He Begged in This Life, but I Wasn’t Hers Anymore

I risked my life to save my fiancé, William Schneider, when he fell into the river. He was obliged to marry me because we made physical contact in the water despite the fact that he had intended to end the engagement. I took care of him for thirty years. I even gave him a healthy, smart son. However, William never loved me. He only felt that my saving him back then was a conspiracy to marry him.

William, therefore, made the decision to follow his adored "first love" to the end of his life, choosing to die for her. My son blamed me. He thought his father had suffered all his life because I wouldn't step aside. Out of revenge, he poured my emergency heart medication down the drain and let me die in agony.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day William fell into the river. This time, I didn't save him. Instead, I went to find the son of my father's old war buddy. "You promised my dad you'd take care of me for life. Does that promise still count?"

——

"Someone, quick! Jump in and save William. He's gonna drown! Yeah! He can't swim!"

My mind was foggy like I was dreaming. I didn't even know what was happening. I just felt people pushing me forward until a cold gust of wind snapped me back to reality. I was standing by the river, taking off my winter jacket, about to jump into freezing water to save William. Looking at the roadside banners and everyone's clothing, I quickly realized that I had been reborn, returned to the day thirty years ago when I saved William. In my previous life, to save him, I had jumped into the biting river water and nearly drowned myself before pulling him ashore.

After we got to the bank, the people there started to jeer, saying it was a "beauty saving the hero" scene and that we were hugging in the river, which was scandalous. Because of the rumors and the fact that William and I were already engaged, the Schneiders quickly came to propose marriage.

It was after we married that I learned William didn't like me at all. He had been planning to discuss breaking off the engagement with me in a few days. Even his falling into the water was to fish something out for his beloved Sofia Davis.

When I found out, I cried and yelled. However, I still eventually believed that love could grow with time. I thought if I gave enough, he'd eventually love me back. I took care of his daily life, served his parents and even bore him an intelligent son. However, his suicide was a heavy blow to my head. It turned out that my past thirty years were just a joke in William's eyes. It wasn't until my death that I understood that a heart can be warmed, but an ice cube can never be. Forcing it will only freeze you.

Thinking of this, I buttoned up my thick, cotton-padded jacket again. Just as I was about to leave, I noticed that William, who should have been unconscious, suddenly woke up and swam ashore with very practiced strokes. I couldn't help frowning. In my past life, William didn't know how to swim at this point. He only learned after we got married. Before I could even process what was happening, William had climbed onto the shore. He noticed me staring at him and walked over, shivering but strangely excited. "You thought you could cling to me again, didn't you?" he said, eyes gleaming. "I've trained for years. I can finally save myself."

That's when I realized I wasn't the only one who got reborn. I gave a cold laugh. "Didn't you see? I was about to leave. If you hadn't stopped me, I'd be home by now."

Only then did William notice that my cotton-padded jacket was buttoned correctly up and I had no intention of going into the water at all. He looked a bit embarrassed. That man wanted to argue with me a few more times, but a gust of cold wind blew over, making him shiver uncontrollably. So, out of embarrassment and anger, he said with a sense of entitlement, "Hurry up and take off your cotton-padded jacket! Can't you see I'm freezing to death?"