Chapter 1

I woke up to the familiar sound of the private jet landing. From my bedroom window, I could see the sleek, white fuselage of the Thompson family's Gulfstream gliding onto the private airstrip behind our estate. They were back. My parents, my brother, and the girl who would destroy my life for a second time.

This time, I would be ready.

My name is Ava Thompson. In my first life, I was the brilliant but unwanted daughter of tech moguls David and Catherine Thompson. They saw my quiet nature and obsession with code as a defect. They wanted a socialite, not a programmer. When they returned from their year-long sabbatical with Maya, a charming, perfect girl they had adopted, I was ecstatic. I thought I would finally have a sister, a friend.

Instead, she took everything.

I remember it all. The whispers she planted in their minds. The growing coldness in their eyes. The way they looked at me with disgust while they praised her every move. I remember them signing away the company secrets to her. I remember them leaving me to rot in a mental institution after she framed me for corporate espionage. I remember dying alone, my heart full of a hatred so cold it froze my last breath.

Then, I woke up. A year in the past, on the exact day they were due to return. A second chance. A chance for revenge.

I walked downstairs. The front door opened, and my family walked in, laughing. My father, David, tall and imposing. My mother, Catherine, elegant and cold. My brother, Ethan, the golden boy, popular and thoughtless.

And between them, holding their hands, was Maya.

She looked exactly as I remembered. Big, innocent eyes, a sweet smile, and an aura of vulnerability that made people want to protect her.

"Ava," my mother said, her voice holding a slight edge of disapproval. "You could have at least come to the door to greet us. This is Maya. She's part of the family now."

I looked at Maya. She smiled at me, a perfect, welcoming smile. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Ava. I've heard so much about you."

Then, I heard it. A voice that wasn't spoken aloud, but that echoed directly inside my head. It was clear and sharp, like a shard of glass.

So this is the weirdo daughter. She looks even more pathetic than they described. Spoiled, ungrateful. It will be so easy to make them hate her.

It was Maya's true voice. Her mind-projection ability. The weapon she used to turn them all against me. But this time, something was different. In my first life, I only felt the effects of her power-the confusion, the sudden shifts in my family's moods. Now, I could hear the thoughts themselves. I was a receiver for her broadcasted poison.

My family was already reacting. My father's smile tightened. "Ava, don't just stand there staring. Say hello to your new sister." His tone was impatient, just as Maya' s thought had intended.

Ethan slung an arm around Maya's shoulders. "Don't mind her, Maya. She's always been a little... off."

In my first life, I would have been flustered. I would have stammered an apology, desperate for their approval, confused by their sudden hostility.

This time, I felt nothing but a cold, hard calm.

I looked past them, my eyes landing on the stack of mail on the console table. "The quarterly server maintenance reports are in from the London office. Dad, you'll want to review the security patch failures before the market opens tomorrow."

My father blinked, thrown off. "What? Now? We just got home."

"The market doesn't care if you just got home," I said, my voice flat. "A vulnerability is a vulnerability."

Maya's inner voice flared with annoyance. She's changing the subject? How dare she ignore me? I need to get them back on track.

Then, she projected a feeling of deep sadness and insecurity toward my parents. I felt the wave of it wash over them. My mother's face softened, but with pity for Maya, not me.

"Ava, that was incredibly rude," my mother said, her voice sharp. "Can't you see you've hurt Maya's feelings? She was so excited to meet you, and you greet her with work talk and a cold shoulder."

Maya looked down, her lip trembling slightly. "It's okay," she whispered, her voice a fragile little thing. "I'm sure Ava didn't mean it. I'm just new here. I'm probably in the way."

That's right. Pity me. See her as the monster, her real voice hissed in my mind.

Ethan glared at me. "Yeah, way to go, Ava. You made her cry on her first day."

I didn't even look at Maya. I just looked at my family, at their faces so full of misguided concern for a viper. The last embers of love I might have held for them died out, leaving nothing but ash. It was a relief.

"I'm not interested in this drama," I said, turning to walk up the stairs. "I have work to do."

"Ava, you get back here!" my father bellowed.

I paused on the landing and looked down at him. "Why?" I asked, a genuine question. "So you can lecture me based on feelings a stranger is projecting into your head? You're all successful tech entrepreneurs. You, of all people, should know better than to trust unfiltered data streams."

They stared at me, dumbfounded. My words made no sense to them, but the cold logic in my tone stopped them cold. They had no idea what I was talking about, but it sounded clinical, detached. It sounded like the Ava they knew, the emotionless programmer, but with a new, sharp edge they couldn't comprehend.

I didn't wait for a response. I went to my room, closed the door, and locked it. The battle had begun. But this time, I knew the enemy's code.