Chapter 1

1

My childhood sweetheart got a do-over.

The first thing he did in this new life? He ignored me, bleeding out in a totaled car, and ran to my stepsister, cowering in the distance.

Last time around, Ashley, my stepsister, engineered that car crash to steal my inheritance.

I ended up a vegetable for three years.

Jake, my childhood best friend, hated her for it. He swore revenge at my bedside.

And for three years, I watched him torture her.

His favorite method? Using his body to punish her every night, all while screaming my name.

And Ashley, playing the penitent, just took it.

In the end, I died, and they kissed and made up, becoming the happy couple.

Thank freakin' God I got a second chance.

......

I blinked awake, shards of glass digging into my chest.

The memories of the crash flooded my mind.

I was back. Back to the exact moment of the wreck.

Jake, the guy I grew up with, was standing right there, witnessing the whole damn thing.

I reached out to him, voice weak, "Help me."

Jake's eyes flickered when he heard me, like he was battling something inside.

He shook my hand off, his face hard.

"I'm sorry."

Then he turned and bolted toward Ashley, who was bawling her eyes out a few feet away.

That's when it hit me. It wasn't just me who got a reset. Jake did, too.

Ashley was my parents' adopted daughter. I treated her like a real sister.

But in the last life, she tried to kill me for the money, plain and simple.

Jake went ballistic. We were supposed to get married, like, tomorrow.

He locked Ashley up, humiliated her every chance he got.

Made her his personal servant, fetching coffee, cleaning his shoes, whatever twisted thing came to his mind.

But that wasn't enough.

So, at night, he'd dress Ashley in my clothes, force her into bed, and pretend she was me.

He'd pound away at her, moaning my name like he was losing his damn mind.

And me? I was just a vegetable in a hospital bed, but I could hear everything.

For three long years, Ashley's moans echoed through the walls.

Every single night, my brain turned into a torture chamber.

Eventually, I just gave up.

When I finally kicked the bucket, I was just relieved it was over.

Then, Jake was sobbing over my dead body, screaming my name over and over.

When he realized I wasn't coming back, he went totally off the rails.

He grabbed Ashley by the hair, made her kneel next to my corpse and beg for forgiveness.

"You killed Emily! You're a murderer!"

"Why don't you just die!"

Finally, Ashley couldn't take it anymore. She jumped off the second-floor balcony while Jake was still screaming.

The second she jumped, Jake's face changed. He flew down the stairs and held her in his arms.

"Are you crazy?"

Jake shouted, but I could see the fear and regret in his eyes.

"It's the only way you'll be happy, right?"

Ashley said.

Jake's eyes got all soft and he realized that after 3 years of using her like this, he had fallen in love with Ashley.

So, in this life, Jake was listening to his heart. He was choosing her.