The train engine was destroyed by the extreme heat. I could have called for a helicopter rescue, but I remained indifferent. All because in my previous life, just as I was about to board the helicopter, my wife Olivia mercilessly kicked me off the platform and embraced her adopted brother Caleb instead. “There’s limited space on the helicopter. Someone has to stay behind. Caleb’s health is fragile, he can’t endure hardship. I’ll send people back to rescue you once I return. You’re tough, you won’t die from waiting a bit longer.” I fell and broke bones all over my body, unable to move. I became a charred corpse under the scorching sun before any rescue arrived. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the moment the train engine failed and we were forced to stop. I took out a box for drawing lots. Only those whose names I drew would be allowed to board. Olivia looked calm, unaware that her name wasn’t even in the box. 0 “Everyone stay calm. Even though the train is out of commission, I’m sure Mrs. Greene will find a way to rescue us!” Caleb stood up, his eyes red-rimmed, as he tried to comfort the subordinates who had accompanied Olivia on this business trip. Olivia gazed at Caleb with eyes full of pity, as if he had suffered some great injustice. My phone rang. As I felt the vibration, I truly realized – I had been reborn. Just yesterday, Olivia had moved her newly returned adopted brother Caleb into our master bedroom, tossing me only one sentence: “Pack our luggage. To welcome Caleb home, I’m taking all the company’s top talent to the branch office tomorrow to publicly announce Caleb taking over.” Despite my repeated warnings about the “extreme heat advisory” in the weather report, she didn’t hesitate at all. She only looked at me with increased impatience in her eyes. “Are you done? I can see you’re just jealous that Caleb comes from a good family. You’re eyeing our family assets, not wanting me to give the branch to Caleb.” I was brought onto the train like a piece of luggage. Olivia only gave me one task – to take care of Caleb. When the train broke down, I received a rescue call from my childhood friend Mia. Thoughtfully arranging for them to board the helicopter. But what I got in return was Caleb’s contemptuous smile at the train entrance. “Want to bet? With just one word from me, Olivia would abandon you without a second thought.” Although Olivia and I had an arranged marriage, we had been husband and wife for seven years. I didn’t believe it. But what I got was Olivia kicking me off the platform, leaving me to become a charred corpse under the sun. In my final moments, Caleb’s light chuckle as he nestled in Olivia’s arms. Like a heavy hammer nailing me to the ground. Just thinking about it, the hatred in my heart could no longer be suppressed. My hand holding the phone started to shake. A woman’s voice broke through my emotions. “Jack, what are you spacing out for? The phone’s been ringing for so long and you don’t know to answer it?” “Caleb’s ears were injured by firecrackers when he was little, he can’t handle loud noises. I can see you’re deliberately torturing him!” I turned my back and walked to the next carriage. After taking a few deep breaths, I answered the call. Mia’s urgent voice came through from the other end. “Jack, I heard you’re trapped on the train. Are you okay?” My eyes instantly burned. I held back my emotions and gave a hoarse “Mm-hmm.” “Don’t be afraid. The rescue helicopter I sent will arrive soon. You’ll be fine.” “But the helicopter can only seat ten people. One person from your group will have to stay behind.” Only one person has to stay behind, huh? I let out a cold laugh and gripped the phone tightly. “It’s okay. Can you come on the helicopter to keep me company? I’m scared.” There was no hesitation on the other end of the line. “Of course.” I hung up and returned to the original carriage. Seeing Olivia using her fingertips to carefully wipe away Caleb’s tears, I couldn’t help but clench my jaw. Since you two care for each other so much, why don’t you just stay here together? 0
Seeing me come out, Caleb’s expression froze. He immediately got up from Olivia’s arms, acting contrary to his usual behavior. You should know that when he was abroad, he ordered Olivia around like a servant. Especially when it came to anything related to me, he would always go out of his way to provoke me. During each of our wedding anniversaries over the past seven years, Olivia would travel abroad to be by his side, losing track of time. A year ago, when my parents were in a car accident and urgently needed money for medical treatment, Caleb chose that time to pester Olivia to buy him diamond rings, draining all her liquid assets. He even spent all my remaining savings. My parents died on the spot. As for me, I only found out yesterday that all these years, the meal Olivia personally cooked for me each month was just to drug me, to prevent me from having a child that would inherit the Greene family fortune. The sound of high heels brought me back to reality. The next second, Caleb appeared before my eyes. He gave a fake smile and hugged me tightly. Leaning close to my ear, he spoke in a voice only the two of us could hear: “It seems Brother Jack has also been reborn.” “What? This time you’re planning to keep the helicopter rescue a secret and sneak away by yourself?” “Why don’t we make a deal – this time, we can both leave, and leave Olivia behind.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Olivia in the distance looked bewildered, warily watching my every move, afraid I would hurt her precious darling. But she didn’t know that the person she had cherished for over 20 years actually wanted her dead. I grabbed Caleb’s shoulders, putting some distance between us. “What makes you think I would help you?” Caleb’s face instantly darkened. He let out a cold laugh, as if threatening: “If you don’t help me, I’ll announce to everyone that you have a helicopter coming for rescue. You want to leave by yourself? Not a chance.” “Last time I could make Olivia abandon you. Do you think you’ll get your way this time?” Seeing his anxious look, I found it amusing. I raised an eyebrow and said: “I can help you, but we’ll leave it up to fate.” I walked past Caleb to stand in front of everyone and announced loudly: “Don’t panic everyone. I’ve already arranged for rescue. We’ll all be safe.” Olivia casually crossed her legs, looking at me with disdain. Her words carried a mocking tone. “You? What kind of rescue could you bring?” “Just a man from a fallen family, only surviving by marrying me. What gives you the confidence and resources to say such things?” I looked down at my whitened knuckles, ignoring her muttering to herself. I tore the white paper in my hand into small pieces and handed them out to everyone. “The helicopter rescue will arrive soon, but there are only ten seats.” There were eleven people on the train, which meant one person had to stay behind. I took out a box for drawing lots, indicating for them to write their names and put them inside. “In a moment, I’ll draw names publicly. Only those whose names are drawn can leave with me.” 0
Caleb panicked first. He snatched the box from my hand and smashed it on the ground, then swung a slap towards my face. “You really don’t know your place. Aren’t you afraid that this time, you’ll be the one left behind?” I raised an eyebrow and let out a cold laugh, holding up my phone in front of his eyes. To avoid the situation from my previous life, this time the helicopter doors would only open to let others board after I got on. Caleb gritted his teeth audibly. He walked over to Olivia and leaned into her arms, shamelessly throwing a tantrum. He seemed to still think I would be hurt by Olivia not loving me. Using Olivia to threaten me was a wrong move on his part. But I couldn’t be bothered to expose him. I’d just watch the show. People lined up to put their name slips into the box. Passing by me, Olivia still had a confident look. “Do I even need to write this? You definitely won’t let me stay behind, so why bother?” Seeing her smug expression, I felt like I was in a different world. Years ago when my family fell from grace, to pay off debts, my father sold me off like a commodity. He put a ballot box at the front door. Any influential family’s child who was willing to marry into the Wilson family to help pay off our debts could marry me. In the past, I was considered quite a catch in the city’s social circles. There was no shortage of women who wanted to associate with me. But after this incident, not a single person dared to visit. I hid in my room, tormented for three days and nights. Then Olivia sent over a marriage proposal. The first time I saw her, she was beaming as she held out a box to me. I followed her gaze to look inside. It was stuffed full. There was her marriage proposal, all the property deeds, even company stock certificates. I still remember on our wedding day, she took my hand and vowed that she would never let me suffer again in this lifetime. At that moment, my heart was completely filled. It turns out I wasn’t unwanted. It turns out I was also cherished by someone. But on our wedding night, Olivia came home drunk and started smashing things frantically. She kept muttering Caleb’s name. I tried to help her up from the broken glass, but she shoved me down. Glass shards pierced my knee, and I shook from the pain. When I looked up at her, her eyes were full of disgust. “No matter how much you look like him, you’re not him.” “Why did he have to be my adopted brother? Why can’t I be with him properly?” At that moment, I finally understood – I was just a substitute for Caleb. The woman who had eagerly proposed to me with a box full of assets was exactly the same as the Olivia standing before me now. It turns out her superior attitude had never changed. I was the one who had been hoping in vain all along. Suddenly there was a commotion in the crowd, followed by a man’s loud voice. “Water! There’s still water left in this carriage!” With those words, everyone in the carriage looked excitedly in that direction. But intimidated by Olivia’s authority, no one dared to make a move. Seeing I was unmoved, Olivia gave me a look, signaling me to go carry the water. After all, she was used to having everything done for her all these years. Because of her obsession with cleanliness, I had to personally clean our 9-story villa every day. Her three meals, schedule arrangements – she casually tossed it all to me to handle. I worked until my lower back was severely injured. When I wanted to rest for a day, she disgustedly pushed me to the ground. “Stop pretending to be pitiful in front of me. Using that face that looks like Caleb to gain sympathy only makes me more disgusted with you.” Olivia clicked her tongue, bringing me back to reality. She impatiently raised her hand to point at the water bucket. “What are you spacing out for?” “Caleb and I are thirsty. Hurry up and bring the water bucket over.” She clearly knew how badly injured my lower back was, that it couldn’t handle such heavy weight. One wrong move could even lead to paralysis of my lower body. The crowd behind me spoke up. “Mrs. Greene, there are so many of us men here. Let us carry it. The boss doesn’t look well.” “That’s right, we still need to rely on the boss for the helicopter rescue.” But Olivia seemed to feel she had lost face. She immediately grabbed my collar and dragged me in front of the water bucket, forcing me to lift it. By the time I carried the water bucket back to the original carriage, my lower back hurt so much I couldn’t stand up straight. My legs were starting to go numb. I picked up the box for drawing lots and began drawing names. Olivia casually crossed her legs, waiting for me to call her name. “You’ll see, he loves me so much, he’ll definitely draw my name first.” 0
But she didn’t know that her name wasn’t even in the box. “Mark Henderson, Lisa Chen…” Eight names had already been called. Including me, that made nine. In their eyes, there was only one spot left. But they didn’t know Mia would be on the helicopter to accompany me. Those two were already doomed. Olivia and Caleb started to get agitated. Caleb quietly got up from Olivia’s arms. Both their faces were full of calculation. I reached my hand into the box. At that moment, Olivia and Caleb stood up almost simultaneously. “Wait!” They spoke in unison, their faces unable to hide their panic. The two exchanged a glance. Olivia forced a smile. “Caleb, the company can’t run for a day without me.” “How about this – you stay on the train first, and I’ll send someone to pick you up as soon as I get back to the company, okay?” Caleb’s expression froze for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected Olivia to abandon him so easily. He gave me a deep look. With the experience of being left here to become a charred corpse in my previous life, Caleb didn’t believe the hypocritical Olivia in front of him. But afraid of ruining their relationship, he still forced a smile. “But sister Olivia, don’t you remember? When we were little, you set off firecrackers that injured my ears. My skin was also damaged. In this heat, I can’t take it.” “Why don’t I go first, and I’ll send someone to get you when I return.” Olivia’s face instantly darkened. She pressed her tongue against her back teeth, her expression already showing impatience. “I already said I’m going first. Since when did you become so hard of hearing?” Seeing the situation, Caleb stopped pretending. He rushed in front of me and grabbed my hand. “Brother Jack, take me with you. Once we get out I promise you’ll have endless wealth and status. You won’t have to live under Olivia’s thumb anymore. I’ll help pay off your family’s debts, okay?” Hearing the trembling in Caleb’s anxious voice, I felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction rise in my heart. The sound of the helicopter drew closer. The train carriage door was forcibly dismantled from the outside. Olivia rushed over and shoved Caleb away, then grasped my hand with a loving expression. “Jack, we’ve been married for seven years. You can’t abandon me here out of spite.” “I was blind before to like Caleb. Don’t worry, after we go back, I’ll devote myself only to you. I won’t be fickle anymore!” Before I could speak, a woman slowly walked down from the helicopter. Mia let out a light laugh, but her eyes were full of hatred as she looked at Olivia. “After? His future won’t include you anymore.”
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