Chapter 1

At sixty, my son and husband snatched my retirement fund. They framed me as mentally unstable and forced me into a psychiatric ward.

My son looked at me with cold eyes. He said, "Don't blame me for being heartless, Mom. Dad doesn't have much time left, and I have to help him fulfill his dream of being with his first love."

My husband sneered, "I'm finally free of you. I've waited forty years for this day."

After they left, I suffered a total mental breakdown. I died in that cold, sterile room less than a year later.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back. I had returned to the month before I married that man.

This time, I will strangle every mistake of my past life in its cradle.

1.

I was working in the dusty cornfields of Oak Creek when I was reborn. The local radio transmitter was broadcasting Zephyr Thorne's voice across the town.

"Dear neighbors, I have a wonderful announcement to share today," he said, his voice crackling over the speakers.

"Congratulations to Gwenyth Gale for being accepted into Columbia University!"

"She is the first student from our town to ever make it to an Ivy League school!"

He sounded so emotional that he started clapping right into the microphone.

He was the town's radio announcer and my fiancé.

We were scheduled to get married in exactly one month.

In my previous life, he was the cold-blooded monster who destroyed me. He was the one who signed the papers to lock me away.

"My god, Gwenyth actually made it? That's incredible," a neighbor said, leaning on her shovel next to me.

"It really is. She's going to New York City. But her family is broke, how will she afford it?"

"She's Zephyr's little sweetheart. You know he'll pay for every single cent of her tuition!"

Gwenyth was Zephyr's first love. They had been together before his family forced him to get engaged to me because of my family's connections.

"Look at Jolene's face. She looks miserable," another farmer whispered, glancing at me.

"Poor girl. I heard she got into a great school last year too, but Zephyr burned her acceptance letter just to keep her working on the ranch."

"That's the difference. Zephyr will fund his mistress's dreams, but he'll bury his fiancée's future."

It was true. This time last year, I had my own ticket out of here.

But Zephyr wouldn't let me go. He told me, "Why does a woman need so much schooling? You should stay home and help with the harvest."

"Besides, if you leave, what am I supposed to do alone?"

Back then, I was naive. I thought he stayed because he couldn't bear to be apart from me.

So, I stayed behind for him.

It wasn't until I was an old woman that I heard him brag to our son. He said, "I never wanted her to have a better life. I kept her as a peasant on purpose. It was hilarious!"

I snapped out of the memory and gripped my hoe. I walked away from the field without a word.

Behind me, Zephyr was still gushing over the radio. "Gwenyth comes from a poor background. I've decided to personally sponsor her entire college career."

His family was the wealthiest in the area. Between that and his radio job, he had plenty of cash.

I bypassed the fields and went straight to the local post office. I claimed a piece of mail that belonged to me.

It was an acceptance letter from Harvard University.

In my previous life, I had been so desperate for a future that I secretly retook the SATs.

But back then, Zephyr found out. He tore the letter into pieces right in front of me.

He refused to let me leave his sight.

In those days, a degree from a top school was a guaranteed ticket to a wealthy life.

Gwenyth used her degree to build a life in Boston and became a millionaire.

Later, Zephyr would insult me, saying, "You're just a filthy peasant. You don't deserve to stand anywhere near Gwen!"

Since he loves Gwenyth so much, and she loves him...

In this life, I'm going to make sure they end up exactly where they belong.