Chapter 1
My husband Jonathan Grant's assistant, Rebecca Lane, publicly accused my sister Emily Lewis of being the high school bully.
Without caring about the truth, she stripped Emily and threw her onto the balcony, leaving her to freeze to death.
But Emily had always lived abroad and never attended high school here.
When I called the police, Rebecca produced a so-called "letter of forgiveness" I'd supposedly signed, and walked away scot-free.
It wasn't until I was dying that I realized Jonathan had slipped that letter in among the contracts and had me sign everything in one go.
In the end, Jonathan handed over hundreds of thousands as hush money for Rebecca, just to sweep everything under the rug.
All I wanted was payback—an eye for an eye. I grabbed a knife and confronted Rebecca, ready to make her pay in blood.
Instead, I was knocked unconscious, sold into marriage in a remote village, and beaten to death.
With a second chance, I woke up in my new life. The first thing I did was cancel Emily's return flight home.
But to my shock, Rebecca had once again left another girl to freeze to death.
*****
"Don't worry, dear. Emily's coming back today, and I'll personally pick her up from the airport and make sure she's settled," my husband Jonathan said, his voice as smooth and assured as always.
As I heard those familiar words, a chill shot down my spine. This was my second chance in life.
In my previous life, Emily had come to the country for an academic exchange. Too busy to meet her flight, I'd asked Jonathan to go in my place.
Instead, he sent his assistant, Rebecca.
The moment Rebecca saw Emily, she snapped, accusing her of being her high school bully—the one who drove her into depression and nearly pushed her to suicide.
For punishment, Rebecca stripped Emily, dragged her to the balcony, and locked her out.
In the bitter cold, well below freezing, Emily turned into a block of ice.
By the time I found her and rushed her to the hospital, she was already gone.
The memory alone made me shudder, a cold sweat breaking out across my back.
It was a scene I could never forget, not in this life or the previous.
I opened my mouth to tell Jonathan the exchange was postponed, that no one needed to meet any flight. But the line was already dead.
Calling back yielded no answer—not from him, nor from Rebecca.
Their phones went silent in unison, a coordinated dance of unavailability that was becoming a pattern.
I quickly called Emily, urging her under no circumstances to return today.
She gave me her word and canceled her ticket. Only then did the knot in my chest loosen slightly.
While I was sorting through contracts, out of nowhere, a friend texted me.
[Natalie, something big just happened at your place. Rebecca brought home a girl from the airport—turns out she's the one who bullied Rebecca back in high school.]
[Right now, she's stripping the girl and tossing her out on the balcony, planning to really punish her.]
My mind went blank. The blood seemed to freeze in my veins.
How was this possible? Emily wasn't here. She'd promised. Who was on that balcony?
A sickening dread pooled in my stomach. Had the heavens played the same cruel trick twice?
I dropped everything and rushed home.
A crowd had gathered at the gate, all there to watch the drama unfold.
Rebecca's shrill voice sliced through the winter air from above. "How the tables have turned!
"Revenge is best served cold. When you bullied me back then, did you ever think you'd end up like this? That I'd be the one holding your life?"
Through the glass balcony door, I saw a thin figure crumpled on the floor, a dark stain spreading beneath her.
Inside, the central heating blazed. Rebecca sat poised on the sofa in a tailored pantsuit, sipping from a mug as if hosting a casual meeting.
Inside and outside felt like two completely different worlds.
Rebecca taunted, "If I don't show you who's boss today, you'll never know just how much I've changed.
"If heaven won't deal with you, then I'll do the world a favor today."
The girl on the tiles shivered violently, her skin mottled with bruises, her face hidden by a tangled curtain of hair.
Her frame looked hauntingly like Emily's.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Did Emily lie to me? Did she slip back home behind my back?
Her painful groans were hoarse, and I strained to listen, but I couldn't even tell who she was from her voice.
Rebecca rose proudly from her seat.
"Are you going to apologize or not? Let's see if you're tougher with your words or if my fists win out. Someone, hose her down."
A bodyguard turned on the tap, aiming the hose right at the girl barely hanging on out on the balcony.
In this brutal cold, naked and wet, she wouldn't last ten minutes.
It didn't matter if she was Emily or not—I had to do something. I couldn't let this nightmare happen all over again.
This was a human life at stake!
"Stop!" I yelled.