The Night He Chose Her, His Hair Turned White Chapter 1

The night my in-laws were kidnapped, my husband was off camping with Scarlett, the girl he’d always carried a torch for.

I didn't try to stop him, not a word. I just called 911 immediately.

In my last life, I’d held him back. He stayed to rescue his parents, missing his chance to be with Scarlett. Later, she was found in the mountains, mauled to death by wolves, a truly horrific sight. Afterwards, my husband became a ghost in his own home, silent and distant, until I was heavily pregnant, on the verge of labor. He abandoned me deep in those same mountains.

“Sarah Wilson,” he’d snarled, his eyes blazing with a chilling madness, “if it weren’t for you, Scarlett would be alive! How can you live so peacefully? I want to watch you suffer every agonizing moment she did!”

Torn apart by wild beasts, both my child and I perished.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day my in-laws were kidnapped. This time, he didn't join the rescue. He got his wish, saving Scarlett, but the experience turned his hair white overnight.

A terrified scream tore from my throat as my eyes snapped open. My body was drenched in a cold sweat, my clothes clinging to me. The phantom agony of flesh being ripped still lingered. I reached down, my hand pressing against my flat stomach, listening to the frantic thrum of my heart. Tears, like broken strings of pearls, streamed down my face.

I fumbled for my phone, squinting at the time.

I was reborn.

It was the very day my in-laws would be taken. Any moment now, the kidnappers would call, demanding thirty million dollars in ransom money, to be delivered within thirty minutes, or they’d execute them.

Ethan and I had been childhood sweethearts. Our families had agreed to an arranged marriage for us when we were just children. Whether it was for a strategic family alliance or simply because of my heart’s unwavering devotion, I knew I was destined to be his wife. I was aware of his previous girlfriend, but his family had never approved. Before we married, I’d asked him, searching his eyes for truth: was he marrying me willingly? Was it out of love? He’d answered yes, both times.

reassured, I walked down the aisle with him, into what I hoped would be a lifetime of happiness.

After the wedding, he grew distant, cold, and still tangled with his ex. I pretended not to see, not to hear, silent. I loved him. I didn't want to lose him, didn't want to lose our marriage. For that, I’d paid with my life, and tragically, the life of the child I’d carried for ten months.

Given this second chance, I wouldn't make the same mistakes.

I watched Ethan Miller jog down the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the silence of the vast living room. Slowly, deliberately, I rose from the sofa. Our eyes met. His voice was low, laced with an unsettling edge.

“I won’t be home tonight.”

I said nothing, merely turning my head toward the phone beside the sofa. It was ringing. The kidnappers. I snatched it up, hitting speakerphone.

“Robert Miller and Eleanor Miller are in our hands. Thirty million dollars in ransom. Deliver it to Grandview Plaza in thirty minutes. If you dare call the police, they die instantly!”

The kidnapper’s harsh voice filled the room. Ethan merely frowned, then let out a scoffing, disbelieving laugh. “Sarah Wilson, isn't this getting a little old?” he sneered. “How long are you going to keep them playing this charade for you?”

I looked at his face, remembering how he’d watched me fall into that hellish abyss. Ten years of love, perhaps more, dissolved like smoke. “Ethan Miller, you heard the call. What you choose to do is your business. I'm not involved. If you want to believe it's a performance, that's fine. But let me emphasize this: I am not putting on a show with them.”

Perhaps my voice was too calm, too devoid of the panic he expected. Ethan hesitated for a moment, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. But in the end, he turned and strode out, his footsteps echoing with finality.

In the last life, when he received that same call, Ethan had reacted the same way. But I knew it wasn't a charade. I’d desperately held him back, and after a night of frantic searching, his parents were rescued. But as soon as they were safe, he vanished, only to return with the devastating news of Scarlett Reed’s death.