Chapter 1

In my past life, I signed a contract to marry Damien Cross. Three years later, he killed me on our anniversary.

Now I'm back. And I'm looking at that same contract on the table.

The pen feels different this time. Lighter. Maybe because I'm not afraid anymore.

My stepmother Catherine stands behind my father, one hand resting on his shoulder like she owns him. She owns everything in this house. Has since she walked in when I was twelve and slowly erased every trace of my mother.

"Eliana." Dad doesn't look at me. He never looks at me when Catherine's in the room. "The Cross family needs an answer by tonight."

In my last life, I signed without reading it. I was twenty-one, desperate for my father's approval, stupid enough to think marrying well would make him finally see me. Damien was handsome, charming, the eldest son of the Cross empire. Every woman in the city wanted him.

What they didn't know was what happened behind closed doors.

He needed my mother's inheritance — the waterfront properties she left in my name. The ones Catherine had been trying to get her hands on for years. The marriage contract had a clause buried on page thirty-seven: upon marriage, all assets transfer to joint ownership.

I signed it. Damien got everything.

Then he spent three years draining me dry. My properties. My dignity. My will to live. He installed his mistress — my stepsister Harper — in the penthouse I paid for. Made me sleep in the guest room of my own home. When I finally tried to leave, he broke my wrist and told me the contract had no exit clause.

On our third anniversary, he took me to dinner. Smiled at me across the table. Poured me wine.

The poison worked fast. I died watching him check his watch, waiting for it to be over so he could get back to Harper.

Now I'm sitting in this chair again. Same contract. Same pen. Same father who won't meet my eyes.

Catherine nudges him. "Tell her, Richard. It's a wonderful opportunity."

I pick up the contract. Flip to page thirty-seven.

There it is. The clause that cost me everything.

I tear the contract in half.

The sound is so satisfying I almost laugh.

"Eliana!" Dad finally looks at me. Shock. Maybe the first real emotion I've seen from him in years.

Catherine's face goes white. "What are you doing? Do you know how long it took to negotiate—"

"I know exactly what this is." I drop the pieces on the table. "And I'm not signing."

The door opens behind me. Harper walks in, twenty years old, all golden curls and designer clothes paid for with my father's guilt money.

"What's going on?" She looks at the torn contract, then at me. Something flickers in her eyes. Fear? No. Annoyance.

"Your sister's lost her mind," Catherine snaps.

Harper tilts her head. "Eli, don't be dramatic. Damien Cross is literally the best catch in the city. You should be grateful they even want you."

I smile at her. "Then you marry him."

Dead silence.

Harper blinks. "What?"

"You heard me." I stand. "You want a Cross husband so badly? Take him. I'm sure Damien won't mind. A bride is a bride, right?"

I walk toward the door.

"Eliana, sit down!" Dad's voice cracks like a whip. "You don't get to just—"

"Actually, I do." I stop at the doorway. "Mom's properties are in my name. Not yours. Not Catherine's. Mine. And I'm done letting this family use me as currency."

I walk out.

Behind me, I hear Catherine hissing at my father. Harper's voice rising. Chaos.

Good.

In my last life, I walked out of this room a bride. This time, I walk out free.

But I know this isn't over. Damien Cross doesn't take rejection well. And Catherine needs those properties too badly to let me go.

They'll come for me.

This time, I'll be ready.