Chapter 1

I died at eighty-nine.

A long time to live, most would say.

For me, it was decades too long spent as a prisoner in my own body.

The car accident, they said. Paralyzed. A vegetable.

That' s what Mark, my husband, told everyone.

He collected a huge disability settlement, enough for a lifetime.

His lifetime, not mine.

I was conscious, aware of every single day, every whispered conversation, every stolen dollar.

They, Mark, his kids Jessica and Kevin, his ex-wife Brenda, they all thought I was gone, just a shell to keep alive for the money.

They lived off me.

Mark even faked a marriage certificate from a state with different laws to control everything.

His cousin, a doctor, helped. Said I was infertile too, another lie to keep me tied to Mark, to make me feel worthless.

He probably exaggerated my paralysis prognosis for a bigger payout.

I watched them, year after year, from my bed.

Jessica became a healthcare administrator, not to care for me, but to manage the "asset," ensuring my "care" was just enough. Just enough to keep the money flowing.

Kevin, lazy and bitter, always blaming me for his mother Brenda leaving Mark, even though Brenda was right there, enjoying my money with them.

They were a pack of hyenas, and I was the endless meal.

Then, darkness.

And then, light.

Noise. Music. Laughter.

I blinked.

My hands. I could feel them. I moved my fingers.

I sat up.

No, this wasn't right. I was in a garden, at a party.

Young faces.

Jessica.

She was yelling, red-faced, a teenager again.

"It's always about what you want, Sarah! My money, my college, my life!"

It was her high school graduation party. The first time around, this outburst had confused me, hurt me.

Now, I knew.

I was back. Younger, whole, with every memory of the hell they put me through.

And the sweet, sweet knowledge of how their greed eventually destroyed them.