All In on Love, All Out of Luck

The day before the spacecraft launch, I am anonymously reported for concealing a mental illness and lose my qualification to board.

After being confined in a psychiatric hospital for three years, my husband, Simon Bergman, who is now a decorated figure in the aerospace field, personally brings me home.

"I had no choice but to send you there. I even applied to be demoted just to bring you back. Let's just live our lives well from now on," Simon says.

Burdened by guilt for affecting his career, I spend the rest of my life carefully taking care of him and busying myself in the kitchen as a dutiful wife.

But before I die, my daughter finds the letter accusing me of having a mental condition—it is written in my husband's own hand.

She also discovers decades of correspondence between him and a deceased war buddy's widow named Charmaine Marlowe.

In those letters, he writes that to fulfill his buddy's dying wish to take care of Charmaine, he fabricates a false mental illness record and inserts it into my astronaut application. As a result, I was sent to the psychiatric hospital, and my position was taken by her.

The glass shatters, and the sharp fragments pierce me, like they are stabbing into my heart.

I was supposed to be the one to go to space. But my husband sacrificed my chance so that another woman could have it!

I die in despair.

When I open my eyes again, I am back on the day of the astronaut selection for the manned spacecraft launch.

This time, when Simon offers to help submit my application, I refuse to let him.

My husband, Simon Bergman, paused, clutching the documents tightly. "Honey, I told you—rest well these few days. I'll handle errands like this for you."

I clenched my fists so tightly that my knuckles turned white, and a sharp ache hit me.

I had always trusted him completely. In my past life, he had used me without my knowledge, submitting my documents with forged proofs that could have ruined me. I was then locked away in a psychiatric hospital for three dark, endless years, and my life had veered onto a completely different path.

I refused to go through that again. I tried to stay calm, but my hands shook uncontrollably as I reached for the documents. "I just remembered I didn't finish filling out one section. I'll complete it and submit it myself," I said.

Simon looked anxious as he took the papers back. "Which part isn't finished? I can help."

I locked the papers in the cabinet, forcing a faint smile. "No need. I can handle it myself. Isn't the soup still on the stove? You should check on that."

Simon reluctantly left the room, and I immediately pulled the application back out. As expected, a falsified mental health record was tucked inside.

I felt like I had fallen into an icy pit. It was all true.

Simon returned with the soup. I quickly put the documents back in the cabinet, and when I looked at him, my eyes were red.

He froze, set the bowl down, and pulled me into his arms. "Why are you crying?"

I forced the tears back and took a deep breath. "Didn't you say that you wanted to end our partnership? I agree."

In my past life, Simon had mentioned it more times than I could count.

I had always believed that after ten years of working side by side, no one could understand each other better than we did. At the office, partners were always paired as a man and a woman.

I had been stubborn. How could I ever willingly hand my husband over to another woman?

Now that I knew the truth, everything was clear. If I refused to change partners, he would send me to a psychiatric hospital within half a month. This time, I had to choose my own future.

Simon paused before smiling widely. "Honey, you finally get it. If we stop being partners, our training will only improve."

He had prepared the application long ago. When he handed it over, I looked at him carefully, hoping to find even a hint of reluctance. We had been partners for ten years. He should have felt something, but he didn't. He looked genuinely thrilled.

What was there left to hope for?

I signed the papers. Simon then leaned in and kissed me, as if making up for lost time.

"How did I get so lucky to marry such a wonderful woman like you? Don't worry. Even if we're no longer partners, I'll still watch your back at work."