Part 1The Perfect Alibi: A Manufactured Truth

It was a full-blown hostage situation at the hospital, and I was deliberately provoking the patient's family member.

Enraged, he pressed a knife to my neck and dragged me onto the rooftop.

On the brink of death, a strange calm washed over me.

Because in my past life, at this exact moment, I became the perfect scapegoat for a murderer.

She brutally killed my fiancé, Joey, in his studio.

The security cameras captured "me" committing the entire act.

And since I had no alibi, I was the killer.

Condemned by Joey’s parents in a live-streamed press conference, I was quickly sentenced to death.

When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn, two hours before Joey was murdered.

* * *

The first thing I did after being reborn was grab my phone and call my fiancé.

“Joey?”

A muffled “mm-hmm” came from the other end.

Hearing his voice, I almost broke down in tears. I forced myself to stay calm.

“Listen to me,” I said, my voice tight. “Leave your studio right now. Go somewhere with a lot of people and stay there.”

He was confused, asking why.

I didn't know how to explain that I had been reborn. Or how to tell him that in two hours, he would be murdered in that very studio.

After a moment’s thought, I said, “I was just looking at your horoscope, and it’s a really, really bad day for you. A day of misfortune and danger. You can’t stay indoors.”

He chuckled, calling me superstitious. The irony was, he was far more superstitious than I was. He’d ignore any other excuse, but this one, he’d take seriously.

“Better safe than sorry, right?”

After a long time coaxing him, he finally agreed. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

Even though I wanted to break off our engagement, I didn’t want him dead. And I certainly couldn't let him die by "my" hands.

I just hoped that this time, I could change my fate.

After hanging up, I immediately called a cab back to the hospital.

In my last life, what I lacked most was evidence. This time, I was going to create an ironclad alibi.

When I arrived at the hospital, I walked right into a chaotic scene. A grieving family member was screaming, brandishing a knife. No one dared to get close.

In the distance, I saw someone had already started a live stream.

I glanced at the time. 2:30 PM. Perfect.

With all eyes on the scene, I took a deep breath and walked toward him.

Every time the negotiators were about to calm him down, I would say something to deliberately provoke him again. Just a few carefully chosen, inflammatory words.

As I’d hoped, after a few rounds of this, his eyes burned with a furious rage directed solely at me.

He lunged.

He grabbed me, pressed the cold steel of the knife to my neck, and dragged me up to the hospital rooftop.

The clock on a nearby building read 3:00 PM.

The courtyard below was swarming with onlookers, all staring up with anxious faces.

Seeing the security cameras everywhere, I finally felt a sense of relief.

The police arrived quickly, positioning themselves next to the hospital administrator, trying to de-escalate the situation. More and more people joined the live streams, their phones pointed toward the sky. A chorus of voices rose from the crowd, all begging the man to let me go.

But the more they pleaded, the tighter his arm wrapped around me.

The blade of the knife nicked my cheek, and a thin trickle of blood ran down my skin.

Poised on the edge of life and death, my mind was perfectly, unnaturally calm.