"Jack Mercer awakened a new ability in high school—he could see a line of text above everyone's head: age, date of death, and manner of death. At seventeen, he predicted his wealthy grandmother's death, earning a $500,000 reward. However, a well-intentioned warning hastened an innocent person's death, and tormented by guilt, Jack suddenly lost his powers. He married Vanessa, from a small town, squandering all his savings on her master's degree, her company, and luxury cars, only to be cheated on and left with nothing. On the day of their divorce, he was delivering takeout with his daughter in the rain when he was hit by a car that ran a red light. When he opened his eyes again, his powers had returned. His ex-wife brought her younger boyfriend to the hospital to humiliate him, and Jack saw a message above her head: 35 years old, suicide in three months.
To raise his daughter, Jack decided to use his powers to make money: he rescued the son of tech company CEO Victor, and revealed Victor's brain aneurysm. Victor promised him a future and revenge. Vanessa, having been scammed in an investment and her boyfriend absconding with her money, knelt downstairs at Jack's apartment, clutching her infant baby. The sign above her head had changed from ""three months"" to ""seven days."" Jack hated her intensely. He struggled for six days, but on the seventh day, he rushed to Vanessa's apartment and stopped her from committing suicide."
