Chapter 2

2

Ten o'clock. The makeup artist came in to start on my face.

I closed my eyes and let her apply the foundation.

My mind was racing through every detail.

Where was the evidence of Gavin and Willa's affair hidden?

First, the hotel records.

In my past life, my old roommate, Joanna, found them by accident after I died.

She had gone to help my parents close out my credit cards and found a charge for a hotel stay. It was from the month before I died.

But I had never stepped foot in that hotel.

She dug deeper.

She found a whole year's worth of records.

Joanna told my parents about it back then.

They didn't believe her.

Then there were the recordings.

When I was a ghost drifting through the world, I saw it.

Willa had a backup thumb drive hidden in her locker at work.

Locker number: D-27.

Every single call between her and Gavin was recorded on it.

Including the part where they discussed "staging an accident three months after the wedding."

I snapped my eyes open.

"Mrs. Gable, can you hand me my phone?"

The makeup artist passed it to me.

I opened my messages and found Joanna.

"Joanna, I need a huge favor. It's an emergency. Can you talk?"

In my previous life, she would have found those hotel records in a few months.

If I had her start now, she'd find them before the cake was cut.

Back then, she was trying to get me justice.

In this life, I was still here, and she would work even faster.

I opened another chat window.

The contact name was Cody.

Cody was a tech-savvy junior I'd met in college. He worked for a media firm now.

Last year, I'd lent him five thousand dollars and told him not to worry about paying me back.

"Cody, can you remotely take over a computer? Is that possible?"

"Sure thing, Sasha. What do you need?"

"The sound booth at the Grand Regency ballroom. I have the password. I need you to cut a video onto the main screen when I give the signal."

"When?"

"Around eleven-fifteen."

"You got it."

Last message.

Recipient: The receptionist at Willa's company.

Six months ago, she was an intern at my firm. I was the one who helped her get a permanent position.

"Chloe, can you do me a favor?"

"Go to your office locker room. Area D, locker 27. See if there's a blue thumb drive inside."

"If there is, bring it to the hotel. Don't tell a soul until the wedding is over."

"Bring it as soon as I find it?"

"Yes."

I flipped the phone face down on the vanity again.

The makeup artist approached with a lipstick brush.

"Press your lips together, honey."

I obeyed.

The woman in the mirror was wearing a white gown.

Her hair was swept up, and her makeup was light.

People were laughing in the hallway. I heard heels clicking on the marble floor.

I heard my parents' voices. My mom was nagging the officiant to check the microphones one more time.

Everything was following the script of my past life.

The wedding would start at eleven.

Gavin would give his speech at eleven-零五.

We would exchange rings at eleven-ten.

In my past life, after the rings were on, he grabbed my hand in front of two hundred people.

"You're the only one I'll ever need for the rest of my life," he had said.

Everyone cheered. Willa cried the hardest.

At the time, I thought I was marrying my soulmate.

Three months later, he let go of that hand.

He pushed me down seventeen steps.

The makeup artist packed her kit. I picked up my phone.

Viewers: 126.

The comments were picking up speed.

Some said I was pretty.

Others asked what was going on.

Someone sent a digital gift of flowers.

I didn't say anything.

I just propped the phone up nearby.

The lens caught the balloons and the red carpet outside the window.

Then I stood up and walked to the glass to look down.

Gavin was by the hotel entrance talking to the officiant.

Willa was on his left, less than a foot away.

She was tilting her head, listening to him.

Their hands almost touched.

Willa looked up and saw me.

She looked down instantly, like a thief caught in the act.

I spoke softly toward the phone.

"The camera is going to stay on. If you see something on the screen later that makes you uncomfortable..."

I paused.

"Don't turn it off."

The comment section exploded.

"Wait, what??"

"Is there tea??"

"Girl, tell us everything!"

I didn't say another word.

The door opened.

My father walked in.

He was wearing the charcoal suit he'd had pressed three times just for today.

He stood in the doorway for a long time, just looking at me.

"You look just like your mother," he said.

That was all he could manage.

His eyes turned red.

He turned away and wiped his face with his sleeve.

In my past life, he had said the exact same thing.

Back then, it made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Now, those words hit my heart harder than a brick.

He thought his daughter was marrying a good man.

He didn't know what was coming.

"Dad."

"Yeah?"

"No matter what happens today," I said, straightening my skirt, "just trust me."

He frowned. "What could possibly happen?"

I didn't answer.

The number on the screen jumped again.

Viewers: 398.