Matthew, my elder brother, was the favored one of our family. After he killed my girlfriend impulsively, my parents let me take the blame for him without hesitation.

They said, "We can't live without your elder brother. Lamar, please help him!"

Later, I was sentenced to life imprisonment.

After being released on parole, I saw them living happily together.

During a meal outing, I drove the car into a river.

When I woke up again, I went back to one hour before my girlfriend was killed.

——

I was drowned to death.

After falling into the water, I locked all the car doors and watched my family die in front of me in pain.

Matthew, who was sitting in the passenger seat, tried to strangle me when he couldn't open the car door.

Unfortunately, he died before he could reach me.

Watching them struggling in the car, I slowly closed my eyes.

Dying from drowning was painful, but I was relieved. I could finally go accompany Lydia.

My parents, elder brother, and my sister-in-law were all dead.

"Great! All of you should go to hell and repent!"

I suddenly woke up in the office. Scenes from my past life flashed in my mind.

As I looked at the familiar place, my hands couldn't stop trembling.

Tears kept falling on my fingertips.

At 8:18 p.m. 14th of June in 2023, which was tonight, my sister-in-law, Siena Shawn, tricked my girlfriend into their house. My girlfriend, Lydia, ended up being tortured and killed by my elder brother.

At this time in my past life, I was in a meeting. So, I missed my girlfriend's call.

I hurriedly grabbed my coat and cell phone, while my colleague helped me ask for leave.

"Edward, I have something urgent to deal with. Can you ask for a leave for me from the Director, even if it means deducting my salary?" After saying that, I left hurriedly.

I kept calling my girlfriend's cell phone, thinking, "Please. Please pick up my call."

But it showed that her cell phone was turned off. I made more than ten calls, but none of them went through.

In an instant, I panicked. I thought, "No, I need to stay calm. I need to be calm. There must be a reason why God gave me a chance to start over."

After getting off the elevator, I hailed a taxi and said, "Driver, please go to Glorious East. Please hurry up. I have an emergency. Thank you!"

"Alright!"

Sitting in the car, I felt the touch of the taxi and had a real sense of starting over.

I tilted my head, crying and laughing at the same time.

Looking at the number that wasn't connected, I tightly gripped my cell phone as if I wanted to crush it.

I closed my eyes slightly. A burst of hatred emerged in my mind. I began to formulate a revenge plan.

"In this life, I not only want to save my girlfriend but also make those villains pay double."

I tried to control my hands from trembling and looked at the unconnected number on my cell phone.

"I surely can make it. I surely can. In my life this time, I will never allow them to harm the girl by my side. I will protect people around me well."

There was half an hour to go before I arrived at Glorious East. Unwilling to give up, I continued to call Lydia.

"Answer the cell phone quickly. Lydia, I beg you. Answer it quickly." I had an urge to roar.

Suddenly, the car slammed on the brakes.

Fortunately, I, who was wearing a seat belt, wasn't greatly affected.

"Sorry, handsome guy, it seems like there's been an accident up ahead," the driver apologized to me.

I shook my head and said I was okay. I was anxious that Lydia hadn't answered the call yet.

"Hello, Lamar." When I heard Lydia's voice, I was stunned for a few seconds. Then tears couldn't stop flowing.

I hadn't heard her voice for a long time.

"Hey, Lamar, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Lydia spoke anxiously when I didn't say anything.

I wiped my tears randomly and said, "It's... it's nothing, Lydia. Where are you now?"

"There's no time to reminisce now. I have to stop this tragedy from happening as soon as possible."

"I'm in a place you can't imagine right now!" Lydia spoke in a lively tone. She was like what she had been in her previous life. She liked to joke with me.

But I didn't have the energy to recall the past now.

I asked eagerly, "Where is it?" I thought, "It must not be the place I'm thinking of."

"Um, I can't say it now," Lydia said with some distress. I could tell she was struggling.

Suddenly, I remembered the ring I had found on Lydia's body in my previous life. I thought, "It seems this idiot went to prepare a surprise for me."

"But one thing is certain, that is, she hasn't arrived at Matthew's house yet, so I should have time."

"Lydia, listen to me. Stay where you are. I'll go find you right away. Don't go anywhere." Before I could finish my words, she hung up the call.

I called her back quickly, but her cell phone was turned off.

When I was at a loss, I suddenly thought of Lydia's best friend, Sarah.

"Yes, it is Luke Shawn. I should contact him."

"Luke is my good friend, and his wife is Lydia's best friend. She should know Lydia's approximate location."

I nervously stared at the call interface.

Fortunately, Luke's call went through. I breathed a sigh of relief, asking, "Luke, ask your wife, Sarah, where Lydia bought the ring. Her cell phone is turned off. I need to find her urgently. It's very urgent."

"Lamar, don't worry. I'll ask Sarah right away."

"Lamar wants to know where Lydia bought the ring."

"Lamar knew it? That shouldn't be. I did a good job of keeping it a secret. Lydia must have accidentally revealed it."

After a minute, Luke quickly replied, "Lamar, per Sarah, Lydia seems to be a shop near Times Square, but she is not sure about the specifics. However, Lydia should be in that kind of custom-made shop. You can go there and look for her."

"Okay, thank you. I'll treat you to a meal another day." After hanging up the call, I immediately asked the driver to drive to Times Square.

Times Square was not far from Glorious East. It would only take a ten-minute walk.

"If Siena made the call before I called Lydia, there is a high probability that Lydia would experience the tragedy of her previous life again."

"It must not be the worst-case scenario I thought of."

"Hey, handsome man, we've arrived!"

After paying the fare, I quickly got out of the car.

Looking at the bustling crowd, I tried hard to find Lydia's figure.

I had always remembered her attire on the day she had an accident. She wore a white dress, a scene which had been lingering in my mind for these years.

But Times Square was too big. There were more than 100 jewelry stores alone. I surely didn't have enough time to search for Lydia one by one.

When I didn't know what to do, Lydia called me.

"Lamar, I'm sorry. My cell phone ran out of battery just now. What did you say at the end? I didn't hear it."

I suppressed my excitement and tried to speak calmly.

"I said, don't go..."

"No, if Lydia is at Matthew's house now, my saying so will put her in danger."

"It's nothing. I miss you. Sarah said you prepared a surprise for me. I'm now at Times Square."

"You knew it. Sarah can't be relied on. But, Lamar, how did you go there so quickly? I'm not at Times Square anymore."

"Where are you now? We can talk about other things later."

I almost shouted, feeling so anxious.

"Lamar, don't worry. I just arrived at your brother's house."

I almost couldn't breathe when I heard the most desperate news. My legs went limp.

"Lamar, what's wrong? Why aren't you speaking?"

My nails almost dug into my palms. I trembled as I said, "Lydia, come out quickly. Don't stay there, I'll come find you right away."

After saying that, I ran towards Glorious East as if I had gone mad.

I ran as fast as I could, praying as I ran, "There's still time. There must be enough time."

I arrived at the entrance of the residential area in three minutes. The security guard stopped me.

The security guard asked me who I was dutifully.

I opened my cell phone and showed him the electronic contract for the house purchase, which had Matthew's name and my name on it.

I bought the house for Matthew. My parents said that Matthew would never ask me for money again in the future as long as I bought a house for him.

"Lamar, your brother is my life. Help him out. We promise we won't ask you for any money in the future."

My mom held my hand and spoke to me in a tone that she had never used before. I believed her.

I worked overtime and almost got sick from exhaustion. Finally, I managed to save enough money for the down payment.

But at that time, I had my suspicions and feared that my parents would go back on their word, so I insisted that they include my name in the housing certificate, saying that I wouldn't pay otherwise.

I promised them that I would remove my name after Matthew got married as long as they kept their promise.

Looking back, I was so foolish. I had been working so hard to get a little bit of love from my parents.

In the end, I got this kind of result.

"But, I won't let them have anything from me this time."

The security guard read the contract and observed my somewhat disheveled appearance.

Despite thinking that I was strange, he still let me in.

I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the elevator.

When the door was about to close, someone familiar to me stopped the door from being closed with a hand.