Chapter 2

My breath hitched. This was it. The pivotal moment.

Tiffany Evans. In my first life, I remembered her as a shadow, clinging to the edges of our family's brightness. Her envy was a subtle poison, seeping into everything. She came from a rough background, always hinting at chaos at home, always needing something.

I' d pitied her. That pity had cost us everything.

She' d played the victim, spun her lies, and David, kind-hearted David, became her prey. The accusation of sexual assault was a bomb that detonated our lives.

His D1 scholarship vanished overnight. His reputation in our small suburban town was destroyed. Expulsion followed. The depression that consumed him was a dark tide, pulling him under until that final, fatal race.

Mom and Dad couldn't bear it. The stress, the grief, it was too much.

And me? My rage had been a fire, consuming me until I confronted Tiffany, a confrontation that ended both our lives.

Now, looking around my familiar bedroom, the posters on the wall, the scent of my mom' s laundry detergent on my sheets, it was all too real.

A second chance.

The thought was a shock, a jolt of adrenaline.

No pity this time. No mistakes.

I knew Tiffany. I knew her game.

And I knew Mark Jenkins, David's supposed best friend. His jealousy over David' s football success, his scholarship, and the attention from Jessica, the head cheerleader Mark craved, had made him Tiffany's willing accomplice.

The betrayal still stung, a fresh wound even in this new timeline.

This time, I wouldn't be a pawn. I would be the player.