I Died Saving Her, Then I Ran First

I've been married to my wife, Shannon Ruppert, for ten years, but we've slept in separate beds the entire time. The day our house catches fire, the flames are so intense that no one dares to approach. Still, I rush inside, knowing the ceiling could collapse at any moment. Ignoring the pain as my skin burns, I strain to lift the wardrobe pinning her down. The firefighter who rushes in tells us that, given the severity of the fire, they can only get one of us out. Without hesitation, Shannon points to Charles Rice, her first love. "I want him to live!" I feel no anger or resentment. I just ask the question I've never dared to ask. "For the past ten years, you wouldn't let me touch you. Was it because of him?" Shannon lowers her head and won't look at me. Finally, she lets out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry. If there is a next life, I'll be a good wife to you." I smile. Only after hearing the answer from her own lips can I finally let go. If I can't win her heart in this life, I won't want it in the next. As Shannon stares at me in shock, I hold on to her and jump from the sixth-floor window, positioning myself beneath her to break her fall. When I open my eyes, I'm back on my way to college for my freshman year. Without a second thought, I use my dad's connections to transfer to a college as far away from Shannon as possible. But as I board the high-speed train to Belham University, a girl's voice suddenly rings out from outside the train. "Matthew, our story isn't over! It never will be!" I turn and look out the window. Shannon is driving a sports car alongside the speeding train. Chapter 1 Matthew's POV "Mr. Matthew, we're almost at Ms. Ruppert's house. Mr. Fred has prepared the flowers for you. Did you bring them?" "Flowers? What flowers?" I slowly opened my eyes and saw my butler, Gary Mitchell, looking at me with concern. "Today is the day you and Ms. Ruppert start college. Didn't you say you wanted to bring her favorite jasmine?" Gary asked. I looked down at my body, and it finally hit me. I'd been reborn! I'd gone back to the day I was supposed to pick up Shannon and start college with her at Rocchi University. I'd forgotten the jasmine at home because I'd been in such a hurry to see her. Gary had already turned the car around without me having to tell him. He knew I'd want him to go back for the flowers. If Shannon liked something, I'd get it for her. I'd done that for her countless times over the years. We had grown up together and had always been close. In everyone's eyes, she was my future wife, and they assumed she'd be more than willing to marry me. But they were only half right. What Shannon and I shared couldn't compare to the love she had for Charles Rice, who came from a poor family. Our families had been close for generations. In fact, her family had only become what it was because of my family's support. She cared deeply about her parents' wishes, so she had no choice but to break things off with Charles. At our wedding, the officiant asked Shannon if she was willing to marry me. Instead of answering, she looked at me with red-rimmed eyes and said, "Are you happy now? I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life." The wedding went ahead smoothly, but I still felt like the fool in their love story. During our ten years of marriage, Shannon never once let me touch her. The closest we'd ever been was when I held her in my arms and jumped from the sixth floor, breaking her fall. Even when I was dying, she couldn't bring herself to say anything just to make me feel better. Now that I had another chance at life, I saw it as an opportunity to make different choices. Since forced love never bears sweet fruit, I'll let it go. My previous life had been painful enough. This time, I just wanted a happy life. I patted Gary on the shoulder. "Gary, don't go back. Just take me to the train station. I'm going to Belham University." "Sure. I'll drive faster—wait, what?" The car came to a sudden stop. Luckily, I'd already grabbed the handle. Gary apologized repeatedly, then asked, "Mr. Matthew, did I hear you right? You're going to Belham University? What about Ms. Ruppert?" Rocchi University was here in Varmont, so it was an easy drive, but Belham University was far enough away that taking the high-speed train made more sense. "Yeah, Gary. I've made up my mind. I want to go to Belham University. Shannon can get a cab and go to Rocchi on her own." Chapter 2 Matthew's POV I raised a hand to stop Gary before he could ask anything further. I knew he was confused. After years of chasing Shannon, it must have been hard for him to believe I'd suddenly given up. There was no way I could explain what had happened to me. Even though Gary couldn't understand why, he took me to the train station anyway. My scores were well above the cutoff for Belham University, and with my family's connections, getting in was easy. I called my dad and told him my plan. As expected, he was shocked and refused to agree. He even wanted to get Shannon into Belham University too. But when I held my ground, he finally gave in. Once that was settled, I opened my chat with Shannon. I'd sent her more than a dozen messages, and she hadn't replied to a single one. My last message had gone out at 9:50 am that day. Her last reply, a week ago, was a single "Yeah". Over the years, I'd invented every excuse I could think of to text her and ask her out. The replies I got most often were "Yeah," "Oh," and "Can you leave me alone?" Or she'd just leave me on read. I thought about telling her I wasn't going to Rocchi University, but she clearly didn't care, so I decided not to embarrass myself. I took one last look at her social media. Her feed was nearly empty, just a few photos of her with Charles. She'd never liked posting on social media. Once, I had used her phone to secretly post a picture of the two of us. She yelled at me and was furious with me all day. Only now did I realize she didn't hate posting. She just didn't like having me in her life. Looking at her bright smile in those pictures, I suddenly remembered that in the ten years we were together, she had never once smiled like that around me. So she could smile after all. I blocked her on all my socials and deleted our chat. For the first time, I felt completely at peace. Then I opened my chat with Charles, who was also going to Rocchi University. I slowly typed out a message. "Go pick her up. From now on, she's yours." I didn't say who I meant, but he would know. Then I blocked him and deleted the chat. "Shannon, I don't owe you anything anymore. From now on, we'll go our separate ways," I muttered. Inside the train station, ten minutes before my train departed, my phone rang several times. It was Shannon calling. I was a little surprised at first since I had always been the one calling her. But I hesitated only for a second before blocking her number. After more than ten years of having me at her beck and call, she was probably just calling to chew me out because I hadn't shown up to pick her up. I'd spent my entire previous life letting her treat me like a doormat. This time, I was cutting her out of my life for good. I wasn't about to let her ruin my mood right before I left. … Earlier that morning, at Shannon's place. She finished putting on her makeup and got a call from Gary telling her he would be there at 10:30 am sharp. There was something uneasy in his voice, but she didn't notice. Then her best friend, Helen Crawford, suddenly rushed in from the balcony, panting. "He's here! He's here!" Shannon's eyes lit up. In my previous life, Charles had arrived at her house before I did. I had watched her climb onto the back of his bicycle with a beaming smile. It wasn't until Gary and I pulled up a little later that she remembered she was supposed to go with me. She got to ride in a luxury car most people could only dream of, yet a tear slipped from the corner of her eye once she got in. The familiar ding-ding of a bicycle bell rang outside. Shannon didn't even stop to put on her shoes before running downstairs to open the door, as if she were afraid the person outside would disappear if she took a second longer. Charles saw Helen's text saying Shannon was coming down. He quickly took out a bouquet of roses, fixed his hair, and put on the smile Shannon loved. The door opened. "Shannon," Charles said with a smile. But there was no response from her, and no embrace like he'd imagined. She looked right past him, scanning the street as if searching for someone else. "Shannon, I'm here to pick you up. I brought your favorite jasmine." Chapter 3 Matthew's POV Charles thought that Shannon hadn't heard him, so he repeated himself and held out the bouquet. She took a step back and kept a polite smile on her face. "Thanks, Charles, but I can't accept the flowers. My boyfriend will be here to pick me up soon." The bouquet slipped from Charles' hand and hit the ground. It was the first time he had ever heard Shannon admit that I was her boyfriend. Helen couldn't help asking, "Shannon, I thought you said you didn't like Matthew. What's going on?" Shannon simply shook her head and looked at Charles. "Sorry you came all this way, but Matthew will be here any minute. You should go. I don't want him to get the wrong idea." Charles looked lost for a moment, then smiled. "Shannon, you probably don't know this yet, but Matthew isn't coming. He texted me to come pick you up." Shannon froze. "That's impossible. He loves me more than anything. Why would he tell you to do that?" Everyone in our circle knew how crazy I was about her and how possessive I could be. Shannon believed I'd never let another guy pick her up, especially someone I saw as a rival. When Charles saw how convinced Shannon was, he scoffed and tried to pull up my message. "Matthew's a playboy. Maybe he's already gotten tired of you and sent me here to pick you up in his place. Shannon, he's a jerk. I'm the one who truly loves you. Don't worry. I'll make something of myself and give you a good life." "No, that's not possible! Gary just called and said he was on his way!" Shannon's face went pale as she stared at the watch on her wrist. It was 10:30 am. Just then, a red luxury car roared up and stopped in front of them. Relief washed over Shannon's face when she saw Gary step out. Charles had been lying to her after all! She quickly composed herself and ran over with a sweet smile. "Hi, Gary!" Gary was usually warm and friendly, but this time he couldn't quite meet her eyes. He stammered, "Ms. Ruppert, get… get in the car. I'll drive you to school." Instead of getting in, Shannon clutched her dress and stared at the rear passenger door. If I'd been there, I probably would have known what she was waiting for. In my previous life, I'd leapt out with a bouquet of jasmine before the car even stopped, just to see her sooner. But this time, there was no movement in the back seat. Shannon couldn't stop thinking about Charles' claim that I'd asked him to pick her up. "Ms… Ms. Ruppert?" Gary said. "Gary, is Matthew… is he in there?" Shannon asked. Gary avoided her gaze as he explained, "Mr. Matthew… hasn't gotten up yet. Let me take you to school first." Shannon smiled. "Then let's go get him. I'll go to school with him." Cold sweat beaded on Gary's forehead. He couldn't understand why Shannon, who had always seemed indifferent toward me, suddenly cared so much. Gary wiped away his sweat and said, "Ms. Ruppert… I should just take you to school first. Mr. Matthew already left on his own." Shannon picked up the jasmine from the ground. "But you just said he wasn't in the car. Didn't he want to go to school with me?" "Well…" With no way left to hide it, Gary finally told her the truth. "Mr. Matthew took the high-speed train to Belham…" Before he could finish, Charles found my message. "Look, here's what he texted me!" Shannon, who had kept herself together until then, snatched the phone from him. Her whole body trembled as she read the message. "He said I was yours? He loves me so much. How could he say something like that?" Her voice cracked as she said, "Gary, tell me this isn't true!" Gary said nothing. His silence was answer enough. Her eyes were red. After standing there for two minutes, she finally said hoarsely, "Gary, can I borrow the car?" Gary couldn't help saying, "At this point, Mr. Matthew's probably already on the train. It might be too late to catch him now." But Shannon had already slid into the driver's seat, her voice trembling. "It's not too late. Even if he's on a plane, I'll catch up to him. He's never getting away from me!"