Chapter 1

On the first snowfall, I heard a voice from inside my wife's belly, dripping with malice.

"Mommy, can you kill him? I want Ethan to be my daddy."

On the operating table, she raised the scalpel and cut open my chest.

Just as the blade was about to slice through my skin, that childish voice rang out again. "Daddy's faking it! The one who's really dying is Ethan!"

She believed it.

She left me mid-surgery, rushed out to tend to Ethan, who'd barely scraped his skin.

In my previous life, I died from that delay.

Now, the excruciating pain suddenly receded, and I gasped for air.

I had been reborn. Back to the moment when the surgery was forcibly terminated.

This time, I called the police in advance.

Jason POV

On the first snowfall, I heard a voice from inside my wife's belly, dripping with malice.

"It would be so good if he died."

"Mommy, can you kill him? I want Ethan to be my daddy."

The surgical lights in the operating room were blindingly white, like the snow that day at the funeral.

My riddled heart was violently convulsing, and the monitor let out a sharp beeping sound.

I struggled to open my eyes and saw Sarah holding a scalpel. Above her mask, those eyes that had once been full of love were now as cold as ice.

Just as the blade was about to slice through my skin, a young yet vicious child's voice suddenly exploded in the operating room.

"Don't cut! Daddy's heart is perfectly fine. He's faking illness to get sympathy!"

"The one who's really dying is Ethan! Mommy, go save Ethan quick. His hand is bleeding so much!"

Sarah's hand holding the knife trembled violently.

The scalpel clattered onto the tray, splashing up a harsh metallic sound.

She stared at me intently. The professional composure in her eyes collapsed instantly, replaced by a fury born of being fooled.

"Jason, is this amusing to you?"

She yanked down the surgical light, plunging the room into dimness.

She looked down at me from above. I lay on the operating table, tubes sticking out all over my body. Her tone was colder than room temperature.

"To make me care about you, you bribed the anesthesiologist, forged the EKG, even went so far as to lie on this table to deceive me?"

I opened my mouth. The white mist from my oxygen mask blurred my vision.

I wanted to tell her I wasn't acting. My heart really couldn't hold on much longer.

In my previous life, it was at this exact moment.

She had believed that "genius baby" in her belly and decided I was faking illness to frame her student Ethan.

She abandoned me in the middle of my heart bypass surgery and rushed out to bandage Ethan, who had merely scraped his skin.

Because the optimal rescue window was missed, I died on that cold operating table.

Until my last breath, I heard that unborn child shouting from Sarah's belly.

"Daddy's still playing dead! Mommy, don't believe him. Ethan is the best. I want Ethan to be my daddy!"

I died with my eyes wide open.

The pain receded like a tide, then came crashing back. I gasped sharply.

I had been reborn.

Back to the moment when the surgery was forcibly terminated.

"Jason, speak!"

When I didn't respond, the disgust in Sarah's eyes deepened.

"A grown man acting like this? I'm ashamed of you!"

That eerie voice rang out again, gleeful and malicious.

"Mommy, ignore this liar! Ethan's finger is still bleeding. It hurts so much!"

Sarah's expression changed drastically. She couldn't spare me another glance and rushed toward the airlock door.

"Wait."

I pulled out the IV needle in my hand. Blood immediately gushed out, staining the white sheets red.

Supporting my already depleted body, I slowly sat up.

Sarah paused mid-step and turned back, yelling impatiently.

"What do you want now?"

I looked at this woman I had loved for seven years and been married to for three. Suddenly, that face seemed terrifyingly unfamiliar.

Using all my strength, I pointed at the door and smiled.

"Go ahead. If you're late, your precious student's wound might actually heal."