Chapter 1

While working a summer job at a water park, I was deliberately tripped by Kimmy Ames, my boyfriend Colin Mack’s childhood friend. I fell from an elevated platform.

Colin cradled Kimmy, who was only pretending to be unconscious, and blamed me instead.

“Some physical contact is unavoidable when I’m teaching her to swim. Are you really so jealous that you’d hurt yourself just to frame Kimmy?”

I was in too much pain to offer any rebuttal.

Then, the wave pool suddenly activated and swept me into the deep end.

Colin was a lifeguard. He gave the only flotation device to Kimmy, who was taking swimming lessons in the shallows.

“You have advanced lifeguard certification. A little water isn’t going to kill you, so get yourself out. Kimmy’s still traumatized by a drowning accident that happened when she was younger, so I have to keep her safe.”

When I did not respond, he impatiently raised his megaphone.

“You’re really going to keep putting on this attention-seeking act in front of everyone? Fine! Stay in there and cool off until you’re ready to behave.”

To make sure I had time to reflect on my actions, he cleared everyone else out of the pool before walking away with his arm around Kimmy.

He did not know that my arm was broken. I could not swim at all.

He also did not know that at that very moment, a whirlpool was pulling me down with relentless force.

I calmly closed my eyes and watched him leave.

The system permitted him to abandon me only five times.

This was the last.

Chapter 1

“Grace has really taken her jealous little games to a new low. Now, she is even pretending to drown.”

Colin Mack carefully lowered Kimmy Ames onto the sofa in the staff lounge.

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it snugly around her.

Kimmy shivered. Her eyes looked teary.

“Colin, do you think Grace is mad at me? I’m such a slow learner. I still can’t get the breathing right, and you’ve had to stay in the shallow end teaching me.

“She looked like she was in so much pain when she fell. You should go check on her.”

Colin scoffed.

He poured her a glass of water and pressed it into her hands.

“You’re too kind for your own good. She has advanced lifeguard certification and can hold her breath underwater for three minutes. There’s no way she’d drown in a pool like that.”

Kimmy gazed out at the pouring rain.

“Colin, it’s raining so hard. Are you sure Grace is okay?”

“Let her stay in the water for a while. Maybe she’ll finally learn her lesson.”

My spirit hovered above them, quietly taking in the scene below.

Then, the system’s emotionless voice spoke.

“Host, the male lead has now abandoned you for the fifth time. Your vital signs have ceased. The soul-transfer process is ready. Would you like to proceed with the soul transfer into a new host body now?”

Colin gazed tenderly at Kimmy, just as he had once gazed at me.

My lips curled into a bitter smile.

“I want to wait. I should at least stay long enough to see myself buried.”

The door to the staff lounge swung open.

Jason Obst walked in. His lifeguard uniform was dripping wet.

“Colin, everyone has been cleared out of the wave pool, but Grace still hasn’t surfaced. The current is pretty strong in the deep end. Should I go and look for her?”

Colin slammed his glass down on the table.

“Jason, what have I always taught you? A lifeguard’s attention should be on guests who actually need help. Is Grace a guest? She’s a certified lifeguard. She can make it to the edge of the pool with her eyes closed.”

Jason scratched his head. He looked uneasy.

“But the wave machine came on without warning, and Grace fell right into the center of the current. What if something’s happened to her?”

“What could possibly happen to her?” Colin cut him off sharply.

“She knows she’s a strong swimmer, and she’s using that to pull this ridiculous stunt for sympathy points. Does she expect everyone in the park to drop everything and fuss over her?

“Leave her alone. When she realizes her dramatics aren’t getting her anywhere, she’ll get out on her own.”

Kimmy gently tugged at Colin’s sleeve.

“Colin, don’t be angry with Jason. Grace has always been too proud to admit when she needs help. What if she has a leg cramp?”

Colin took Kimmy’s hand. His voice immediately softened.

“Kim, stop making excuses for her. She’s unbelievably petty.

“All I did was give you a few private swimming lessons after work, and she went around telling our coworkers that you were trying to steal another woman’s boyfriend.

“She’s now pretending to drown in front of everyone just to scare you. She can’t stand seeing anything go your way. I’m putting a stop to this today. She needs to learn when enough is enough.”

Jason sighed and turned to leave.

Colin’s phone suddenly rang.

It was the shrill emergency alert from the heart-rate monitor worn by park employees.

My name flashed across the screen.

[Heart rate: 0]

Colin glanced at it for only a second before offering a mocking smile.

“She’s really outdone herself this time. She must’ve taken off her monitor and thrown it into the pool just to make me give in.”

Without hesitation, he dismissed the alert.

Then, he blocked all further notifications from my monitor.

Chapter 2

Kimmy sneezed.

Colin immediately rose to his feet in alarm.

“Did you catch a chill earlier?”

Kimmy rubbed her nose. Her voice was thick with congestion.

“I’m fine, Colin. My clothes are just a little wet, and they feel cold against my skin.”

Colin turned and headed toward the staff locker room.

He entered the combination from memory and opened my personal locker.

Inside was a brand-new pink tracksuit, neatly folded on the shelf.

I had saved two months’ wages to buy matching outfits for us to wear on our anniversary.

Without hesitation, Colin took it out.

He also helped himself to the limited-edition microfiber hair drying cap hanging inside the locker door.

“Put this on.”

Colin handed the clothes to Kimmy.

When Kimmy saw the brand tag, she immediately waved her hands in refusal.

“No, I can’t! This is Grace’s favorite brand, and it’s really expensive. She hasn’t even worn it herself. She’ll be furious if I do.”

Colin firmly pressed the clothes into her arms.

“She has plenty of clothes in her locker. She can afford to lend you one. Besides, clothes are meant to be worn, not left sitting around gathering dust. If she has a problem with it, she can take it up with me.”

Kimmy bit her lower lip and reluctantly agreed, or at least pretended to.

“Okay. If I get it dirty, I’ll wash it before I give it back to Grace.”

Clutching the clothes, she went into the changing room.

Colin stood outside the changing room and placed an order through a food delivery app.

In the special instructions, he asked for no onions, no parsley, and extra honey.

He certainly knew Kimmy’s preferences by heart.

I was allergic to peanuts. Just two days ago, he had bought me a peanut butter cookie.

Mrs. Moura, one of the park custodians, approached with a mop in hand.

“Colin, something doesn’t seem right at the wave pool. It looks like a large object is blocking the drain cover, and the water sounds strangely muffled. Shouldn’t you go take a look?”

Colin was busy replying to a text and did not even look up.

“Mrs. Moura, it’s probably an inflatable raft that sprang a leak and got sucked into the drain. Just call maintenance. Why are you telling me about it?”

Mrs. Moura hesitated.

“When I looked earlier, it seemed like the outline of a person. Could it be…”

Colin finally looked at her with a deep frown.

“Mrs. Moura, are your eyes getting worse again? There’s not a soul in the deep end. Grace probably slipped out of the pool without anyone noticing.

“If you saw something shaped like a person, she must’ve planted it there herself. She loves pulling childish stunts like this. Just ignore it.”

Mrs. Moura sighed, shook her head, and walked away.

The food arrived.

Colin set everything out on the table.

Kimmy emerged from the changing room.

The pink tracksuit fit her perfectly.

Colin’s face softened.

“Come. Eat.”

He thoughtfully unwrapped a set of disposable cutlery for her.

Kimmy picked up a peanut butter cookie and took a bite.

“Colin, you remembered these are my favorite!”

Colin smiled.

“Of course I remembered. You’re not like someone I know, who always finds something wrong with the food.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the walkie-talkie on the table crackled to life.

It was Ben Robinson, the park manager.

“Colin, get to the deep end immediately! We have a situation here.”

Colin picked up the walkie-talkie. He sounded very impatient.

“Mr. Robinson, is Grace causing problems again? Just ignore her. She’s just trying to blow this out of proportion.”

Chapter 3

Ben’s voice rose an octave in panic.

“She’s not causing trouble! Get over here right now, and bring the first-aid kit!”

Colin scoffed and switched off the walkie-talkie.

He turned to Kimmy and spread his hands in defeat.

“See? She’s even managed to get Mr. Robinson to play along. She’ll do anything to make me give in.”

Kimmy set down her fork and looked at him anxiously.

“Colin, Mr. Robinson is usually very serious. I don’t think he’d joke about something like this. Maybe you should go and take a look. If something really has happened to Grace, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

Colin placed a piece of chicken on Kimmy’s plate.

“Why should I feel guilty? She made her own choice. She jumped into that pool herself. She’s perfectly able-bodied and a trained lifeguard.

“You honestly think she could drown in the pool where she works? She’s making such a production of this because she knows I’ll give in if I get worried. If I go running to her now, her stunts will only get worse.”

He picked up his spoon and leisurely scooped a spoonful of soup.

“Let’s finish this first. We can stop by the staff cafe later to get you something sweet to take your mind off this.”

My spirit hovered above them.

I watched Colin sitting there. He was so calm and certain of himself.

He was convinced that this was all another ploy to make him come running to me.

Colin was convinced that I could never leave him.

How ridiculous!

After lunch, Colin took Kimmy to the staff cafe.

He pulled my employee rewards card from his pocket and handed it to the woman behind the counter.

“One slice of Black Forest cake and two caramel macchiatos.”

She took the card and swiped it through the reader.

“Colin, Grace has spent over six months saving these points. Just two days ago, she told me she was going to redeem them for a set of diving gear. Are you really going to spend them on dessert?”

Colin did not so much as blink.

“What’s mine is hers, and what’s hers is mine. It’s only diving gear. I’ll buy her a better set later. She can spare a few reward points.”

Standing beside him, Kimmy said softly, “Colin, I don’t think we should use Grace’s points.”

Colin patted her gently on the head.

“Why not? After the way she frightened you today, consider this her apology.”

Kimmy carried her cake to a table and took out her phone to check the staff group chat.

Suddenly, she froze.

“Colin, look at this!”

She held the phone out to him.

One of their coworkers had posted a video in the group chat.

In the video, the deep end had been cordoned off with police tape.

A blue lifeguard uniform floated on the surface.

The caption read, [This is terrifying. It looks like they pulled something out of the wave pool. Even the police are here!]

Colin barely glanced at it before pushing the phone away.

“It’s just a rescue dummy. Grace bought it last month to practice underwater rescues. She’s really gone too far this time.

“She even hired people to pose as police officers. When the real police get involved, she’ll be lucky if she doesn’t go to jail.”

Just then, Colin’s phone rang again.

An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen.

He answered the call.

“Hello, is this Colin Mack? This is the South District Police Department. A drowning incident has occurred in the deep end of the water park.

“The victim has been identified as Grace Baker. We need you to come to the scene immediately to identify her.”

I thought he would finally believe it.

Instead, he just snorted.

“If Grace is going to hire someone to put on an act, she could at least find someone convincing.

“Do you really expect me to believe the police would call from this number? Tell her that if she keeps this up, I’ll break up with her.”

He hung up.

Then, he switched off his phone.

Chapter 4

Kimmy cautiously studied Colin’s face.

“Colin, what’s wrong? Who was it?”

Colin shoved the phone into his pocket. His voice was full of contempt.

“Some actor Grace hired. He’s pretending to be a police officer and telling me that she’s drowned. Does she think I’m as stupid as she is?”

Kimmy covered her mouth in shock.

“How could Grace joke about something like that? Pretending someone has died is going way too far! Colin, she’s really crossed the line this time.”

Colin scoffed.

“I’ve spoiled her rotten. She thinks all she has to do is cause a scene, and I’ll come running back to beg for her forgiveness.”

Kimmy took Colin’s arm and gave it a gentle tug.

“Colin, maybe we should go and check. She’s caused such a commotion that it might affect business, and the boss will blame you. I’ll apologize to her and ask her to stop.”

Seeing how sweet and considerate Kimmy was only made Colin side with her even more.

“You’re too kind. Okay, I’ll take you back. Let’s see how far Grace keeps up this act when she sees us.”

They walked hand in hand back to the water park.

Even from a distance, they could see a crowd gathered around the deep end.

Red and blue police lights flashed brightly in the sun.

Yellow police tape sealed off the entire wave pool.

Several uniformed officers were keeping the crowd back.

Colin faltered for a moment but quickly regained his composure.

“She’s certainly gone to great lengths to set this up.”

Holding Kimmy’s hand, he strode toward the police tape.

Jason spotted Colin immediately.

His eyes were red with tears. He rushed over and grabbed Colin by the collar.

“Colin, what the hell is wrong with you?! What were you doing when Grace was fighting for her life in that pool?”

Colin shoved Jason away and smoothed his wrinkled collar.

“Have you lost your mind, Jason? Are you so caught up in Grace’s little performance that you actually believe it? Where is she? Tell her to come out here. She can stop hiding and playing games now.”

Jason was trembling with rage as he pointed to a white sheet beside the wave pool.

“Are you blind? She’s lying right there!”

Colin followed his gaze.

A motionless figure lay on a blue tarp.

A stark white sheet covered the body.

Several forensic investigators stood nearby, documenting the scene.

Colin froze briefly, then scoffed.

“You even brought out a white sheet! Very convincing! Grace, are you done with this nonsense yet?”

He shook off Kimmy’s hand and strode past the police tape.

An officer reached out to stop him.

“Sir, this is an active scene. Please step back.”

Colin pointed at the white sheet on the floor.

His voice was full of mockery as he said, “Officer, you’ve been fooled. That’s my girlfriend under there. She isn’t dead.

“She’s just pretending to punish me. I’ll make her get up and apologize to all of you right now.”

Ignoring the officer’s attempts to stop him, he pulled back the sheet.

My eyes were half-open, and my pupils were dilated.

They stared back at him lifelessly.