Chapter 1: You Madman
Sarah John was dead.
Her body, weighted down with sandbags, was cast into the frigid sea where it stayed submerged for three days.
Perhaps her attachment to life was just too strong, for her soul lingered long, forever enduring the suffocation of the ocean abyss.
"Splash—"
A spray of water erupted on the deep blue surface of the sea.
Sarah's soul, through blurred vision, saw a dark figure swimming towards her.
Was it James Matty?
They had been divorced for three years now, why of all possible times would he appear?
James cradled her icy, lifeless body, pressing his lips onto her bloated, pale ones, trying to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
She could make out his resolute jawline, now sprinkled with heavy stubble, and his eyes were bloodshot.
James untied the sandbags from her body, brought her ashore, and knelt by her side, repeating chest compressions over and over, giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation again and again.
"Sarah, I forbid you to die...wake up for me..."
Droplets of water from the tips of his hair mingled with tears from the tip of his nose, fell onto
Sarah's deathly pallid face. She had never seen James in such despair.
The assistant standing beside them choked as he frantically pleaded, "President Matty, Miss Sarah has already passed..."
James halted his actions, hunching over as if he had just been deflated. His slender fingers tremblingly brushed away stray hairs from her face. Holding her face in his hands, he treated it as if he were holding a rare, priceless treasure.
“No, she hasn’t…” James murmured, his voice hoarse. He held her tightly against his body, resting his face against her cold forehead.
"Sarah, didn’t you always dislike me touching you? I'm holding you this way now, you should have pushed me away."
"Sarah, please… please open your eyes and look at me... Just once, I want you to live, even if... even if you demand my death or want me miles away, I need you to live... please..."
He pleaded desperately, over and over again, with the devout conviction of a believer.
As the skies darkened and waves lapped over the sandy beach.
A group of gloomy-looking bodyguards arrived at the shore, dragging two people trussed up like pigs and forcing them to kneel before her lifeless body.
Sarah's soul stood nearby, watching. One was Victor Amos, the man she had deeply loved. The other was Ella Joe, the woman who took everything from her.
Her memories rewound back three days when after the Joe family squeezed the final bit of value from her, they unhesitatingly turned her over to a deranged man in exchange for benefits.
She had managed to wound the man and escape to Victor. Yet, he ended up betraying her, leaving her to be caught by the deranged man, endured unbearable torments, and was finally brutally stabbed multiple times, leading her to bleed to death.
"Sarah, shall I get revenge for you?" James's voice was soft and gentle, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was holding a lifeless body in his arms.
"Mm… Mm..." Victor, with wide eyes of terror, had his mouth sealed by black duct tape as he vigorously shook his head, pleading for mercy.
And beside him was Ella, dressed in a pure white wedding dress, one with multiple injuries and barely breathing.
James placed a handgun in Sarah's hand. Her hand so white it was almost transparent, pointed at Victor.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" A series of gunshots rang out, each one not fatal, but aimed at the most painful places. But he couldn't even scream, and he felt worse than death.
"Bury him."
To be buried alive!
At this time, the Joe family hurriedly arrived at the seaside.
"Don't be afraid, Ella, mom and Dad are here to save you!"
They arrived so quickly – such irony!
"You guys, let my sister go!" The two older brothers rushed forward but were stopped by a group of well-trained bodyguards.
"James, the person who wronged you is Sarah. If you want revenge, go after her. Why are you kidnapping our people from the Joes?"
"Sarah, you'd better get James to let Ella go. If anything happens to Ella, I will make sure you die a terrible death…”
Even in his current disheveled and decadent state, James's intimidating aura was stronger than ever, especially those eyes filled with utter despair.
"You think you can harm my treasured loved one and get away with it, Joe family? Ha..."
James picked up the gun, his arm swaying sideways, "Bang"
A bullet hole suddenly exploded in Ella's forehead, and her eyes did not even have the chance to close.
"Ella..."
The Joe family watched this scene in horror, Ella's mother fainted straight away, and Ella's father's face was ashen with his forehead veins bulging. The two brothers sat on the ground, in unbearable pain.
To force them to watch the death of their beloved little princess with their own eyes, was simply the greatest punishment for them.
Yet, Sarah still felt an intense throbbing pain in her heart.
She was indeed the biological daughter of the Joe family, but she had become a tool for the Joe family to gain benefits. Where were they when she was stabbed multiple times and died tragically? Where were they when she was thrown into the sea without anyone to retrieve her?
She had suffered for twenty years and finally found her biological parents. She had yearned for familial love for a lifetime, but in the end, it turned out to be a joke.
The soul of Sarah laughed in the sea breeze, so much so that she was shedding tears.
It seemed like the sorrow of Sarah was felt.
James picked up her feather-light body and gently kissed her forehead.
The sea breeze blew Sarah's bloodstained white skirt. A slender arm hung long, her head resting on James's arm as her hair fluttered in the wind.
The tall, dark figure of James took one step after another towards the sea.
"Don't be scared Sarah, I'm here with you now..."
Sarah was looking at him in disbelief.
What was James trying to do? Was he insane?
Was it not enough to avenge her, but he also wanted to - die with her?!
Desperately, she tried to scream and persuade him to stop, but she was just a wisp of soul that was about to dissipate, and there was no way she could stop this madman!
James! You lunatic!
The waves whirled, and clouds covered the full moon, rendering the sky darker.
......
Sarah suddenly opened her eyes. A blurred whiteness filled her vision, her breath was somewhat rapid, and a pungent smell of disinfectant invaded her nostrils.
Where was she? Wasn't she dead?
In the empty ward, the beat of the medical equipment ticked steadily.
She sat up, removed the IV from her hand, and ran out of the ward.
"James... Where's James?"
She searched, and before she could take a few steps, she heard a familiar voice coming from the opposite hospital room.
Through the glass window, Sarah saw the warm scene in the ward. The four members of the Joe Family were gathered around Ella's bed, their faces filled with worry.
The scene was too familiar. Countless buried memories flooded into her mind like a breaking dam.
Sarah pinched herself fiercely.
Had she been... reborn?
She was back five years in time, the year she was 20.
She had been found by the Joe family more than half a year ago, and it was only yesterday that they had held a family recognition feast for her.
She was originally very happy, but when she arrived at the scene, she realized that the Joe family was just using this opportunity to promote Ella's upcoming movie.
They hadn't mentioned her at all from beginning to end.
