Chapter 1
I took a knife for my police boyfriend of ten years.
He survived by a hair's breadth and promised to grant me any wish.
Everyone thought I'd take the chance to ask for marriage. After all, I'd proposed several times before, and I was just three months pregnant.
But no one expected me to break up with him in front of everyone, then turn and walk away without hesitation.
Someone told my boyfriend to hurry and chase after me.
But he looked at me with disdain. "Who doesn't know she's just a doormat? She's carrying my baby, and now she's just playing hard to get. I'd be a fool to chase after her!"
He had no idea I'd been reborn.
In my past life, he'd said yes to my proposal. But the young girl he'd saved cried and tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists.
So my boyfriend locked me up at home like a dog, keeping me chained every single day.
He broke both my legs, the legs I used to dance with. Even on the day I gave birth, he strangled our baby to death right in front of me, and I died from severe bleeding.
Heaven had mercy on me, and now I've been given a second chance.
This time, I'll do exactly what he wants...
*****
A searing pain burned through my thigh.
I jolted awake, my consciousness snapping into focus instantly.
A nurse carefully wrapped gauze around my leg, her voice soft with sympathy. "The antiseptic might sting a little. Just bear with it for a moment."
Beside her, the sharp-jawed Damien Devereux let out a scoff of disdain. "Now you're afraid of pain? Why play the hero earlier? If it weren't for you, I would've caught that drug dealer for sure. You're more of a hindrance than a help!"
I bowed my head, staring at my unscarred legs without a word.
In my past life, Damien had broken both my legs with his own hands to avenge Alessia Rose. I hadn't seen my legs whole in so long.
A few police officers who'd come to the hospital with us glanced at Damien, their expressions slightly awkward. They'd all been there during the arrest.
There were two large, muscular drug dealers, one of them armed with a gun.
If I hadn't happened to be there and thrown myself in front of Damien without a second thought, that gun would've been pointed straight at his heart.
When I didn't respond, Damien's face darkened immediately. He stepped forward and kicked a chair hard.
"Corinne Donovan, that's enough! You followed me to the scene without permission and interfered with official business. Do you know how stupid that was? And now you have the nerve to give me the silent treatment?
"Besides, I already said it... you saved my life, so I'll grant you any request. What more do you want?"
He looked so angry he might lash out at me any second.
Time was a strange thing. It could turn a once-warm, passionate young man into someone so cold and irritable.
It seemed he'd forgotten I was the woman he'd sworn to protect with his life.
'No, not forgotten. He'd just replaced me.'
My eyes drifted into Damien's hands.
Our old engagement ring was long gone. In its place on his ring finger was a simple hand-woven band, with a silly little dog pattern on it.
I knew who'd made it. Alessia Rose, the poor, innocent eighteen-year-old orphan Damien had met six months ago.
I let out a helpless smile and looked up at him. "Any request at all?"
Damien paused, his gaze flickering to the ring on his finger.
Whatever he was thinking made his face grow even darker, a hint of restlessness in his eyes.
But in the end, he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes."
A few young officers from the station came over to join us. They all knew me, and they knew Damien and I had been together for ten years.
"That's a life-saving favor! Why not have Damien marry you in return, Corinne?"
Laughter filled the room.
"Yeah, Officer Devereux. I remember Corinne said last year she wanted to get married before she turns thirty. You should get on that!"
"Seriously, I already have my wedding gift ready!"
I was about to speak up and refuse when a young nurse burst into the room suddenly.
"Officer Devereux, it's bad! The little girl you saved earlier, Alessia Rose, just tried to slit her wrists!"
