Chapter 1 1

Consciousness didn't return like a sunrise. It was a switch, flipped in the dark. One moment, nothing. The next, the cold, sharp reality of her own breathing.

Her eyelids felt like they had been sewn shut with lead thread. She fought against the weight, a panic rising in her chest that had nothing to do with logic and everything to do with survival. This part of the act had to be convincing. She gasped, the air scraping against a throat so dry it felt lined with sandpaper.

The light was the first enemy. It was sterile, white, and blinding. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing tears to leak out the corners, hot against her cold skin.

She tried to sit up. She sent the command, then let her body follow with a believable tremor. Her muscles screamed, a deep, aching throb that lived in the marrow of her bones. The pain, at least, was real. She looked down. Her hand, pale and unfamiliar, was tethered to a machine by a clear plastic tube.

This wasn't her apartment in Queens. Her ceiling had a water stain shaped like a rabbit. This ceiling was pristine, acoustic tile. The room smelled of antiseptic and expensive flowers. Lilies. The flower of funerals. A message.

The door pushed open. A nurse in blue scrubs walked in. She didn't look at Ainsley's face. She looked at the monitor beeping rhythmically beside her head. She adjusted a dial on the IV drip with practiced indifference. Ainsley cataloged her: overworked, underpaid, unimpressed. Not a threat.

"Water," Ainsley croaked. The sound was like grinding stones.

The nurse paused, finally glancing at Ainsley. There was no warmth in her eyes. Just a clinical assessment. She poured a small cup from a pitcher and held the straw to Ainsley's lips. Ainsley drank greedily, choking slightly for effect.

"What time is it?" Ainsley asked, her voice gaining a fraction of strength. "I have a shift at the studio at four."

The nurse checked the silver watch on her wrist. "It is four-fifteen, Mrs. Eaton."

Mrs. Eaton? Ainsley opened her mouth to correct her, to tell her her name was Bentley, but the nurse continued.

"And the year is 2024."

The air left the room. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage. She let her eyes go wide, projecting the perfect mask of shattered confusion. It was 2024, just as she'd planned. But the nurse didn't need to know that.

"You're joking," Ainsley whispered.

The nurse didn't answer. She just made a note on her clipboard.

Before Ainsley could spiral further into the feigned black hole opening up in her mind, the door banged open again.

A woman stood in the doorway. She was older, dressed in a Chanel suit that probably cost more than Ainsley's entire college tuition. Her hair was a helmet of silver perfection. Her face was twisted in a sneer that made Ainsley's stomach turn. Victoria Eaton. The matriarch. Right on cue.

"So, the little actress awakens," she said, her voice sharp, cutting through the quiet hum of the machines.

Ainsley stared at her, letting her confusion appear to deepen. "Who... who are you?"

The woman laughed. It was a dry, brittle sound. "Stop it. I have no patience for your games today, of all days. That performance might work on the doctors, but not on me."

She marched over to the bed, her heels clicking on the linoleum like tiny hammers.

"Don't touch him," the woman hissed at Ainsley.

"Touch who?" Ainsley asked, her voice trembling slightly. "I don't... I don't understand."

"Now you care?" Victoria sneered. "That's a rich performance, Ainsley. Even for you."

"Who are you?" Ainsley asked again, infusing the words with a desperate plea.

She stopped. Her eyes narrowed, scanning Ainsley's face for a lie. Ainsley held her gaze, her own eyes wide and wet with manufactured tears. She was a yoga instructor from Queens. She was terrified. She was whatever she needed to be.

"I don't know who you are," Ainsley said, her voice rising. "I don't know where I am."

The woman stared at Ainsley. Then, a slow, cruel smile spread across her face.

"Oh, this is new," she said softly. "Amnesia. How wonderfully convenient."

She reached into her oversized tote bag and pulled out a folded newspaper. She threw it onto the bed. It landed heavily on Ainsley's legs.

Ainsley picked it up. Her hands were shaking.

The headline screamed in bold black letters: EATON'S SCANDALOUS COMMONER WIFE IN DUI CRASH.

Below it was a photo. It was blurry, taken at night, but the face was undeniable. It was Ainsley. But older. Harder. She was wearing a dress that was cut too low, looking disheveled and angry, being guided into a police car.

"Family Shame," Ainsley read aloud.

"Don't think you can use this accident to squeeze more money out of Carson," the woman said. "The family won't pay. Not after this."

Carson. The name felt heavy on her tongue. Foreign.

"Carson," Ainsley repeated. "My... husband?"

"Your victim," she corrected.

A doctor walked in then, followed by a flock of residents. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. The older woman stepped back, smoothing her skirt, composing herself into a mask of tragic dignity.

"Mrs. Eaton," the doctor said. "Welcome back. Can you tell me your full name?"

"Ainsley Bentley," Ainsley said.

"And your date of birth?"

Ainsley gave it.

"And your husband's name?"

Ainsley looked at the newspaper. "Carson Eaton. Apparently."

The doctor frowned and scribbled something. The woman-Victoria-let out a scoff that sounded like a gunshot.

"Oscar-worthy," she muttered.

Ainsley felt a sudden, crushing wave of loneliness. It was an exquisite piece of acting, even if she did say so herself. She was in a body that felt wrong, in a life that felt wrong, surrounded by people who hated her.

But they had underestimated her. They saw a broken gold-digger. They had no idea they were locked in here with her.

Ainsley looked out the window at the Manhattan skyline. It was different. Taller. Sharper.

She wasn't just lost. She was in position.