Chapter 1

The memories hit me like a physical blow. Fifteen years in a concrete box, the rough feel of a prison uniform, the taste of stale bread. Then, the blinding Hamptons sun, the sight of Jenny-my dead wife-laughing in a car I paid for, next to a man who was supposed to be her childhood friend, Ryan. And their son, a boy who looked nothing like me but exactly like him. The final memory was the sharp, brutal pain in a New Jersey alley, the smell of garbage and my own blood, as their hired thugs finished the job. It wasn't a dream. It was my life. A life that just ended.

But I wasn't dead.

The leather of my office chair was smooth against my back. The view from my 50th-floor window was the same panoramic sweep of Manhattan I saw every day. The air conditioning hummed, a familiar, expensive sound. My suit was perfectly tailored, my hands clean, my mind sharp. I was Andrew Scott, rising star at a top Wall Street firm, not Andrew Scott, ex-con number 734.

Then my intercom buzzed. It was my assistant, her voice tight with panic.

"Mr. Scott, it's Ryan Clark on the line for you. He sounds hysterical. He says it's about Jenny... there's been an accident."

The words were a hammer blow to my chest, the exact same words that had started my downfall. The "last-minute adventurous hike" in the Catskills. The fall. The fake concern. The whole damn play was starting all over again.

In my first life, I dropped everything. I sprinted out of this office, my heart pounding with terror for the woman I loved and our unborn child. I used every ounce of my power and connections to save her, only to have her and her conspirators use that love to destroy me.

This time, my heart was pounding not with fear, but with a cold, hard rage.

"Tell him I'm in a critical deposition, Sarah. Tell him I can't be disturbed for at least an hour. Get the details and tell him I'll call him back when I'm free."

"But Mr. Scott... he said it's an emergency."

"And I'm telling you this deposition is worth nine figures to the firm. Handle it." I cut the connection before she could argue.

My hands were steady. My breathing was even. They had played their game, and I had lost everything. Now, it's my turn to play. And I already know all their moves.

Jenny, Ryan. You wanted my money so badly you'd ruin my life for it. You took fifteen years from me. You took my name. You took my life.

This time, I'll give you exactly what you deserve. You'll get your tragedy. And I will get my justice.