The Past Forged Their Future

Chloe Davis, a celebrated fashion designer, died tragically at thirty, her body left unclaimed for eighteen hours on a cold city street.

The world whispered she deserved it, a jinx who brought down her whole family, while Liam Hayes, the man she loved, maliciously exposed her past.

Her soul, a hollow shell of pain and hatred, watched as the cruel judgment rained down, indifferent to a life she no longer felt.

"Everyone in the fashion world knows Bethany Miller is Liam Hayes's sweetheart, and her child is the lifeline of the Hayes family. Chloe Davis actually dared to harm that child, wasn't she just asking for death?"

"No, I heard that child's death had nothing to do with Chloe Davis at all."

"You don't know the inside story. Liam Hayes went completely crazy over this and exposed everything about Chloe Davis being held hostage in Paris five years ago."

Why did everyone believe the lies? Why was her suffering celebrated?

Then, the impossible happened-she awoke, reborn five years earlier, back in the very hostage situation that began her undoing, still tethered to the man who would sacrifice her again.

Chloe Davis, once a celebrated fashion designer in New York, was dead at thirty.

On the day she died, her body lay on the cold city street for eighteen hours, unclaimed.

Everyone who knew her name sighed with a knowing look.

"Everyone in the fashion world knows Bethany Miller is Liam Hayes's sweetheart, and her child is the lifeline of the Hayes family. Chloe Davis actually dared to harm that child, wasn't she just asking for death?"

"No, I heard that child's death had nothing to do with Chloe Davis at all."

"You don't know the inside story. Liam Hayes went completely crazy over this and exposed everything about Chloe Davis being held hostage in Paris five years ago."

"I heard she was ruined, and Liam Hayes was kind enough to marry her, but she was completely ungrateful."

"Chloe Davis is a real jinx. If it weren't for her, the entire Davis family wouldn't have been destroyed. With the Davis family gone, her dad and brother both dead, she got exactly what she deserved."

Chloe Davis's soul stood quietly nearby, listening as if it were someone else's story. She had lost all feeling, her chest was a hollow space, no longer holding the intense love and hate that had once defined her.

After the crowd finally scattered, her ethereal soul sat down beside her own corpse, unsure of what to do next.

She sat there until a tall figure walked toward her, bending down to cover her body with a colorful silk scarf.

"Chloe Davis, a wise monk from the East once told me that everyone has a next life."

The man's voice was hoarse and deep, strangely familiar.

"I sought out this scarf for you. You have to remember, don't be so stubborn in your next life."

The moment she saw his face clearly, her consciousness was sucked into a violent whirlwind.

When she woke up again, her head was still a complete mess, and a severe, throbbing pain shot up from her hand.

Chloe Davis's dazed eyes looked at Bethany Miller, the woman held hostage with her, and then down at her own hand. One of her fingers had been severed by their captor.

The excruciating pain from the severed finger made her forehead break out in a cold sweat, but her heart was pounding so fast it felt like it would burst from her chest. Her blood stained the ground under her feet, and the bloody blade was now pressed against her cheek.

The captor was negotiating with Liam Hayes in a foreign language.

"Boss Hayes, release my brothers, and your woman will be safe."

The cold steel of the blade against her skin awakened memories that had been dormant for a long time. She looked up at Liam Hayes's stern, handsome face.

She had been reborn.

Reborn ten years ago in the Middle East, during her fifth year accompanying Liam Hayes here.

Liam Hayes had resolutely left the country and joined a local criminal organization on the very day his "white moonlight," Bethany Miller, married his brother. The day he left, Chloe Davis, who had been secretly in love with him for years, eagerly followed him, hoping to seize the opportunity.

And she had succeeded.

Five years in the underworld, over nineteen hundred days and nights. She had fought alongside Liam Hayes, surviving countless life-or-death situations with him.

Just yesterday, Chloe Davis had celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday. After a wild night with Liam, she had walked out of the room the next morning only to see Bethany Miller standing there with her luggage.

The moment Bethany saw Liam, she fainted directly into his arms.

Before Chloe could even react, he had hastily carried Bethany into their room and cared for her meticulously.

When they met again that afternoon, Liam told her he was returning to the U.S. He planned to impersonate his deceased twin brother to take care of Bethany and her child. He asked Chloe for time.

Chloe couldn't accept it and threw a massive tantrum.

The next day, when she went out, she and Bethany were both taken hostage by an armed group and brought before Liam.

And this hostage situation was the beginning of a nightmare Chloe could never escape.

Memories twisted inside her, making her organs ache.

Bethany Miller's shrill cries brought her back to the present.

"Liam, I'm scared, save me!"

Chloe looked at Liam Hayes's cold, stern eyes. In her last life, she had cried too, but he had ultimately chosen Bethany.

The captor, seeing Chloe's silence, kicked her to the ground and then brutally stomped on her severed finger.

"Speak, beg Boss Hayes, or I'll take you away."

Chloe was sweating from the overwhelming pain, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing.

Bethany Miller kept crying, her voice mournful.

"Liam, I hurt so much."

Liam Hayes frowned, his expression pained. He looked at Chloe and said the exact same words he had said in her past life.

"Chloe, Bethany is different from you. She has no ability to protect herself. You're stronger than her. Go with them and buy me some time, I'll find you soon."

Hearing his words, Bethany Miller burst into tears of relief.

"Liam, I knew you wouldn't abandon me."

Chloe wore a sarcastic smile, watching indifferently as Liam Hayes negotiated with the armed group.

In her past life, she was taken away just like this, for a whole week. By the time Liam finally rescued her, her body was completely broken. At that time, he had knelt beside her, begging her to hold on, stroking the few remaining strands of her hair. He had coaxed her guiltily in her ear.

"Chloe, don't be afraid. I rescued you. Didn't you want me to marry you? I'll send you back to the U.S. now, and we'll get married when we return."

But those heartfelt words, just a few years after their marriage, had turned into something else entirely.

"Chloe Davis, you might as well have just died abroad."

The captor's patience ran out. He yanked Chloe up from the ground. The pain and her current predicament tangled around her. She no longer thought about her past life. In this two-choice hostage situation, she was destined to be abandoned by Liam Hayes.

She could only save herself.

Chloe's complete silence made Liam frown. Before she was taken away, he called out to her again.

"Trust me, wait for me, Chloe."

Chloe's face was as cold as frost.

Five years, over nineteen hundred days and nights, she had fought alongside him, entrusting her back to him completely. Her deep-seated love and trust for Liam Hayes had led to her tragic end in her past life.

Waiting for him was impossible.

If she had the chance to return alive, the very first thing she would do was cut all ties with Liam Hayes.

Chloe didn't look back as she was dragged onto the armored vehicle.

The moment the vehicle screeched to a halt, the captors threw her out like a sandbag. They pushed and shoved her, bringing her before their leader, Omar Khan.

The memory of the abuse from her past life was deeply ingrained in her bones. Returning to this hell made Chloe's hands and feet tremble with fear, but she fought to hold it back.

She didn't want to suffer through that again.

In a flash of inspiration, she thought of the person who had covered her with the silk scarf in her past life, Alexander Knight.

Chloe's voice was hoarse but firm.

"If you touch me, Alexander Knight of Italy will raze this place to the ground."

"If you don't believe me, call him. Tell him that Chloe Davis from the U.S. is visiting."

The name Alexander Knight made the terrorist leader Omar Khan's eyes light up with interest. He looked at the beautiful and defiant Eastern pearl before him with amusement. The desire to cruelly crush her into the dust screamed within him.

"If you're lying, you'll die a much worse death."

Chloe's trembling hands betrayed her fear, and the mocking laughter of the men around her grew louder. To be honest, she wasn't confident at all. She hadn't seen Alexander Knight in years, but he was her only hope right now.

In less than ten minutes, Omar Khan handed the phone to Chloe. On the other end of the line was Alexander Knight's low, hoarse voice.

"Chloe Davis, Omar Khan made some very excessive demands. If I agree, many people will suffer terribly."

He paused.

"But if you were my wife, no one would dare touch you."

Chloe hung up the phone in a daze, meeting Omar Khan's smiling face. He fiercely slapped the subordinate who had brought her in, then kicked him to the ground and had him dragged away.

He apologized to Chloe with a pleasant expression, then arranged for a car to drive her out of the terrorist base.

As the truck drove back toward Liam Hayes's territory, Chloe was still trembling. She had just walked through the hell of her past life and returned completely unharmed.

She hastily wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve, but before she could even step inside the base, she saw Liam Hayes throwing a tantrum while Bethany Miller cried softly.

"Liam, did I cause you trouble by coming to find you? Is that why Ms. Davis deliberately found someone to annoy you? She just wants to stop you from returning to the U.S. with me."

"But I can't help it. Your brother died in a car accident, and little Ethan cries every day looking for his dad. I just hope you can go back and pretend to be your brother, just for a year, no, just half a year, Liam, please, I'm begging you. Even though I married your brother, you've always been the one I love."

Liam's face was extremely grim.

"Those people couldn't have been arranged by Chloe to annoy me. She's in danger right now. We'll talk about returning to the U.S. in a few days. I need to save her first."

Bethany held his hand tightly, her eyes hiding a calculated glint.

"Liam, I don't know those people either, but before I was captured, I saw Ms. Davis greeting them. They might know each other."

Liam hesitated.

"Know each other?"

"Yes, you know Ms. Davis has always been bold since she was a child. Maybe she's just playing a prank on us."

"She just wants to use this to threaten you. You wait a bit, maybe she'll be back soon."

Liam fell silent. The day he said he was returning to the U.S., Chloe had indeed said she would never agree, but her finger was severed. Was it really just a prank?

His attention was quickly diverted by Bethany, who was clutching her chest and gasping for air. He gently patted her back.

"Why is your asthma acting up again? Where's your medicine? I'll get it for you."

Chloe stood at the doorway and listened for a long time, a pained smile on her pale face. She had already given up on Liam Hayes, but at this moment, her heart ached so much that she couldn't help but bend over.

Each painful throb was for the Chloe Davis of her past life.

Was this why she was tortured for seven days before being rescued in her past life? She was in hell, waiting for Liam Hayes to save her. But he was frowning in distress because of Bethany Miller's asthma.

Seven days. A full seven days. The Chloe of her past life waited for Liam for seven days.

On the first day, she suppressed the pain of being abandoned and scared Omar Khan, waiting for Liam to save her. But he didn't come, and her phone even lost connection.

On the second day, Omar Khan lost his patience. The other terrorists lost their patience too. In this war-torn country, the status of women was as low as grass. They used cruel methods to torment her, forcing her to beg Liam for help. But Chloe couldn't find Liam.

On the third day, those men took turns, starting to humiliate her.

On the sixth day, after they grew tired of playing with her, they used hammers to smash her hand bones, one by one, just because she was a sharpshooter in the organization. In that place where she couldn't call for help, they trampled on her without any restraint.

Those seven days of living hell were now, in Bethany's words, just a lighthearted prank.

The blockage in her chest and the agonizing pain transformed into an unresolvable anger.

How dare they treat her like this?

Chloe strode a few steps to Liam Hayes and Bethany Miller, blocking their path. Her eyes were bloodshot as she fiercely kicked Liam in the shin.

Then she pulled Bethany from his arms and slapped her mercilessly across the face.

The slap stunned Bethany; she even forgot she was having an asthma attack. She stared blankly at Chloe for a long time, then a malicious light appeared in her eyes. She covered her reddened face with her hand, her voice weak and pitiful.

"Liam, I told you Ms. Davis was just joking with you, but you didn't believe me."

"See? Isn't she back now?"