The Third Sunday: His Death

Seventeen-year-old wealthy American heiress Avery Sterling moves to the UK with her parents and becomes a highly noticeable campus star at St. Augustine’s College. She is beautiful, proud, sharp-tongued, and exceptionally talented; having been fully loved by her family and friends since childhood, she firmly believes that any problem can be solved as long as she is smart enough. On December 4, the third Sunday, Avery goes to pray alone for the first time at the ancient chapel her family has just purchased. A handsome stranger suddenly falls from the bell tower and dies right in front of her. The deceased, Rowan Hale, is a scholarship student a grade above her at school—gloomy, reclusive, and dangerous, yet no family member comes to handle his affairs. A week later, Avery meets a mysterious gentleman in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, top hat, and white gloves, holding a cane at the cemetery. His face is hidden in dark smoke, and he introduces himself as Death. Death sends Avery back to the first day of the 21 days before Rowan’s death, giving her three chances to change the outcome. At first, Avery only feels sympathy for Rowan and wants to get rid of the trauma caused by witnessing his death. She never expects that she will gradually discover the tenderness hidden beneath this cold boy’s surface, nor does she notice that Rowan has fallen for her even earlier. Friends, parents, her younger sister Lucy, and professional institutions join in to offer help one after another, and Rowan’s life seems to be moving toward light again and again. However, no matter what Avery changes, Rowan always dies on the third Sunday. When all rescues rooted in love, law, and reality end in failure, Avery finally realizes: she has been trying to change the last day of Rowan’s life, but has never changed the first day when he truly lost all hope.