Chapter 1

I was a rising architect, and I was in love with Ethan Miller. He was my charismatic colleague, the man who promised me a future.

"You're the muse sent to test me," he would say, his eyes holding mine. "And I'll make you my wife."

I believed him. I believed everything.

Then came the deadline for the waterfront project, the biggest of our careers. A critical error surfaced, a mistake that could sink the entire firm.

In the packed conference room, under the harsh fluorescent lights, Ethan stood before the board. He pointed a finger directly at me.

"Yes, it was her fault," he said, his voice clear and steady. "No one else was involved."

The words hit me. The room fell silent, and every pair of eyes turned to me. I was subjected to a harsh internal investigation. The questions were aggressive, the accusations sharp. They called me a fraud, a disgrace. Colleagues I had shared lunch with just yesterday now whispered behind their hands as I passed.

"She' s a fraud, trying to ruin Ethan' s career!"

"Disgraceful! She should be blacklisted!"

The words were stones, and they all hit their mark. The pain was unbearable. I looked for Ethan, but he was always turned away, always talking to someone else. He had changed. This was our second chance at life, a life I didn't understand, and he resented me. He resented my past success, the way I had supposedly held him back. His focus now was entirely on Sarah Jenkins, his junior assistant. He left me with nothing but his cold indifference.

I saw my former mentors in the crowd. They had guided me, praised me. Now, they joined the condemnation.

"You and Ethan ruined our firm's reputation!" one of them shouted.

"Exactly! We were on the verge of a big promotion! You destroyed everything!"

The weight of it all crushed me. I tried to see Ethan's face one last time before the world went black, but he never looked back.

I woke up on a dusty couch in a forgotten storage office. The air was stale and cold. I shivered, and a sharp pain shot through my body with every small movement. No one came. There was no medical attention, no food, no water. I suffered for days, the pain a constant, throbbing reminder of my fall.

I finally gathered enough strength to stand, to seek him out. I stumbled through the empty hallways, my hand trailing along the wall for support. I found him in the main office area. He was with Sarah.

He was tenderly wrapping a bandage around her hand. She had a small cut.

"Thank you, Ethan," Sarah said, her voice soft. "You didn't have to go all the way out just to get these supplies for me."

He just smiled and affectionately ruffled her hair. A wave of nausea washed over me. The deep ache in my heart was worse than any physical pain. I remembered our previous life. I remembered him nursing Sarah back to health after a similarly minor injury, while I was left to fend for myself. Nothing had changed.

He saw me then. His face hardened. He dragged me away, his fingers digging into my arm, pulling me into a secluded corner.

"What do you want, Olivia?" he hissed.

I pleaded for help, for a doctor, for some food.

He dismissed my words with a wave of his hand. "Sarah's injury is more pressing, Olivia. Why do you always have to compete with her? She' s delicate."

"Go back to the storage room. Don't upset her. I'll check on you in a few days. I'll bring you some pain meds."

I barely made it back to the small, dusty office before I collapsed. A high fever took hold. I waited. One day passed. Then two. Then three. I waited for Ethan, but he never came.

A kind junior colleague, someone I barely knew, found me. He brought me water and some crackers. He saved my life.

A month later, when I could finally speak without my throat constricting in pain, I called my father.

"Dad," I whispered into the phone, my voice a dry rasp. "I want to come home."