Chapter 1

My husband, Keith Harris, told me he'd committed a hit-and-run in his youth.

He said he wanted to do the right thing and turn himself in. He asked me to wait for him.

So I did. I waited 20 long years.

All that time, I went to the victim's family every month. I apologized and gave them money.

But 20 years later, I saw my husband at the victim's place. He was supposed to be in prison.

Then it hit me. He never went to the police. The "victim's widow" was his lover all along.

Then I woke up—back 20 years in the past, the day he said he would surrender.

This time, as he told me he was "going to confess," I collected every bit of proof and drove him to the police station myself.

He wanted to play the criminal? Now he'd get to be one—for life.

*****

"Liv, I have to tell you something. We've been married so long, and there's something I've been hiding from you. I can't keep this inside any longer," Keith said.

I woke up to those words, the same ones I remembered from before.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Keith looking at me, his face full of guilt.

My heart skipped a beat. I glanced around and realized I was back in our home from 20 years ago.

I had really gone back in time. This was the day, in my previous life, when Keith lied about being a wanted man and tricked me.

Just looking at his fake face made me want to puke.

He was bawling his eyes out, clutching his head, as if he were the victim.

He choked out. "Liv, I did something terrible. Back when I was young and reckless, I hit a guy with my car. He didn't make it, and now his wife and kid are barely scraping by. I want to make things right."

With tears streaming down his face, he squeezed my hand and gave me that desperate look. "Liv, you'll stay with me through this, right?"

I glanced over at the dining table. My son Samuel Harris and my mother-in-law Patricia Harris were sitting there, without a hint of panic on their faces.

I almost burst out laughing.

So they were all in on it, just keeping me in the dark. What a joke.

In my previous life, just to help Keith make amends, I'd swallow my pride and go groveling at the victim's place every time a holiday rolled around.

We were barely making enough to raise Samuel, but I still had to pinch pennies just to buy them holiday gifts. Meanwhile, I was living off dry bread and pasta myself.

It wasn't until I was on my deathbed that I realized that the person Keith made me apologize to was actually his lover all along.

Turns out, the whole "widow and orphan" story was fake. The kid was actually his secret love child.

Whenever I remembered how I busted my ass for Keith, thinking I was some kind of saint, while they were mocking me behind the screen, treating me like a total idiot, I just saw red.

Just then, Patricia clutched her chest, smacked her leg for effect, and wailed dramatically.

She cried, "Such shame on our family! Our family has kept a clean reputation. How did we end up with a troublemaker like you? You even got someone killed. Come on, I'm taking you to turn yourself in right now."

With that, she grabbed Keith and started dragging him toward the door.

I was startled, but I quickly put on my best heartbroken act.

I said to her, "Patricia, even if Keith did something wrong, he's still your son. Let me take him instead. I have a friend who's a lawyer. Maybe they can help reduce his sentence."

Not that I actually had a lawyer friend. I was just feeling them out.

Both Keith and Patricia blurted out, "No way!" in perfect sync.

They shot me down before I could even finish my sentence.

Patricia fumbled for an excuse, her face a little stiff. "Didn't you say your stomach was bothering you today? We'll take care of it. You should stay home and rest."

I pressed her further. "Patricia, tell me the truth, did Keith actually do anything wrong, or is this all just an act to fool me?"

Her expression changed in a flash, and she angrily accused me, "Liv, are you just looking for an excuse to abandon Keith? How could you say that?"

Keith acted all hurt, saying, "Liv, I know raising Sam by yourself isn't easy. How could I ever lie to you about something this serious?"

He paused, his jaw clenched, as if struggling to get the words out.

He said, "Liv, once I'm gone, you should move on and remarry if you want. Sam can stay with my mom. I don't want you to be stuck with all this mess. You're still young. You deserve a much better life. The divorce papers are already on the table."

Samuel sobbed, "Dad... please don't leave me."

Then he really turned on the waterworks, grabbing Keith's leg and crying like his whole world was ending.

Keith wore this solemn, heroic look, like he was marching to his doom.

If I hadn't been duped so badly by them, I'd honestly give them a standing ovation. They really deserved an Oscar for this performance.

I nodded, whipped out my phone, and acted like I was about to call the cops. "Alright then, I'll just call the police and have them pick Keith up directly. Saves Patricia the trouble." The moment Keith heard that, his face went sheet-white, frantically signaling Patricia for help.

Patricia flinched, then hurried to say, "Liv, you've got a point. Why don't you stay home and rest? I'll go with Keith to apologize. It's really our fault anyway."

I could tell they were just trying to keep me out of the way.

I played along, putting on my best worried face as I headed into the bedroom.

Once inside, I quickly checked my bank account balance.

Thank God, our savings of 100,000 dollars were still sitting there.

Just in case Keith tried to drain it behind my back, I moved it to a new card right away.