Long Parting, No Sorrow Left Chapter 1

In my last life, my wife, a SWAT officer, chose to save someone else when the kidnappers gave her an ultimatum. She did it to avoid the appearance of nepotism.

But our one-year-old daughter wouldn’t stop crying for her daddy.

And I, desperate, used that fact to force my wife’s hand, to make her choose me.

The negotiation failed. The man she chose, the man she’d always loved, was executed by the kidnappers, tortured to death.

My wife fell into a deep depression for three years. And for three years, she hated me.

Then, on our daughter’s fourth birthday, she suddenly broke from her usual cold indifference. She came home with a cake.

I thought she was finally ready to let go of the past.

I never imagined the cake was laced with poison.

As I coughed up blood, I stared at her in disbelief, asking her why.

Her smile was a twisted, ugly thing. “It’s because of you. Because of you, Flynn died! If I could do it all over again, I would never have saved you…”

In the end, she tortured me and our daughter to death.

But then, the unthinkable happened. I was reborn.

This time, I chose to let go. I chose to face death with open arms.

But after I died, my wife… she regretted everything.

* * *

“Cassidy! Make the call! Who are you choosing?”

The familiar voice roared in my ears. My eyes snapped open, and the horrifying reality hit me. I was back. I had truly been reborn.

Here I was, on the edge of a skyscraper rooftop, tied up next to Flynn Pierce—the man my wife, Cassidy, had always loved.

Eighteen stories of empty air yawned beneath us, and a single, fraying rope was all that kept each of us from the abyss.

Down on the street, Cassidy hesitated, her face pale, a sheen of sweat on her forehead.

The kidnapper’s voice crackled through a bullhorn, impatient. “You’re SWAT’s legendary Cassidy Holt, famous for your lightning-fast decisions! Quit stalling! We don’t have all day to play your little games!”

My voice was a raw croak. “Cassidy, if they take me, they’ll kill me.”

I knew how this ended. I knew the negotiations would fail, and I would die. But the image of my daughter, Sunny, not even two years old, flashed in my mind. I had to try.

Beside me, Flynn was a sobbing wreck. “Cass, I’m scared!” he wailed. “I’m so damn scared! Please, save me! I don’t want to die!”

Cassidy’s hand tightened into a fist. She raised her own bullhorn, her voice finally steady, stripped of all doubt. “Release Flynn Pierce! I’m choosing Flynn!”

Even knowing it was coming, even in this second life, a sharp, brutal pain lanced through my chest, as if a hand had reached inside and squeezed my heart.

But this time, I accepted it.

After all, even if I had returned to her side, death was waiting for me anyway. Better to end it now than to repeat the gruesome tragedy of my last life.

Cassidy’s voice came again, this time directed at me. “Cole, I’m sorry. But you’re a cop’s husband. They won’t really kill you! Flynn… he’s not strong like you. His heart is weak. He can’t take this. Just hang on. I promise I’ll come back for you!”

I closed my eyes, a wave of despair washing over me.

The kidnapper let out a booming laugh. “Well, well, Cassidy! Looks like you still love your old flame more! Fine, I’ll grant your wish!”

With a single, swift motion, he sliced through the rope holding Flynn.

Flynn dropped like a stone, landing squarely on the inflatable cushion the police had set up below. He tumbled right into Cassidy’s waiting arms and promptly passed out.

And me? The kidnappers dragged me onto a helicopter, and we disappeared into the city skyline.

They took me to an old, abandoned warehouse that reeked of mold and decay.

When I came to, they were all gathered around me, their faces twisted into ugly sneers.

The leader stepped forward. “Boys, that bitch Cassidy Holt has been a thorn in our side for years. Tonight, we finally get our revenge.”

My blood ran cold. This wasn't how it happened last time. In my previous life, there was a second round of negotiations. Why was this happening now?

“Don’t come near me,” I pleaded, my voice shaking. “Please, I’m begging you. My wife, she’ll come back for me. She’ll give you whatever you want. Money, anything. Please, don’t hurt me. I have a daughter… she’s waiting for me to come home…”

My words only seemed to amuse them. Their smiles turned predatory.

“Oh, listen to that! He’s a daddy!”

“This is gonna be fun. I love it when they fight back, knowing they can’t escape.”

They started tearing at my clothes. I tried to resist, but a vicious backhand sent me to the ground, my nose and mouth exploding with the coppery taste of blood. No matter how much I begged, there was no escape.

They tied me to the floor, helpless, like a fish on a cutting board.

Then they brought out their tools.

Tears of humiliation streamed from my eyes as they beat me, over and over again.

“I’m sorry, Sunny,” I whispered into the darkness. “Daddy’s not coming home… Daddy broke his promise…”

Seeing my despair only seemed to fuel their cruelty.

Finally, they grew tired.

The leader draped a white cloth over my head.

And with a single, final blow from a hammer, he ended my life.