Chapter 1

My childhood sweetheart, Jace Lynch, returned from his studies abroad, but he didn't show up alone. He came back with a girl.

The girl meant everything to him.

Jace was ready to go to war for her. He defied his parents and threatened to cut ties with the family just to break off his engagement with me.

Like a fool, I tried to be the rational one, begging him not to do anything rash.

But the girl had a massive chip on her shoulder about being an orphan. She assumed we were looking down on her, so she took off in a rage and vanished from our lives.

With her gone, Jace eventually caved to his parents' pressure and married me.

Our marriage was a nightmare. He flaunted his affairs in my face, bringing random hookups home, and eventually, he got violent. The beatings got so bad that I lost our unborn child.

When I opened my eyes, the pain was gone. I'd been thrown back in time to the exact day Jace brought that girl home to declare war on his family.

This time, I chose to handle things differently.

I looked at our parents and said, "Since Jace found his true love, the engagement is obviously off. Just make sure you save me a seat at the wedding."

*****

My eyes snapped open, and the first thing I saw was the desk calendar.

Why did it say it was six years ago?

"Jace, did college fry your brain or something?" The booming voice of Jace's father, Victor Lynch, exploded in my ears.

I looked around the room to get my bearings. Every detail of the decor was exactly how the Lynch residence's living room used to look.

Victor was standing there, pointing a shaking finger right at Jace's nose while screaming his lungs out.

Jace's mother, Claire Lynch, was so angry her face had turned beet red. My parents looked just as livid, sitting on either side of me like bodyguards.

The source of all this chaos stood right in front of us: Jace and the girl he was shielding protectively behind his back, Belle Linwood.

Did I really travel back in time?

"Nova, honey, don't be upset. Victor and I will handle this. We're on your side," Claire said earnestly, squeezing my hand tight to reassure me.

Jace and I were childhood sweethearts. We'd been joined at the hip since we were in diapers.

Our parents had already cooked up a marriage deal for us before either of us was even born.

Before Jace left for college, the plan was set in stone: he would get his degree, fly back, and we would walk down the aisle.

But that plan went straight out the window the second Jace showed up with Belle.

It turned out Jace got into a bad car accident shortly after he arrived overseas.

He had met Belle Linwood right before the crash. She was from back home but was working as a waitress over there to make ends meet.

When Jace ended up in a coma, Belle was the one who stayed by his side. She nursed him back to health and became his only source of warmth in a strange country.

And just like that, the whole thing turned into a cheesy soap opera plot where the rich heir fell for the poor girl who saved him.

I caught Jace side-eyeing me.

His eyes were full of suspicion. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He was terrified I would trash-talk Belle to Claire and ruin everything.

In their version of the story, I was the villain. I was the evil, spoiled heiress trying to ruin their true love.

I took a second to sort through my memories and get a grip on my second chance at life.

Standing up, I walked over to Victor.

"Mr. Lynch, it is great news that Jace found his true love," I said, keeping my voice steady. "So let's just call off the engagement. Just make sure you save me a seat at the wedding."

*****

In my previous life, I died all alone in a freezing cold hospital room.

Jace was the one who yanked the oxygen tube out of the wall.

I only realized why Jace hated my guts right before I took my final breath.

It was all because of Belle.

"If you don't love me, why the hell did you marry me, Jace?" I demanded.

I had finally reached my breaking point with his abuse and was asking for a divorce.

"Because you're the reason Belle left," Jace spat back.

Then he bent down and clamped his hands around my throat. I kicked and clawed, struggling to get a single breath in.

With a violent shove, he slammed me against the cabinet.

So that was it. He had blamed me for Belle leaving the whole time, and he punished me for it every single day.

The ink on our marriage license hadn't even dried before the nightmare began. Less than a week in, Jace started parading other women through our front door.

He didn't just bring them over for dinner, either. He was shamelessly hooking up with them right under my nose.

The humiliation was suffocating. I slammed divorce papers on the table more times than I could count.

But Jace knew exactly how to trap me.

"Nova Bennett, if you walk away, I will destroy Bennett Group before you can even pack your bags," he had always threatened.

I bit my tongue and stayed in that nightmare just to keep my family's company from going under.

It only got worse. When he found out I was pregnant, he didn't celebrate. He beat me.

The violence was so severe that I lost the baby.

Even that tragedy was not enough to make him stop.

The last time he hurt me, he used a heavy club.

He only bothered to drive me to the ER after I started coughing up blood and passed out.

My liver had ruptured. The doctors said I needed surgery right then, or I was going to die.

Jace refused to sign the consent forms.

Later, he just yanked the oxygen tube out of the wall and finally told me why he hated me so much.

"You owe me this, Nova," he hissed. "Your damn life is the only way to pay me back."

Now that I had a second chance, I was done playing the victim.

I was going to sit back and watch them destroy themselves.