In my past life, I took a falling boulder for my team leader, Cole. It cost me my left leg, dragging me from the world's summit down into a wheelchair, where I could only gaze up at the sky.

He married me out of guilt, giving me a decade of material comfort but nothing more than a polite, suffocating distance.

It wasn't until I was on my deathbed that I discovered he’d tossed all 199 Polaroids I’d taken of him—each one a memory of my love—into a dusty corner. Meanwhile, a photo of another woman was framed and locked away in his safe.

As my life slipped away, all I received from him was cold indifference. The last words he ever said to me were, "Next time, don't shove that boulder aside for me."

Only then did I understand: he would rather have died than be shackled to me by a life debt.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back before it all went wrong. Fate had given me a second chance.

This time, I would sever this cursed tie between us for good.

But when the boulders came crashing down again, he was the one who shoved me out of the way.

"This time, it's my turn to protect you."

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1

The moment I regained consciousness, my ears filled with the excited chatter of my teammates. Someone was shaking my shoulder, hard.

"Luo Li! Hey, Luo Li! Time to vote! Are we summiting Denali or not? We're waiting on you!"

I blinked, my vision slowly coming into focus.

Familiar, vibrant faces surrounded me, their energy so palpable it made the air crackle.

The seven of us were members of North America's top mountaineering expedition team.

But that avalanche in Alaska had changed everything.

My best friend, Maya, was buried at the campsite trying to salvage supplies. I lost my left leg.

The phantom pain of that shattered dream was so sharp that the mere memory made my fingertips tremble.

"In or out? Say something! The captain's waiting for the tally."

Seeing me still in a daze, Maya, sitting to my left, smacked the back of my head.

The slap was hard. It stung.

Seeing her alive—so vibrantly alive—my eyes welled with tears.

God, you actually heard me.

I was really back. Back ten years, before everything fell apart.

"What are you spacing out for, Luo Li? Did you hear? Captain Cole is leading the team himself. Are you so happy you're speechless?"

The mention of Cole’s name sent a familiar pang through my chest, like an invisible hand squeezing my heart.

It was the instinctual pull of our shared history, the very root of all my pain.

In my last life, the expedition leader, Cole, suddenly decided to personally lead our attempt on Denali.

Our reserved campsite was unusable due to weather, so the original plan was to set up a temporary camp at a lower altitude.

But with our perfectionist captain in tow, we opted for a more challenging—and far more dangerous—campsite.

That night, the avalanche struck without warning, swallowing the camp in ice and snow.

Seeing a huge boulder hurtling toward Cole, I instinctively shoved him out of the way, only to have my own left leg crushed.

My bones were shattered, my climbing career ending in an instant.

And Maya, in her attempt to salvage emergency medical supplies, never made it out of that snowfield. She never opened her eyes again.

Afterward, Cole took meticulous care of me. As soon as I recovered, he knelt before me in front of all our teammates and proposed.

I accepted.

Our ten years together lacked the fiery passion of a true marriage. All we had was a quiet, suffocating politeness.

I tried so hard to win his heart, capturing every moment that made my pulse race on Polaroid film.

Before I died, I found all 199 of them tossed in a corner of the storage room.

And locked in his safe was a photo of another woman.

On my deathbed, the last thing he said to me was,

"Next time, don't shove that boulder aside for me."

So that’s all it was. Ten years of marriage as repayment for my lost career.

A debt that had suffocated him, one he'd been desperate to escape.

Now that I have a second chance, I refuse to get tangled up with him again.

But first, that goddamned avalanche was still waiting for us.

This time, I would change everyone's fate.

"Per Article Three of the Mountaineering Safety Protocol, combining teams can confuse the chain of command and create internal coordination risks."

I stood in the center of the conference room, my voice clipped and formal.

Anything to get away from Cole. In this life, I refused to be indebted to him, and I damn well refused to be the instrument of his atonement.

But my reasoning clearly struck a nerve with my teammates.

Maya's eyes widened in disbelief, and she hissed in a low voice,

"Luo Li, are you insane? That's a summit team led by Cole himself! We're talking about the best of the best in the entire organization!"

"If we want to avoid arguing over tactical disagreements on the trail, it's best we operate separately," I replied, my face impassive.

"Come on, it's Cole! I'd carry all his gear for him just for a chance to summit with him!"

Maya's words were met with a chorus of agreement.

Of course, they hadn't tasted the bitterness of a decade-long cold shoulder from the man they loved. So naive.

I sneered inwardly.

I thought his pride as a leader would make him drop it after such a public rejection.

I never expected him to call me out directly.

"Scared to join my team?"

His voice was magnetic, sending a shiver down my spine.

I snapped my head up, my gaze locking with Cole's from the head of the conference table.

He was resting his chin on one hand, the collar of his black windbreaker slightly open, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of his collarbone.

His deep, wolf-like eyes were locked on me.

"Let's make a bet," his voice, laced with an infuriating arrogance, echoed in the quiet room. "You win, I'll agree to your proposal. You lose, you join my team."

I frowned, about to refuse.

He let out a low, goading laugh. "What's wrong? The world's top female climber scared of a little challenge?"

"What's the challenge?" I shot back.

"See you at the climbing gym."

Ten minutes later, the climbing gym was packed with curious team members.

Cole had taken off his jacket. His black athletic tank top clung to his powerful frame.

I had to admit, even in this life, the way the harsh gym lights carved out the lines of his body was breathtaking.

"The rules are simple," Cole said, dusting his hands with chalk, a wicked grin playing on his lips. "This is a V10 route. Complete it in under five minutes while I do everything I can to distract you, and you win."

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

It was a route renowned in the climbing world for its brutal difficulty, a true test of strength, technique, and endurance.

A fresh wave of excitement rippled through the onlookers.

"Shouldn't we be competing on mountaineering knowledge?" I asked, confused. Such a challenge seemed beneath his status as team leader.

"A knowledge competition would be unfair," Cole said, closing the distance between us until his presence was an aggressive, physical force. "It'd be me bullying you. This is the challenge. Scared?"

Alright, damn it.

Was he trying to intimidate me or humiliate me?

But a few minutes of this were nothing compared to the ten-year nightmare I’d already survived.

Besides, we were married for a decade. I knew his climbing habits better than he did. I should see all his little tricks coming.

"Let's start," I said coldly.

The moment the words left my mouth, the playful look in Cole's eyes vanished.

He didn't just plan to use words. The moment my feet hit the mat, he trapped me against the wall.

It was an incredibly possessive move. One hand slammed against the wall by my ear, caging me against his hard chest.

I instinctively wanted to resist, but he was too close.

An intense, masculine scent, a mix of cedar and leather, washed over me like a tide, threatening to drown my senses.

The wave of heat rolling off him was so intense I wanted to flee, but his breath ghosting over the nape of my neck sent a shiver down my spine, and a part of me wanted to surrender.

My knees went weak.

I froze, feeling myself about to melt against his scorching chest.

Cole lowered his head, his hot breath fanning over my ear.

"Focus, Luo Li."

But he didn't stop. He buried his nose in the crook of my neck and took a deep breath, his low voice vibrating against my ear.

A jolt of electricity shot from the base of my spine to the top of my head.

I went rigid, all but melting into his embrace.

The cheers and whistles from the crowd faded away.

My world narrowed to his dominant scent, chipping away at my resolve as he staked his claim in his own unique way.

I lifted my head, meeting his gaze in a daze.

No. I snapped back to my senses.

This was just his damn need for control acting up.

He'd been cold in our past life, and his methods now were just as calculating.

He wasn't used to being rejected. He wanted me fawning over him, just like all the others.

I was done with this charade of intimacy.

With my last ounce of clarity, I fought the instinctual trembling of my body and pushed him away.

He stared in shock, as if he couldn't imagine anyone breaking free from that kind of pressure—or daring to refuse his advance.

After all, the line of female climbers who wanted to be his partner could stretch from one end of the climbing gym to the other. The old me included.

I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart and spoke coolly,

"I lose."