened. Nothing terrible had happened to Thomas. I probably wouldn’t end up being hated and accused of being his murderer anymore.
I had only just managed to stand up when someone suddenly shoved me hard against the wall. My back hit the brick wall, and the glass shards dug deeper into my skin, hurting me so much that my vision went black.
“Marcus Shaffer! I’ve already agreed to marry you! Why must you still do this to yourself and even drag Thomas into the mud this time too?”
Carol was holding a shivering Thomas in her arms, and she glared daggers at me with her icy, cold glare.
I was shocked. I didn’t understand what she meant. “What did you just say?”
“That’s enough!” she screamed at me. “Are your self-harming acts not good enough for yourself now? How dare you hire gangsters to beat you up and even drag Thomas into this mess?
“That’s it. I’m never going to believe a single word you say anymore!”
Thomas’ eyes were reddened as he wept. “Carol, I’m scared Those people were so frightening I really don’t know where Marc found them to give me such a scare like that”
Carol’s voice softened immediately. She turned to him and began comforting him in her arms. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll send you to the hospital now.”
I finally understood everything that was going on.
Thomas had pinned all the blame on me, and Carol believed every word he said.
She helped Thomas into a cab and left without ever sparing me another glance.
I laughed bitterly. My back was practically cut open, and I was losing blood fast. I didn’t have the strength to explain myself. I didn’t even have the strength to ask for help anymore.
Just before I closed my eyes, I thought I caught sight of a few passers-by looking at me in shock.
When I opened my eyes again, I realized that I was now lying in a hospital bed.
A police officer entered my ward, introduced himself as Officer Joe Carrington, and handed me an investigation report.
“Luckily, you made the police report in time, Mr. Shaffer. According to the information we have on hand, these men are all part of a syndicate that primarily preys on young men and women at bars, abducts them, and then forces them into filming lewd videos for blackmail.”
Joe paused for a bit. “If it weren’t for you, your brother would probably have been the next victim.”
I nodded silently.
I knew about all this beforehand. This was the exact way Thomas’ life was ruined in my past life.
Back then, Thomas had been humiliated by nearly all of them. The men had then taken photos of his nude, ruined self and posted them on the internet.
The night before Carol and I got married, Thomas had thrown himself off a 21-storey building to his death.
He left behind an incriminating letter written in red ink. I could still remember every word.
“It was all Marcus’ fault! If he hadn’t stolen my spot from me, I would never have gone to the bar that night! I would never have ended up like this! Marcus had everything; he even had Carol, but he still vowed to steal everything from me!
“I hate him! He was the one who killed me!”
This letter was the very reason Carol also hated me with all of her heart for the next ten years.
Even Mom and Dad stopped answering my calls.
But this time, everything was going to change.
She had protected me from a truck accident in my past life.
This time, I protected the person she loved the most from disaster.
We didn’t owe anyone any favors anymore.
I fell into a deep sleep right after that. Yet, when I opened my eyes again, I saw Carol sitting next to my bed, looking rather awkward, with a deep frown on her face.
Chapter 5
I didn’t know when Carol had come in to visit me. She had even lent me her arm to sleep on as a pillow.
I was shocked and looked at her in confusion.
Did she lend me her arm as a pillow because I’d complained once that the hospital pillows were too hard?
Carol pressed her lips into a thin line and carefully withdrew her cramping arm.
“The police called your family. I know about everything now. I’m sorry for misunderstanding you last night.”
I stared at her. Her arm was very stiff, and she couldn’t even bend it at the elbow. I guess I’d been using her arm as a pillow for far too long.
Carol was the first one to avert her gaze.
“As for the wedding flowers We’ll use champagne roses and everything you like. It’ll be arranged accordingly during the wedding,” she said.
I was shocked. “Did you confirm this with the designer?”
“Thomas told me about it.”
Just then, my phone buzzed again, and it was from the wedding planner.
“Mr. Shaffer, we have contacted Mr. Thomas about the invitations, and everything has been changed to his name.”
Oh. So, Carol was the only one who didn’t know that she wouldn’t be marrying me.
Maybe that was a good thing after all. It would be a pleasant surprise for her.
I raised my head slightly. “I wish you all the happiness in the world.”
Carol frowned, a hint of confusion appearing in her eyes. However, she quickly resumed her usual stoic expression after that.
“I owe you one for this. What do you want from me? Just tell me.”
I shook my head and said, “There’s no need for that. I did it willingly.”
Carol’s phone started ringing this time. When she saw that it was a call from Thomas, she immediately answered it and said, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll be right there.”
She ended the call and absent-mindedly toyed with the hem of the blanket on my hospital bed.
“I’ll be waiting for you at the wedding.”
“You’ll see my wedding gift but not my person there,” I said, smiling at her. “Carol, I hope that you’ll live a life full of happiness and be safe for the rest of your life.”
Carol frowned again. “Don’t joke around. Who would I be marrying if not you? Don’t think too much of it. I’ll still marry you like I said I would. Might as well get it right.”
Then, she turned and left me behind.
I watched quietly as her figure gradually disappeared from view.
My phone then buzzed again with a new text message. It was from the IPF body disposal team.
“Dear Mr. Marcus Shaffer. Your flight details in three days have been confirmed.”
I replied with a simple “OK”.
The day of the wedding swiftly arrived.
Carol wore her wedding dress and sat in the room, clenching the champagne roses in her hand so much that some of the petals had begun to wilt. She was waiting for her groom to come and get her.
She was supposed to hate this wedding and not look forward to it at all. However, she couldn’t understand why she felt a sense of anticipation in her chest.
Time slowly ticked by. Finally, the door opened.
She held her breath and turned to look at the newcomer.
“Carol!” Thomas exclaimed happily. He was wearing a tuxedo and had a fresh champagne rose in the button of his lapel. He was glowing. “Don’t you think that I look like the most handsome groom in town?”
Carol froze in place. Then, she suddenly leapt to her feet.
“What are you doing here?”
“Carol!” Her bridesmaid, Bessie Nolan, came rushing toward her. “Marcus’ wedding gift has just arrived!”
The gift was a watch that she had given me in the past, accompanied by a wedding card.
She quickly opened the card. The sight of my neat handwriting was like shrapnel to her eyes.
“I’ve returned this gift to its rightful owner. We don’t owe each other anything anymore. I wish you and Thomas all the love and happiness for the rest of your lives.”
She crumpled the card in her fingers.
“Where is he?” Carol asked, her voice trembling.
Bessie was just about to speak when her phone began ringing urgently. She answered the call. However, her face turned deathly pale after hearing the other person speak at the other end of the line.
“Carol, we just received news The plane that Marcus had been on, with the rest of the IPF crew It crashed just outside the border.”
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