Introduction

The air still reeked of scorched metal and something sickly sweet, even as I stood on the gantry, watching the heat waves rise from the test pit below. My husband, Liam, stood beside me, his face impassive as he held out a pen.

"Sign the papers, Ava," he demanded, his voice flat.

Suspended beneath us, held by a massive industrial claw, were my parents-pale, terrified, and renowned NASA scientists. Liam' s new mistress, Scarlett, was pregnant, and he needed a "real home" for his new family.

I had laughed, a raw, broken sound, when he told me, then confronted him, only for him to offer divorce papers and a blank check.

"Take it. It' s more than you deserve," he' d said.

My refusal led to broken legs, a vicious smear campaign, and then, he took my parents.

Now, he offered the pen again: "Sign. Or they' re gone."

My parents' eyes screamed, though their mouths were taped. My father shook his head, a desperate plea for me not to comply.

But I couldn' t let them die. My own life was already over.

"I' ll sign," I whispered, tasting ash. "Just let them go."

Liam nodded to the operator, but the claw didn' t rise. It opened.

My parents fell, their screams swallowed by an inferno. The stench of burning flesh hit me, and I vomited.

Liam watched, his eyes empty.

The world dissolved into grief and fire. There was nothing left. I turned, and with a final look at the man I once loved, I threw myself into the flames.

And then I woke up.

My legs were whole. The date on my phone was yesterday. It wasn' t a dream. It was a second chance.