Chapter 1

My first life ended with David.

He was a construction worker, strong hands.

Those hands weren't always gentle.

He hit me. He took my money.

Chloe, our daughter, saw it all.

Her eyes were old before she was ten.

That life was a dark room with no windows.

Then Chloe came back.

A miracle, a ghost from a future I hadn't lived in right.

She told me, "Mom, don't marry David. Marry Mark."

Mark. The musician from high school. The one with the easy smile.

I listened. I married Mark.

Chloe vanished then, thinking her job was done.

Years passed. Mark got his music career, a small record deal.

He used my father, Pastor Thompson, his good name in our town.

Then the truth.

Mark had a son with Jessica, his old girlfriend.

He'd been sending them our money. Our savings. Gone.

My heart gave out. A doctor said, "Stress-induced."

I died in a hospital bed, alone and broke.

Now, I was awake.

My eyes snapped open.

The cheap paneling of the community hall's back room.

My wedding dress, white and hopeful, hung on the door.

Mark's wedding. Tomorrow.

Panic seized me, cold and sharp.

"No. Not again."

A small hand touched mine.

Chloe.

She looked solid, real, about twelve years old.

Her eyes, those same old eyes, pleaded with me.

"Mom, you have to. You have to marry Mark. Please."

Her voice was thin, scared.

"It's the only way to avoid David. You can't marry David."

I stared at her, my daughter, my ghost, my guide.

This was real. Another chance.

But Chloe didn't know.

Mark was poisoned, too, just a different kind.

My resolve hardened.

This time, I would save us both.

No more Davids. No more Marks.

This life would be mine.