Falling Skies, Rising Vengeance

I went on a graduation trip with my boyfriend, Marcus Hale, only to have my shameless roommate, Vanessa Quinn, tag along.

On the way to Rybia, our plane was caught in violent turbulence and plunged toward the Egete Ocean. Because of a malfunction, only half the oxygen masks dropped.

The spiteful Vanessa snatched the oxygen mask meant for a Rybian socialite, Layla Al-Farouq. Unable to stand by, I shared mine with the woman, saving her life.

After the emergency landing, her powerful oil tycoon husband, Khalid Al-Farouq, adopted me as his goddaughter out of gratitude, while throwing the vicious Vanessa into the Kibera Slums.

Later, I married Marcus, but on the day we went skydiving, he suddenly unbuckled my parachute and shoved me from ten thousand meters above, leaving me to crash into nothing but broken flesh.

"If you hadn’t meddled and saved that old woman, my darling Vivi would still be alive!"

Only then did I realize the two of them had been betraying me all along.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment the plane first took off.

"Hailey Donovan, I’m talking to you! Switch seats with me!"

Vanessa Quinn’s sharp voice pierced my ears, yanking me out of my thoughts.

My heart pounded violently in my chest. It took me a long moment to realize that I had been reborn.

"Go ahead, switch. Sit next to your precious Marcus," I said coldly, my eyes flat with indifference.

In my previous life, I never understood why Vanessa insisted on changing seats. Now it all made sense.

I turned my gaze on Marcus Hale, and a wave of desolation and hatred swept through me.

After we switched, Vanessa and Marcus clung to each other right under my nose, touching one another in ways that made my skin crawl.

As the plane climbed higher and crossed into the Egete, I knew what was coming—severe turbulence.

Sure enough, the next second, the entire plane jolted downward. The violent drop sent every passenger screaming in panic.

"Ah! What’s happening?!"

"Is the plane going down? I don’t want to die, I want to go home!"

"Shut your mouth! Keep bawling and I’ll strangle you myself!"

Cries and curses erupted across the cabin.

I turned my head and saw Layla Al-Farouq, her hands clasped tightly in prayer, her eyes shut, and her face ashen. From my memories of the last life, I knew that she suffered from severe panic disorder.

Suddenly, the plane shot upward again, the cabin tilting nearly ninety degrees.

My hands trembled as I clutched the armrest. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vanessa hurl herself into Marcus’s arms.

"Marcus, I’m so scared!" Her weak, trembling voice sent shivers of disgust down my spine.

He instinctively wrapped his arms around her, shielding her like she belonged to him. "Don’t be afraid, I’m here…" Then his eyes flicked to me, and he fell silent.

A cold laugh escaped my chest. What a pair