Chapter 2

01.

“Stella, you’ve been studying so hard. I saved this milk just for you.”

I looked up from my desk late that night and saw my stepbrother, Caleb, peeking in from the doorway.

He was holding a steaming glass of milk, but my heart didn't feel warm. It seized with ice-cold fear.

I had been reborn.

In my past life, I worked my ass off, only to have my sociopathic brother destroy my future with a single glass of poisoned milk.

I collapsed in the middle of my SATs. I could have been saved.

But my grandmother insisted I was faking it and literally blocked the ambulance from leaving.

My teacher fought tooth and nail to get me to the hospital, but my stepmother, Elara, rushed in with Caleb, screaming that the hospital was just trying to scam them out of the money they’d saved for Caleb’s “treatments.”

Defeated, my teacher called my father.

He bought every word Elara fed him and told the hospital to just put me on a basic IV drip.

Of course, my grandmother wouldn’t even spend money on that. She dragged me into the bathroom and forced a stomachful of soap water down my throat. I didn’t even make it out of the hospital building before I died.

My father didn’t shed a single tear for me. Instead, he complained about my terrible timing.

Caleb’s treatment fees were due, and now they had to waste money on my funeral.

The only time he smiled was when my life insurance payout came through.

They used my death money to buy a new car, a bigger house, and go on vacation. They lived it up.

When the hospital morgue called, telling them to claim my body, they tried to donate my organs for cash.

When they learned that the body of a herbicide victim couldn't be used for donation, they cursed me for being useless even in death. They wrapped me in a cheap straw mat and tossed my body into an abandoned quarry out in the countryside.

My body was torn apart by coyotes and stray dogs.

I burned with a helpless, searing hatred.

But it seems God, or whatever is out there, decided to give me another shot.

Staring at the milk in Caleb’s hands, I forced a wide smile onto my face.

“Thanks, Caleb. I’ll drink it right now.”