Chapter 2

I needed to talk to my parents.

Marcus and Eleanor Harrison.

In my first life, they were devastated.

Ethan had ruined them, taken Harrison Mills, after I died.

This time, I wouldn't let that happen.

I called my mother.

"Mom," I said, my voice trembling a little. "I need to see you. Both of you. It's urgent."

She heard the fear in my voice.

"Ava, darling, what's wrong?"

"I can't explain over the phone. Can you come to the penthouse? Or I can come to you."

"We'll come to you, sweetheart. We'll be there in an hour."

They arrived looking worried.

I told them everything.

Not about the rebirth. They would think I was crazy.

But about Ethan. His coldness. His affairs. His plan to use my trust fund.

I told them I believed he wanted to control Harrison Mills, to absorb it completely.

And that I wanted a divorce.

My mother cried. My father' s face was grim.

"We knew he was ambitious, Ava," Dad said. "But this..."

"He's using you," Mom whispered, holding my hand. "And us."

"I want out, Mom, Dad," I said. "I need to leave him. But I need your help. I need to protect what's ours. Harrison Mills."

"Of course, darling," Dad said immediately. "Your happiness, your safety, that's all that matters. We'll figure out the company."

"We'll downsize if we have to," Mom added. "We'll fight him."

Relief washed over me. They believed me. They would help me.

This time, things would be different.

A week later, it was our wedding anniversary.

Five years.

In my first life, on this day, Ethan had forgotten.

Then, when I reminded him, he' d given me a necklace.

A beautiful diamond necklace.

Which I later found out he had bought for Chloe. She hadn't liked it, so he gave it to me.

Recycled. Like I was.

This time, I said nothing about the anniversary.

He didn't remember. Of course.

He came home late. Chloe's scent was faint on his suit.

He barely spoke to me.

The next morning, he left early.

I knew he was meeting Chloe for a "business breakfast."

The irony didn't escape me.

I started clearing out my things.

Slowly. Quietly.

Things he had given me. Jewelry. Clothes.

Each item felt like a weight.

I found a small, locked box in the back of his closet.

I knew the combination. His birth year.

Inside, there were no business documents.

There were pictures of Chloe.

Smiling. Laughing. Looking at him with adoration.

There were dried flowers. A cheap cinema ticket stub. A silly keychain.

Mementos.

Things he kept hidden.

Things that showed how much he cared for her.

He had never kept anything of mine like this.

A sharp pain went through me.

Not for the loss of his love. I knew that was long gone.

But for the fool I had been. For so long.

He came home unexpectedly that afternoon.

He found me in his closet, the open box in my hands.

His face turned dark.

"What are you doing?" he snarled. "Snooping through my things?"

"These are for Chloe, aren't they?" I asked. My voice was flat.

He snatched the box from me.

"It's none of your business," he said, his voice dangerously low.

"After five years of marriage, Ethan, I think it is."

He grabbed my arm. Hard. His fingers dug into my skin.

"You will not question me, Ava."

His eyes were cold. Like ice.

Pain shot up my arm.

I pulled away from him.

"Don't touch me," I said.

That night, I took the few things I truly valued – my grandmother' s pearls, some old family photos.

The rest of his gifts, the jewelry, the expensive trinkets?

I gathered them all.

And in the cold fireplace of my sitting room, I burned them.

The diamonds didn't burn, but they blackened in the flames.

It felt good.

A cleansing.