Our daughter, Luna Woods, developed a high fever. Her body was burning hot. I immediately dialed 911 for help.

The dispatcher on the other end kept repeating his questions. He spoke slowly, as if deliberately stalling for time.

By the time I finally heard the ambulance siren, Luna was already turning cold in my arms.

In less than a year, my wife and I separated. We were consumed by endless grief and blamed for each other.

Afterward, I merely existed for the sake of it. I was a hollow shell of a man. Then, one day, I received a wedding invitation from my ex-wife.

The moment I played the audio invitation, a chill ran down my spine.

The groom’s voice was identical to that of the slow, dawdling dispatcher from that year!

I rushed out, utterly distraught, only to be hit by a roaring train.

When I opened my eyes again, I heard Luna crying in the next room. Her forehead was burning hot.

My wife hurriedly handed me the phone.

“Quick, call 911! I’ll get a wet towel.”

My hands trembled as I took the phone. When it was answered, I heard a familiar male voice through the receiver.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

Every hair on my arms stood up when I heard that familiar voice.

Agonizing images from my previous timeline flooded back into my mind.

I vividly remembered how my daughter, Luna Woods, had slowly gone cold as I held her.

My wife, Marina Marlow, screamed hysterically. Her eyes were bloodshot with stress.

The groom’s voice from the electronic invitation was etched into my memory.

“We’d be honored if you could join us to celebrate our special day!”

It was him! It was Kai Pierce, our neighbor!

He was the man who always seemed to “coincidentally” run into Marina in the elevator. He would smile and praise her for being such a “capable housewife.”

“Hello? Can you hear me? Do you need an ambulance?

“Is that a child sick? Is she having a fever?”

Kai’s voice came through the phone again. He sounded calm.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

This time, I did not even have the chance to tell him what happened.

How could he possibly know Luna was ill?

Was he waiting for this call all along?

“Beep… beep… beep…”

I hung up, and my hand holding the phone trembled.

Marina rushed out from the bathroom with a wet towel. She was stunned when she saw me standing motionless, looking utterly distraught.

“What’s wrong? Did they answer? You’re very pale!”

Ignoring her, I picked up Luna and strode quickly toward the door.

I needed to hurry. I could not entrust my child’s life in Kai’s hands again!

“What are you doing?!”

Marina stepped swiftly in front of the entryway. She looked shocked and confused.

“Did you call 911? Is the ambulance coming? Where are you taking her?”

“Move aside!”

I forced the words through gritted teeth. My voice shook.

“I’m driving her to the hospital myself!”

“Are you crazy? She’s burning up! An ambulance is the fastest way!”

She grabbed the phone that I had left on the sofa and redialed 911. She deliberately switched it to speaker.

That chilling male voice sounded again.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Hello? Yes, hello! My daughter—she’s two. She has a high fever and is burning up. Please, send an ambulance fast!”

Marina spoke fast in panic.

“Okay, ma’am. I need you to stay calm. We’re dispatching the nearest ambulance to you now.”

It was still Kai on the line, but his voice was completely different from the slow, drawling tone he had used with me earlier.

After hanging up, Marina visibly relaxed.

She looked at me with a mix of reproach and confusion on her face.

“See? That’s all it took.

“I’ve no idea what that little performance was all about.

“If you’d just told the dispatcher clearly from the start, Luna would probably be in an ambulance by now!”

I scoffed.

Kai’s actions had only confirmed my guess.

These two wretched people had been involved with each other for a long time.

I thought of the electronic invitation from the past.

She was wearing a white wedding dress and was nestled in Kai’s arms with a sweet smile.

The invitation read, [Out of the past and into our future, together.]

‘Out of the past?’ I thought.

It seemed Luna’s life and our shattered family were just something to be left behind so they could start their future together.

I stared at the woman who had once shared my bed.

“That ambulance isn’t coming.

“Get out of my way if you don’t want her to die!”

...

She was taken aback and instinctively took a step back.

I did not spare her another glance. I rushed toward the elevator as I held Luna tightly. She had begun twitching from the fever.

Marina was following behind me and calling out to me, but I blocked it all out.

I strode quickly to my car. I gently placed the unconscious Luna into the child safety seat in the back and fastened the seatbelt.

Her face was flushed bright red, and her breathing was rapid. Every second of delay felt like torture.

I quickly got into the driver’s seat, inserted the key, and started the car.

First came a faint hiss, then the immediate glow of the tire pressure warning light on the dashboard.

The gauge showed the right front tire’s pressure plummeting.

I rushed out of the car to check and found a noticeably large hole in the tire.

I crouched down and saw a brooch beside it.

I gritted my teeth.

It was Kai’s brooch!

It was him! He had planned this all along!

He had slashed my tire so that I would not be able to save Luna!

But Luna’s fever struck out of nowhere. How could he have sabotaged the car so precisely ahead of time?

A horrifying thought popped into my mind. I felt a chill run down my spine.

I picked up the brooch, put it in my pocket, scooped up the crying Luna, and sprinted toward the neighborhood gate.

The night was quiet, and the street was empty. An occasional car sped by, but not a single available cab was in sight.

Luna’s breathing grew faint in my arms. I gritted my teeth.

I could not wait any longer.

I charged into the middle of the road and spread my arms wide.

Tires screeched against the road as the car slammed to a halt less than a foot from me.

The driver rolled down the window, leaned out, and yelled at me.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Have you lost your mind—”

“Please!” I pleaded as I rushed forward. “My daughter’s dying! Please help me get her to a hospital!”

I turned so he could see Luna, who was in my arms. Her breathing was labored.

The driver abruptly stopped yelling at me.

He took a deep breath and opened his car door.

“Get in!”

I scrambled into the back seat.

The driver floored the gas as he sped recklessly toward the children’s hospital.

In the car, I held the unconscious Luna as I watched her flushed face. My fingernails dug deep into my palms.

She had been perfectly fine just yesterday. How did she suddenly fall so ill today?

Before this, she had been coughing nonstop.

‘Could it be an allergy?’ I thought.

But what could she be allergic to in our own house?

I reviewed the footage from the two cameras installed at home. I understood everything immediately.

With the driver’s help, we reached the hospital very quickly.

I had just laid Luna on the gurney when I heard a familiar voice.

“Shawn? How’s she?”

Kai stood a few steps away. He looked worried.

Marina was beside him.

“I was worried after Marina called, so I came with her to check on things.”

I instantly flew into rage when I saw them standing side by side.

“To check on things?!” I said scornfully.

“Or did you come to see whether Luna would make it, so you two lovebirds could start your new life together a little sooner, without so much baggage?”

Marina’s expression changed drastically. “Shawn Woods! What’re you saying?! How can you spout such nonsense, especially with Luna like this?”

“Me? Spouting nonsense?” I took a step forward. My tone grew sharper.

“Marina, look me in the eye, and tell me how long you and Kai have been together.

“Were you together even before what happened to Luna?

“While she was burning up with fever, were you sneaking around and secretly thinking she was in your way?”

“You!”

Marina was furious. She pointed at me and said, “That’s not true! Don’t you dare accuse me! Kai’s just a kind neighbor helping out!”

“Kind?” I scoffed. “Right. He’s so kind that he stalled me on the 911 call. He’s so kind that he slashed my tire!

“Marina, did you think I’m that big of a fool? Do you think I’d believe you’re innocent if I lose Luna?”

The weight of my words hit her like a ton of bricks. Marina was completely stunned. She was frozen in place.

Kai stood nearby, looking very hurt.

He tugged on Marina’s sleeve.

“Marina, is Shawn in shock? Is he hallucinating? I’d never do something like that!

“I know Shawn never really warmed up to me, but I’m genuinely worried about the child…”

As he spoke, he extended a hand toward Luna in my arms.

“Hey, kiddo. Are you feeling better? Let me have a look…”

My bottled-up rage exploded when I saw that Kai’s fingers were about to reach Luna’s burning-hot skin.

“Get your filthy hands off her!”

I gritted my teeth and shoved him hard.

The next second, he yelped in shock and stumbled backward.

Marina frowned. She helped Kai to a chair, then walked over to me.

She said in a low voice, “What are you doing?

“Can you not do this right now? If Kai hadn’t helped coordinate the dispatch just now, the ambulance wouldn’t have gotten here so fast!”

She looked at me with a disapproving expression. It was the exact way she had looked at me in the past when she accused me of being “overly emotional.”

Those memories flashed through my mind.

I remembered how flustered she had been the first time she held our daughter. I remembered her smile when our daughter called her “mom.”

I remembered us soothing the crying little Luna together in the middle of the night.

Yet here she was, defending another man and blaming me.

At that moment, all my feelings for her vanished.

But my resolve became stronger.

This time, I would make anyone who harmed Luna pay the price!

Luna was soon wheeled into the emergency room. The red light inside was on.

I let out a cold laugh. “First of all, the ambulance never showed up. It never came!

“I had to get her here myself. I flagged down a car.”

Marina seemed shocked when she heard that.

I turned toward the nurses’ station and said, “Nurse, I need to speak to my daughter’s doctor. I have information about what she might have been exposed to.”

As I spoke, my gaze swept over Kai’s clenched fists.