My Ex-Husband's Dream Girl Was a ManChapter 1
The stench of gas hung heavy in the air on New Year's Eve, suffocating the holiday cheer.
I turned, heart hammering, to find my husband staring at me with eyes devoid of warmth.
"Do you remember the beauty of the Forensic Science Department?" Derek asked, his voice chillingly calm. "She's dead. And I have no intention of living without her."
My mind went blank. Then the click of his lighter shattered the silence.
Flames roared to life, consuming the room, but his gaze never left me—vicious and full of hate.
"If you hadn't interfered," he screamed over the fire, "she would have been the one to save me from the lab! It should have been her!"
I died in agony, skin blistering as the world turned to ash.
When I opened my eyes, the fire was gone.
In its place: the sterile white of the university hallway. The shrill ring of the lab alarm echoed in my ears.
I had returned.
I didn't plan to play hero this time. But curiosity gnawed at me. I wanted to see this "department beauty" he was so obsessed with. In the Forensic Science Department, I was the only female student.
So who exactly was this phantom woman?
——
The acrid scent of sulfur hit me, mixed with the chemical bite of formalin. It coated the back of my throat, bitter and sharp.
A dull boom rattled the end of the corridor, followed by a wet hiss—like flesh and plastic melting under intense heat.
My pulse quickened. I walked toward the source.
The lab door was ajar. Orange light flickered through the gap, thick black smoke curling into the hallway. The main alarm must have malfunctioned; aside from the local buzzer, the building was silent.
No one else knew.
I peered through the observation window.
There he was. Derek Finch.
His right leg was pinned beneath a collapsed steel rack, his pristine white lab coat scorched black. He must have sensed my presence because his head snapped up, panic warring with recognition.
Then he did something unexpected. He shook his head frantically, waving me off. Don't come in.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.
The confusion cleared instantly.
He had been reborn too.
That was the only explanation. The old Derek would have been screaming for help by now. But this Derek was telling me to leave.