Chapter 1

I was fifty, lying on a cold, stained mattress. The doctor said it was over. My body was worn out, a life spent giving everything to Ethan Vance. He stood by the window, tall and successful in his expensive suit. He was talking to Chloe Harrison, the woman who lived the life meant for me. "I've always loved you, Chloe," Ethan said, his voice smooth. "Scarlett was just a means to an end." Chloe smiled, a perfect, cruel smile. My supposed brother, Marcus Thorne, stood beside her. He looked at me, no pity in his eyes. "She's dying," Marcus said to Chloe. "And you should know, Scarlett, I was never your brother, I was adopted to protect Chloe, the true Harrison in their eyes." The words hit me, but I was too weak to react. My life, a waste. My love, a lie. My family, a sham. Then, darkness.

A gasp. I sat bolt upright. My hands, they were young, smooth. Twenty-two again. The smell of cheap disinfectant, my tiny foster home room. A knock on the door. It was Marcus Thorne, looking exactly as he did all those years ago, impatient and arrogant. "Scarlett Miller? The Harrisons are ready to see you. Get your things." Behind him, Ethan hovered, a nervous energy about him. This was the day. The day I chose poverty and Ethan over my birthright. The day my misery truly began. Ethan stepped forward, his face earnest. "Scarlett, if you go with him, if you choose that rich family over us, over our future, we're through." His voice was the same, manipulative, trying to guilt me. In my past life, I cried, I begged him to understand I had no choice, then I refused Marcus. This time, I looked at Ethan, my eyes cold. "Okay, Ethan. We're through." I said it calmly. Ethan’s jaw dropped. He stared, speechless. Marcus raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his usually bored eyes. "Good," I said, turning to Marcus. "I'm ready. Let's go." I had nothing to pack from this place. I walked past Ethan, not a single glance back. He sputtered, "Scarlett! You can't be serious! After everything I've done for you?" I almost laughed. Everything he had done *to* me. Marcus smirked, a small, unpleasant expression. "It seems Miss Miller has made her choice." He opened the door of a sleek black car. I got in. The past was dead. I was alive. And I remembered everything.