Chapter 1

The Boston Real Estate Awards gala was suffocating. The air, thick with expensive perfume and self-congratulation, clung to the historic hotel's gilded walls.

At the center of it all stood Matthew Scott, my ex-fiancé, his arm wrapped around his very pregnant wife, my stepsister, Sabrina.

They were the golden couple, celebrated for Matthew's meteoric rise in the real estate world. A rise fueled by knowledge he shouldn't have had, knowledge from a life we had lived before.

From across the ballroom, I heard their voices, laced with faux concern, as they spoke to a reporter.

"It's been difficult," Sabrina said, her hand resting on her swollen belly. "My stepsister, Jocelyn... she had a breakdown after she and Matthew split. A very public one. In Vegas, of all places. Something about male escorts and maxed-out credit cards. Our family had no choice but to cut her off."

Matthew nodded gravely, the picture of a loyal man. "I chose true love. It was the right thing to do, but we still worry about her."

The story was a lie, of course. A lie Sabrina had crafted in our first life and perfected in this one. A lie that led to my death.

In that life, Matthew, convinced by Sabrina that my unborn child wasn't his, arranged an "accident." He wanted my inheritance. I remembered the screech of tires, the shattering glass, and then... nothing. Until I woke up, years in the past, with a second chance.

This time, I didn't fight them. I walked away from the engagement, from my family's money, from Boston. I let them have their twisted victory. I had a different life to build.

Now, I was back, but not for them. I was the lead architectural historian for the night's main honoree, the Lester Foundation. My work on their massive urban renewal project was the reason they were getting the award. I wore a simple, professional suit, dust still clinging to my shoes from a day spent at a restoration site.

They spotted me near the exit. Their faces, a mixture of shock and contempt, were a familiar sight.

"Still trying to get my attention, Jocelyn?" Matthew sneered, his voice loud enough for those nearby to hear.

"The best I can offer you is a job cleaning my construction sites. You look like you need it."

Sabrina chimed in, her voice dripping with fake pity. "My husband and I are respected figures now. You can't just show up and embarrass us. Maybe I can set you up with one of our divorced construction foremen? It's better than nothing, I suppose."

Their words were meant to sting, to humiliate me. In our first life, they would have. But now, they were just noise.