Chapter 1 I Was Reborn?

"If there truly is a second life... I swear I'll send all of you to hell with my own hands."

Blood trickled from the corner of Revan Sterling's mouth, soaking into the ground littered with corpses and foul-smelling black sludge. His breathing grew weaker with every passing second. Each breath felt like a blade carving through his lungs.

Ahead of him, an endless tide of zombies crept closer.

From the top of the watchtower where they stood, the living dead looked like a black ocean swallowing the entire city. Their relentless roars echoed through the air, filling the world with the stench of blood and death.

Yet colder than the monsters' lifeless eyes were the gazes of the two people he had trusted most.

The woman who had become his wife only a few weeks ago.

And the cousin he had always loved like a brother.

The woman rested her head against the man's shoulder and smiled as though savoring her victory. "Thank you for surviving this long," she said softly. "Without you, we never could have collected so many meteorite cores."

His cousin let out a mocking laugh. "Besides, an idiot like you was perfect as our shield."

Revan felt as though his heart had been crushed.

So that was the truth.

Every sacrifice he had made had only been used against him. Every wound he had suffered, every brush with death while protecting them, had all been part of their plan to kill him.

"Do you remember the Sterling family company?"

Revan struggled to lift his head. "What do you mean?"

"Your aunt planned everything from the very beginning." Her smile widened. "Your parents' car crash... wasn't an accident."

Revan's eyes flew open. His entire body trembled. "No... That's impossible."

"Unfortunately, you found out too late."

Bang!

A vicious kick slammed into Revan's chest. His body was hurled off the top of the tower. The wind lashed across his face as he plummeted toward the sea of zombies below, their rotting arms reaching skyward as if welcoming the day's final prey.

Above him, Billy wrapped an arm around Teressa's waist as they watched with satisfied smiles.

Revan's body crashed into the ground, landing directly in the middle of the horde.

Raaaargh!

Dozens of rotten hands seized him instantly. Razor-sharp teeth tore into his shoulder, arms, neck, and back without mercy.

"Aaaargh!"

Revan wanted to fight. He wanted to stand. He wanted to kill those two traitors with his own hands. But his body no longer had the strength.

As the unbearable agony consumed him, his vision slowly blurred. The last thing he saw was Billy and Teressa still standing atop the tower, laughing as they watched him die.

Tears mixed with blood streamed down his face.

He regretted trusting the wrong woman.

He regretted driving away the people who had truly been loyal to him.

But the greatest regret of his life was never avenging his parents' deaths.

"If there truly is a second life..." His eyes burned with hatred. "I swear I'll send all of you to hell with my own hands."

Darkness.

Everything faded into darkness.

"Mr. Sterling?"

A gentle woman's voice drifted toward him from somewhere far away, as if it belonged to another world.

Revan frowned. His body still ached. He could still feel the sensation of zombie fangs tearing through his flesh.

"Sir, does the suit need any more adjustments?"

His eyes snapped open, beads of sweat sliding down his temples.

Zombies.

Where were the zombies?

He looked around frantically, his breathing ragged as both hands searched his neck, chest, and shoulders.

There were no wounds. No blood. Even the agonizing pain that had felt so real moments ago was beginning to disappear.

"Sir?"

A boutique employee looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Are you alright?"

Revan slowly raised his head and stared at his reflection in the full-length mirror.

He touched his face, smooth and free of scars, then lowered his gaze to his hands, studying them for a long moment.

"Impossible. Wasn't I already torn apart by zombies?"

The employee stared at him in confusion.

"Sir... are you feeling sick?"

Revan ignored the question. He hurriedly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

The screen displayed the date.

July 15, 2035.

That meant it was thirty days before the apocalypse began.

His entire body went rigid. His heart pounded violently against his ribs.

"I..." He stared at his reflection again, his breathing becoming more uneven. "I was reborn?"

He looked around the room in disbelief.

The crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

The rows of expensive suits neatly displayed.

The crimson carpet stretching across the floor.

Everything was painfully familiar.

This was the luxury boutique where he and his fiancée had come to be fitted for their wedding.

The day he had once believed marked the beginning of his happiness.

Now it felt like the cruelest joke imaginable.

Revan took a deep breath and walked out of the men's fitting room, ignoring the employees calling after him.

"Mr. Sterling, where are you going?"

The staff members who saw him immediately bowed.

"Mr. Revan, does the suit fit properly?" the manager asked as he waited outside the fitting room.

Revan didn't answer. His gaze swept across the entire boutique. His memories slowly returned.

Today, his fiancée was also trying on her wedding dress in the women's fitting room.

Without another thought, he turned and strode toward the hallway on the opposite side of the boutique.

The closer he got, the clearer the sounds became from behind the fitting room door.

A soft moan made him stop in his tracks.

His body froze, but for an entirely different reason.

Impossible.

He knew that voice all too well.

It belonged to the woman he had loved with all his heart.

Revan's breathing grew heavy. Slowly, he approached the door, noticing it hadn't been fully closed.

Through the narrow opening, his eyes froze.

The woman in the white wedding gown, the one who was supposed to become his wife in just a few days, was wrapped tightly in another man's arms.

Their lips were locked together without the slightest shame. The man's hand rested around her slender waist while she smiled sweetly, savoring every second.

The man was no stranger.

He was Revan's own cousin, the very person who had introduced him to the woman in the first place.

"The share transfer letter will be signed soon."

Billy laughed. "Once that happens, the entire Sterling Group will officially belong to our family."

Teressa smiled. "Revan still thinks I truly love him."

Revan's fingers slowly curled into fists. The veins on the backs of his hands bulged as his gaze turned as cold as ice.

The fury that had consumed him in his previous life ignited once again.

After a few seconds, he slowly unclenched his fists.

A faint smile curved across his lips. There wasn't the slightest trace of warmth in it.

"You want Sterling Group?" His eyes turned glacial. "Go ahead... if you're actually capable of taking it."