Chapter 1

Claire Ashton, my half-sister, stood in the middle of the town square, a spectacle of public shame.

Her engagement to some fleeting fancy had just been broken, very publicly, very loudly.

Tears streamed down her face, a mask of distraught innocence she wore so well.

I watched from a distance, a familiar coldness settling in my chest.

This was how it began last time too.

Soon after, Ethan Prescott, my fiancé, found me.

His handsome face was a study in practiced concern.

"Ava," he began, his voice smooth as Southern honey, "we need to talk."

We stood by the old oak in our family's garden, the one where he'd proposed.

"It's about Claire," he said, looking pained.

"She's devastated, threatening things."

"You know how fragile she is."

I knew.

I knew Claire's manipulations far better than he thought.

"Her reputation is ruined, Ava."

"The Ashtons are beside themselves."

"There's only one way to save her, to save them from complete social ruin."

I waited, my heart a block of ice.

I knew what was coming.

He took my hands, his grip surprisingly tight.

"I have to marry her, Ava."

There it was.

"It doesn't mean anything about us," he rushed to say, seeing the flicker in my eyes, mistaking it for shock, for pain.

"I love you, Ava."

"You'll always be the one I love."

"After I marry Claire, to satisfy propriety, you'll be with me."

"My true companion, my mistress."

"Nothing will change between us, I promise."

In my past life, I had screamed, I had refused.

I had called him a monster.

That refusal had led to Claire's supposed suicide attempt on my wedding day to Ethan.

It led to me being blamed, shamed, isolated.

It led to a life of relentless abuse under Ethan's roof, false accusations when I was pregnant with his child, and finally, a violent, orchestrated end.

My child, lost with me.

This time, the memory was a shield, not a wound.

This time, I knew the script.

I looked at Ethan, his earnest, lying eyes.

"Alright, Ethan," I said, my voice surprisingly calm, even to my own ears.

"If you feel you must marry Claire to save her, then we should break our engagement."

He blinked, relief washing over his face so quickly it was almost comical.

He hadn't expected it to be this easy.

"Ava, you understand," he breathed, pulling me into a hug I did not return.

"You're so understanding."

I understood perfectly.

My secret plan was already taking shape, a desperate, audacious plan to marry Captain Jack Sullivan, Ethan's known rival, a man he despised.

This was my second chance, and I wouldn't waste it.