Chapter 1

My sister crashed my wedding, tears streaming down her face. She claimed she was dying and asked my husband to spend her final days with her.

Desperate to keep him from walking out, I slit my wrist, forcing him to continue with the wedding.

Days later, my sister left behind a letter and vanished.

From that moment on, everyone hated me.

My brother dragged me through the mud online, painting me as the monster who ruined our sister’s life.

My husband froze me out, pushing me toward divorce.

My parents cut ties and disowned me publicly.

The pressure broke me. I fell into depression and died at twenty-six.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the wedding.

This time, I was done begging for love and for family. I turned and walked away.

****

"The doctor says I'm dying. Will you stay with me until the end?" my sister, Emily Cole, said.

As her words echoed in my ears, my whole body trembled.

I could not believe it. I'd come back to life, returning to the past.

This time, I watched with icy indifference as my groom, Nathan Brooks, walked straight to Emily.

He held her hand.

Nathan glanced back at me, guilt written all over his face. "I'm sorry, but I still love Emily more. I want to be by her side for her remaining days."

In my previous life, I did everything I could to stop Nathan from leaving, not wanting to become a laughingstock among our social circle. I even smashed a glass and slashed my wrist with a shard, just to keep him here.

Forced by me and his family, he had no choice but to stay.

But after the wedding, Emily left behind a letter and vanished.

That made everyone hate me, and I was tormented for years until I died.

As the painful memories came rushing back, I couldn't wait to see these two shameless cheaters and my so-called family all rot in hell.

SMACK.

Nathan's mother, Rosaline, slapped Emily hard across the face and shouted angrily, "Unbelievable! How shameless can you be? Today is my son's wedding to your sister, and you barge in here making a scene.

"And now you want to steal my son away with some cheap excuse? Are you trying to drag the Brooks' name through the mud?"

Nathan immediately stepped in front of Emily, shielding her, acting like he'd let Rosaline yell at him all she wanted, as long as Emily was safe.

Rosaline was furious, but she couldn't bring herself to hurt her precious son.

As Rosaline was about to turn her fury back on Emily, my family couldn't stay on the sidelines anymore—they all rushed over.

"Emily's not usually like this. Let's just calm down and listen to her for a second..." my mother, Naomi, said, trying to defuse the situation.

"I don't care. I don't want to hear it. Whatever her excuse is, she had no right to wreck my son's wedding. She must have a death wish," Rosaline snapped.

With that, she reached out to grab Emily.

In the chaos, someone pushed Rosaline. She lost her footing and fell onto the steps.

"Mom!" Nathan shouted.

He rushed over and helped her up.

Rosaline's forehead was covered in blood. Before she could say a word, she passed out in a fit of rage.

Nathan carried Rosaline and rushed to the hospital.

I just stood there, watching everything play out with icy indifference.

In my previous life, I was terrified that Nathan would run off with Emily, so I smashed a glass and cut my wrist to force him to stay. Only then did Rosaline take my side.

This time, I didn't do anything, and things were already heading in a different direction.

"Delphine Cole, are you deaf or blind? Can't you see the mess that's happening? How can you just stand there? Is your heart made of stone?" Naomi snapped at me.

I fired right back, "Are you crazy? Emily crashed my wedding and shoved Nathan's mom down the steps. She wrecked my whole wedding, and you're grilling me instead of her?"

Naomi was left speechless. It was the first time I'd ever talked back to her so bluntly.

My father, Melvin glared at me furiously. "How dare you talk to your mother like that? Have you no manners at all?"

I snapped back, "What do you expect? With parents like you, how could I possibly have any? The rotten root spoils the whole tree."

I rolled my eyes at him.

Oscar had been trying to comfort Emily, but when he saw me going off on everyone, he frowned and snapped, "How can you be so disrespectful to your parents?"

Memories of my previous life flooded back. Oscar had launched a wave of cyberbullying against me, making me too terrified to even step outside.

When I finally worked up the nerve to leave the house, some lunatic had loosened the bolts on my car's tires, nearly killing me in a crash.

Even when I was nearly insane, Oscar never stopped tormenting me.

He and Nathan teamed up to swap out my meds, driving me into full-blown psychosis and crippling depression.

By the time I jumped from the roof, my wrists were covered in scars.

I'd lost all grip on reality, living a life worse than death.

I retorted, "Respect? When you hooked up with that masseuse, Mom and Dad were so pissed they nearly had a stroke. Then you joined the family business and tanked it in three months. If I hadn't bailed you out, we would be penniless now."