Chapter 1

My husband, Ethan Mercer, and I died in a car crash on our way to the IVF clinic. We were both reborn.

By unspoken agreement, we walked past each other like strangers. He turned and threw away the flowers he had meant to give me. I casually deleted his number from my phone.

Given a second chance at life, he chose Vivian Hart, the spoiled rich girl who had always chased him, using her family’s money to buy him a fancy degree abroad. I stayed in New York to live my own life.

We didn't cross paths again until my son’s first-grade open house.

Driving a luxury car and wearing a tailored suit, he looked at me—who had just dropped off my kid in a beat-up old Ford—and sneered.

"Claire Bennett. You can actually get pregnant?"

"A man who makes you drive a piece of junk like that... is he really worth going through IVF for?"

I remained completely unfazed, my eyes drifting to the little boy holding his hand.

After all, I was the only one who knew the truth.

In our past life, I wasn't the one who was sterile.

I pulled my vintage Ford up to the school gates to drop off Leo.

The moment I parked, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd of parents.

"Oh my god, is that a Porsche 911 Turbo S? That’s a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car, minimum. That kid was born on third base."

"And the dad is dropping him off personally! Rich, handsome, and a family man. Unlike my husband, who only knows how to lounge on the couch."

"Well, obviously. How can us working stiffs compare to a CEO who drives a supercar?"

"Wait! Ethan Mercer? You're back in New York?"

I froze. It was a voice I knew intimately.

"Just went overseas to pad the resume," Ethan replied, his tone dripping with casual arrogance. "Had to come back eventually to build my empire."

I hadn't expected to hear that voice again, ten years later.

Maya Brooks, my best friend from college who now taught at this private elementary school, walked over to him.

"I teach here, what a coincidence! Your son is in first grade? You remember Claire Bennett from our graduating class, right?"

Ethan looked impatient. "Vaguely."

"Her son is in first grade too. They might even be in the same class." Maya’s eyes lit up as she spotted me. "Look! Speak of the devil—Claire’s here!"

My eyes locked with Ethan’s.

A flash of disdain crossed his face before he let out a low scoff. "Son? What, she became a stepmom?"

I had rushed out of the house this morning. I was dressed plainly and hadn't even put on makeup. In this crowd of impeccably styled private school moms, I blended right into the background. But my face was clear and bright, making me look years younger than the women around me.

I offered a polite, distant nod. "Long time no see."

Ethan gave a stiff, cold nod in return.

But the moment his eyes landed on Leo standing beside me, his pupils dilated. His gaze practically nailed itself to my son’s face.

Leo looked exactly like me.

Call it fate, but Leo and Ethan’s son ended up in the exact same homeroom.

After the open house concluded, Ethan cornered me. He looked at me with the same exact mix of disgust and superiority he’d worn in our past life.

"Claire, it’s your son’s first open house. You could have at least bought a new outfit. Kids are sensitive. Dressing like the hired help every day is going to give him an inferiority complex, understand?"

He shot a dismissive glance at Leo. "Look at him. Tsk. He doesn't even compare to a fraction of my son."

Taking a step closer, Ethan leaned in, lowering his voice to a malicious whisper.

"I have to admit, I’m surprised."

"Claire. You can actually have kids?"

"A man who makes you drive that beat-up old Ford to drop off your kid... is he really worth going through IVF for?"

I glanced at Ethan, then at the son he was so incredibly proud of.

In our past life, Ethan used to scream at me, cursing me for being a useless, barren woman.

But only I knew the truth.

I was never the one who couldn't have children.