Chapter 1

My boyfriend decided to dump toxic artificial snow in a protected wilderness area just to get the perfect shot for his dream girl.

I knew the chemicals in that fake snow would kill the rare, ancient plants there. I begged them to stop, trying to explain the danger.

But his dream girl just rolled her eyes, accusing me of being jealous of her looks. In a fit of rage, she shoved me directly into the pile of toxic chemicals.

The toxins burned my eyes, leaving me blind and stumbling. I reached out for my boyfriend, Landon, sobbing for help.

He was so afraid of upsetting her that he left me there, abandoned in the dark woods. I was torn apart by a pack of wolves, dying a slow, agonizing death.

After I was gone, they pinned the destruction of the protected trees on me. My name was dragged through the mud, and my family was harassed by an angry mob online.

Then, I opened my eyes. I was back at the moment we first arrived at the nature reserve.

Landon, who had been giving me the silent treatment, had invited me for a hike. I thought it was his way of making up with me.

But when I arrived at the summit, I realized he was only there to take photos of his crush, Jasmine. He only called me because he needed a low-paid assistant to hold the reflectors.

Landon gave Jasmine a fawning smile before roughly shoving me toward the gear. "What are you standing there for? Get to work!" he snapped.

I hit the ground hard. The sharp sting in my palms made the reality of my rebirth sink in.

My whole body trembled. The phantom pain of being torn apart by wolves still seemed to flicker in my nerves.

I lowered my gaze to hide the burning hatred in my eyes.

In my past life, Jasmine had posted on social media looking for a photographer, and Landon had jumped at the chance.

They chose a thousand-year-old Gingko tree in a protected zone as their backdrop. Landon tricked me into coming along because he needed manual labor.

He claimed Jasmine was a big-deal influencer. He said if he took the winning photo for her competition, it would save our struggling photography studio.

I hated her, but I wanted to save the business, so I agreed to stay. I didn't realize Landon had bought industrial-grade fake snow because it was cheap.

It wasn't just bad for the environment; it was lethal to humans. I tried to warn them that destroying a reserve was a federal crime.

Jasmine just scoffed, claiming I was sabotaging her because I couldn't stand her beauty. While I wasn't looking, she kicked me hard in the back.

I fell face-first into the chemical snow. It got into my eyes, and the world immediately turned into a blur of searing pain.

I begged Landon to call 911, but he told me to suck it up because he didn't want to ruin Jasmine's mood.

Jasmine complained that I had messed up the "aesthetic" of the fallen leaves, so she made Landon move the shoot elsewhere.

They left me to die, and the wolves found me shortly after.

I looked at the snow machines sitting ready to go. In my last life, I wasn't fast enough to stop them from poisoning that ancient tree. This time, I wouldn't fail.

I scrambled up, grabbed a heavy rock, and smashed the engine of the snow blower with everything I had.

"Gwen! What the hell are you doing?" Landon screamed.

"Are you insane?" Jasmine shrieked right after him.

Landon glared at me, his face twisted in anger. "I told you Jasmine is just a friend! You're so blinded by jealousy that you'd destroy my equipment?"

"Gwen, how can you be so malicious?" Jasmine added, wiping away fake tears.

She let out a dramatic sigh. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have asked for help if it was going to make Gwen this jealous. Just forget it, I'll find someone else."

Then she paused, looking at Landon with pity. "It's just a shame about your studio. I guess you'll have to find another way to keep it from going bankrupt…"

Landon's expression shifted to pure desperation. "No, don't go. You're getting your photos today, I promise."

He turned back to me, pointing a finger in my face. "Since you broke the machine, you're going to spread the snow by hand. You owe Jasmine an apology!"

"Do it, or we're through! I'm serious!" He looked smug, clearly thinking the threat of a breakup would make me crawl back to him.

"Fine. Let's break up, you prick," I said coldly.

I didn't give them a second glance. I turned and started hiking down the trail.

As I walked, I pulled out my phone and dialed the authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency. I reported a group attempting to destroy a protected habitat.

"Gwen! If you walk away now, don't you dare come crawling back!" Landon yelled after me, sounding stunned that I actually left.