Chapter 1

The last thing I remembered was the crushing weight in my chest. Nicole, my wife, who I thought was dead for ten years, stood on my lawn looking like she hadn't aged a day. Beside her was Ryan Hughes, her high school flame.

They weren't here to apologize. They were here for my son.

"He's not your son, Andrew," Nicole had said, her voice smooth and practiced. "He's ours. Biologically, he's Ryan's."

The shock hit me like a physical blow. The world tilted, my heart seized, and everything went black.

Then, I smelled lilies. The cheap, overpowering kind they use at funerals.

I opened my eyes. I was sitting in a hard wooden pew in St. Michael's church. My own church. In front of me was a closed casket. Nicole's casket.

It was the day of her funeral. Ten years ago.

My mother-in-law, Maria Todd, was sobbing beside me, her hand gripping my arm. Her younger daughter, Gabby, was on her other side, her face pale and her eyes red.

"Andrew," Maria whispered, her voice thick with grief. "I know this is too much to ask. But the baby... A.J. needs a mother. And you need help."

I remembered this conversation. In my first life, I had politely refused. I told her I could handle it on my own, that I would raise my son as a single father to honor Nicole's memory. A noble, stupid decision.

Maria took a deep breath. "Let Gabby marry you. Just on paper. To give the boy a proper home. A mother and a father."

In my first life, I was horrified by the suggestion. It felt like a betrayal of Nicole.

But I wasn't that man anymore. That man was dead, collapsed on his own front lawn from a broken heart. This man, the one sitting in the pew, was filled with a cold, hard resolve. I knew what was coming. I knew Nicole would be back in ten years to destroy me.

Not this time.

I looked at Maria, then at Gabby, who looked startled by her mother's words.

"Okay," I said, my voice steady. "I'll do it."

Maria looked relieved, tears streaming down her face. Gabby just stared at me, her expression a mix of shock and confusion.

I didn't care. The game had changed. I was given a second chance, and I was going to build a fortress around my life so strong that when Nicole came back, she would find nothing but stone. My plan had already begun.