Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My husband dragged me to the Toxic Woman Tribunal.

If I was found guilty, I would lose all my assets and be sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Meanwhile, my husband would get everything and happily marry his childhood sweetheart.

If the charges were dismissed, he would be cast out penniless, cursed with endless misfortune, and disfigured into the ugliest man alive. I, on the other hand, would receive a ten-million-dollar reward and a lifetime of good fortune.

Everyone urged me to plead guilty and apologize to him. In their eyes, my husband had always been a gentle, devoted saint, which meant he had to be the innocent victim here.

What they didn't know was that I had been reborn.

This time, I was going to rip off his hypocritical mask for good.

***

I stood in the defendant's dock as the bailiff lowered the memory-extraction helmet over my head.

"Once the Judgment Helmet is activated, aborting the process counts as a guilty plea, and the offender will be eliminated. Daphne Howard, are you certain you want to proceed?"

The judge read the legal warnings in a flat, robotic voice. My heart remained completely calm as I gave a firm nod.

Wyatt looked at me from the prosecution stand, a flicker of guilt flashing across his eyes.

He was my husband of five years, and he was the one who had brought these charges against me.

His motive was simple: he wanted me stripped of my wealth and thrown behind bars so he could run off with my fortune and his childhood best friend, Carly.

None of them knew I had returned from the dead.

In my previous life, I had cared too much about our history. Swayed by public outcry, I refused the memory extraction and pleaded guilty, thinking eight years in prison was better than watching Wyatt suffer a disfiguring curse.

Back then, I had no idea why he did it. I simply assumed he misunderstood my devotion, and I couldn't bear to see him ruined.

My softheartedness only proved how foolish I was. Shortly after I entered prison, news reached me that Wyatt had married Carly.

While they celebrated their wedding, I was being dragged by prison thugs into cold steel bars, my skull repeatedly slammed against the metal.

I never even made it to my release date. I was beaten to death in that dark cell.

"The trial begins now!" the judge ordered.

Above my head, a massive screen lit up, broadcasting the feed nationwide.

"Wait!" Wyatt suddenly jumped to his feet, drawing every eye in the courtroom.

He looked at me with a pitiful, heartbroken expression.

"Daphne, the helmet is excruciatingly painful. I can't bear to watch you suffer like this. If you just admit your guilt, you'll only serve prison time. If the truth is exposed, your reputation will be destroyed forever, and how will you survive when you get out?"

His words instantly swayed the gallery, drawing sympathetic looks from the crowd.

"What an incredible man! Why didn't that toxic bitch appreciate him?"

"I'm his neighbor! He's always been so humble and sweet to Daphne. He's practically the perfect husband!"

"Exactly! Even now, he's still trying to protect her. Your Honor, just convict her already and let her rot in prison!"