Chapter 1 I Am Sorry

• A white sedan was speeding down the highway in the dead of night.
• Serena Yates gripped the steering wheel tightly, her stunning beauty marred by an indifferent expression. Her eyes held a myriad of complex emotions as she stole a glance at the man in the backseat through the rear-view mirror.
• The man was her husband, Benjamin Zabel.
• At that moment, although he appeared composed, a storm was raging within him.
• He was on Azureon from three hundred years ago. He had found himself back in his adolescence.
• On Azureon, combat arts were highly revered. The culture of practicing combat arts was deeply rooted in society. Each federal state had established its own exclusive Combat Arts Alliance, managing combat arts practitioners and dealing with certain unusual events.
• Based on the knowledge and insight Benjamin had at the time, he understood that Azureon was classified as a low-combat planet among the many cultivation planets. The sparse spiritual energy there was reminiscent of Level-One Spiritual Energy, Era Zero.
• Three hundred years ago, Benjamin had been knocked unconscious and thrown into the vast ocean, inadvertently finding himself on an immortal cultivation planet. Facing utmost adversity, he struggled for survival and grew stronger, eventually becoming a revered immortal. However, on the day of his breakthrough, he was betrayed by his beloved and his best friend, leading to the destruction of his soul. Unexpectedly, he was reborn on Azureon.
• Those two were undoubtedly after the Time-Space Seeker, an extraordinary artifact Benjamin had obtained through immense hardship. He nearly lost his life in the secret realm just to acquire it. The most terrifying thing wasn't the monsters within the secret realm but human greed.
• After a journey of three centuries across the cosmos, Benjamin had gained a vast wealth of experience. Among the infinite expanse of the universe, he even found a planet strikingly similar to his home, Azureon. This planet was called Earth, and Benjamin had spent some time there. However, Earth was not his home after all, and he always yearned to return to Azureon.
• Nightfang, Siren, I regarded you as my most trusted confidants. Yet, you betrayed me in the end. I swear, I will repay the pain you inflicted on me a hundredfold. Benjamin clenched his fists tightly, his eyes burning like fierce flames.
• At that moment, his wife, Serena, was driving.
• She was the CEO of Grace Cosmetics and a renowned beauty in Junbert. However, her “fame” only amplified when she married a man like Benjamin.
• After three hundred years apart, a myriad of emotions swirled within Benjamin. In the end, he knew he was the one who had let others down.
• Benjamin's mother was a maid for Royce Zabel, the head of the Zabel family in Jexburgh. He fathered Benjamin after a night of heavy drinking.
• Ah, the Zabel family, the family that once banished my mother and me from Jexburgh. My mother struggled and sacrificed to raise me. Only because your eldest son died unexpectedly did you call me back home to marry Serena, Royce. I became the butt of everyone's jokes, living in this world as if I were a clown, and in the end, I was even knocked unconscious and tossed into the sea. With this second chance at life, I only wish to rectify the regrets I left behind, correct the mistakes I made, and protect those I love.
• Memories of the past came flooding back, bringing a flash of clarity to Benjamin's confused eyes.
• Benjamin and Serena were married, but they barely spoke in the three months following their wedding. When he fell victim to others' schemes, he couldn't be sure if she had ever shed tears for him.
• “Serena, I'm sorry.”
• “Hmm?” A look of surprise crossed Serena's pretty face. Since their marriage, Benjamin had always been somewhat of a slacker. But today, he unexpectedly took the initiative to apologize to her.
• She was unaware that this simple “sorry” carried with it a multitude of unspoken emotions and meanings.
• “If you're really sorry, then stop visiting those places.” Serena sighed softly, her heart heavy with mixed emotions.
• Benjamin only went to that place because I didn't want to share a room with him.
• “I'm a married man, but I might as well have stayed single. At least then I wouldn't have to endure your daily torment...” Benjamin had once blurted this out to her in a drunken rant.
• He wore a bitter smile. He only frequented such places to drown his sorrows in alcohol; it was not for amusement.
• They were silent along the way.
• Upon returning to the mansion, Benjamin saw that everything was as it had been years ago. Serena was as beautiful as ever, single-handedly managing a large company that ranked within the top hundred in Junbert. Her assets amounted to tens of millions, but in this expansive house, aside from the two of them, there was only one housekeeper, Wendy Wilson. This made the place feel slightly desolate at times.
• Serena possessed a stunning figure, her strikingly beautiful face as serene as a painting. Her exceptional demeanor made her stand out like a gem among stones. Back then, Benjamin had felt unworthy of Serena, and this sense of inferiority had haunted him for a long time.
• At that moment, a man suddenly appeared outside the mansion. He was dressed in a sharp suit, sporting a crew cut, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. He carried an air of sophistication and looked to be about twenty-five years old. “Ms. Yates, I heard Mr. Zabel was arrested. Is everything all right now?”
• “Yeah, everything's good now,” Serena said, then the two of them went out to continue their conversation.
• The man was Winston Zachs, who served as the general manager of Grace Cosmetics and was Serena's close confidant. There were rumors circulating within the company that the two were involved romantically.