Chapter 1

The night I am finally welcomed back into the family, a robber takes a knife to me, slicing my cheek open from mouth to ear.

Instantly, I become known as "The Smiling Ghoul."

My parents refuse to look at me, calling me a disgrace. My little brother screams in his sleep if he glimpses me without my mask.

So I hide, throwing myself into work, desperate for a shred of their love.

I single-handedly shove the family company to number one. I secure my brother a marriage to a wealthy heiress. I take my parents' meager retirement fund and multiply it tenfold.

And yet, I remain forbidden from spending a single dollar of the fortune I built.

The truth finally hits me when I see Rachel Moore, the fake heiress I met only once. She lives in a sprawling estate, and my parents and brother are there with her, laughing. It is a regular family visit.

Suddenly, it makes sense. She walks away from the showdown to look dignified, but her greed wins. She vows to keep them all to herself.

So she has my face destroyed.

In doing so, she creates a monster, guaranteeing my family never loves me.

The next time they gather for their happy family day, I set the estate on fire.

As the flames lick the sky, I march right into the blaze.

The next thing I know, my eyes snap open just as the robber lunges. With no time to think, I yank Rachel in front of my body. The blade meets her skin instead of mine.

Now, she learns exactly what it means to be "The Smiling Ghoul."

*****

The sound of the blade tearing through flesh was sickeningly clear.

I saw the robber's eyes widen in panic.

This was the man the "fake heiress," Rachel Moore, had hired.

Now, watching the knife in his own hand slice into his employer, he stumbled back, terrified.

He turned to run.

But my little brother, William Moore, charged out of the darkness and tackled him to the ground.

"What did you do?" he screamed. "Who the hell did you just hurt?"

Then, as if from nowhere, my parents were there, too.

They rushed to Rachel's side.

"Rachel, are you okay?"

"Call an ambulance! Now!"

I was shoved aside, gaping at my parents, whose faces were etched with a concern I had never seen before.

"What are you doing here?" I stammered.

Smack!

The sting on my cheek was instantaneous. My mother, Melody Moore, slapped me without warning.

Her eyes were red with fury.

"How could you use your sister as a shield? If we hadn't been passing by, what would have happened to her?"

"Passing by?"

The words caught in my throat. I stared at them, my own eyes burning.

Passing by? In my last life, there was no one. Not a single person.

I had walked for miles, my face bleeding, just to find a signal to call for help.

I had missed the golden hour for treatment. My scar became permanent.

So it was true.

My parents and my brother had known the truth all along.

Before I could say another word, the wail of an ambulance filled the air.

Melody pushed me out of the way.

"Get back! Don't block her path!"

I fell to the ground.

I watched as Rachel, clutching her face and sobbing hysterically, was gently escorted into the ambulance by my doting parents and brother. The doors slammed shut, and they were gone, leaving me on the outside.

The robber was being held by our family's driver, waiting for the police.

I let out a cold laugh.

I stood up, walked over to the car my family had just arrived in, and got behind the wheel.

Ignoring the driver's protests, I floored it and sped toward the hospital.

Just as I thought, I arrived to the sound of my parents' frantic shouting.

"Get Bella Lynn! She's the best facial surgeon in the country! There must be no scars on my daughter. Tell her the Moore family has summoned her! Get her here now!"

I was stunned into silence.

In my last life, when I was taken to the hospital, they never mentioned knowing any Bella Lynn.

I knew her by reputation, of course. She was a legend, capable of repairing the most horrific scars.

I had begged my parents to help me get an appointment with her.

"Just be grateful you're alive," they had told me. "Don't be picky about the doctor."

So, a junior resident, the only one on duty that night, had stitched me up.

His clumsy stitching crept toward my eye, crossing my old scar to form a stark "X" across my face, a jagged scar that no treatment could ever erase.

Only on my deathbed did I learn that the resident had been one of Rachel's old college friends.

I watched as Rachel was wheeled into the operating room.

I knew Bella had the skill to restore that face to perfection. Her face would heal perfectly.

I watched my parents and brother pacing the waiting room like caged animals.

A small smile touched my lips.

Everything was going according to plan.

The surgery lasted until dawn.

I woke up in the waiting room to the sound of Rachel's bloodcurdling screams.

I pushed open the door to her room.

The new stitches on her face intersected with the original wound, forming a grotesque "X."

My parents were grabbing at the doctor's coat.

"What is this? We called for Dr. Lynn!

"You were her classmate! How could you do this?"

The doctor just frowned.

"With that amount of blood loss, saving her life was the priority. Dr. Lynn would never have made it in time."

"But..."

"Will you people just shut up?" a patient in the waiting room snapped. "They saved her life, and you're still complaining? It's because of entitled people like you that no one trusts doctors anymore!"

"So you're rich! You still only get one life!" another one chimed in.

"She's alive, isn't she? Who cares what she looks like?"

My parents, fuming, reluctantly let go of the doctor.

He turned his head, and his eyes met mine.

We exchanged a look of silent understanding. He turned and walked away.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Bella.

[Thanks for your cooperation.]

A moment later, she replied with a handshake emoji.