Chapter 1

The world came back in pieces.

First, a piercing white light that made me squeeze my eyes shut, even though they were already closed. Then, the sterile, chemical smell of a hospital, a scent that always made my stomach turn. A low, steady beeping sound echoed from somewhere to my left.

I tried to move, to lift a hand, but my limbs felt heavy, disconnected. A wave of dizziness washed over me.

Then I heard a voice, sharp and wailing, cutting through the fog in my head.

"Oh, my poor Jake! My son! What did that woman do to you? Look at you, all banged up like this. It should have been her in this bed, not you!"

The voice was unmistakable. It was Brenda Stone, my mother-in-law. But her words made no sense. She was calling for Jake. Why was she wailing over Jake when I was the one who was hurt?

I forced my eyes open again. The world swam into a blurry focus. I saw a hand resting on the white hospital sheet. A man' s hand. Large, with prominent knuckles and short, clean fingernails. On the ring finger was a simple, heavy gold band.

Jake' s wedding ring.

My heart slammed against my ribs. That was my hand. I was looking at my hand, but it wasn' t my hand. I willed my fingers to move, and the fingers on the bed twitched. A cold dread, colder than any fear I had ever known, seeped into my bones.

I was in Jake' s body.

Brenda' s voice continued, oblivious to my silent horror. She was talking to someone else, her tone dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

"Mark, you have to help Jake. That car accident... it didn' t go as planned. Chloe is still alive, stuck in the ICU. The doctors say she might not wake up, but what if she does? All our plans will be ruined."

I felt the air leave my lungs. Mark. Jake' s business partner. A plan. The car accident wasn' t an accident. They had tried to kill me.

I tried to speak, but the voice that came out was a low groan, rough and deep. It was Jake' s voice.

"Brenda?" I managed, the sound foreign and terrifying.

Brenda rushed to the bedside, her face a mask of concern that didn' t quite reach her hard, greedy eyes. "Jake, you' re awake! Thank God! How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?"

I ignored her questions. I had to know. "What about... Chloe?" I asked, my new voice thick. "How is she?"

Brenda' s face twisted in annoyance. "Why are you asking about her? She' s the one who caused all this trouble. She' s in a coma in the ICU. The doctors are saying it' s going to cost a fortune to keep her on life support. A fortune that we don' t have." She leaned closer, her voice dropping again. "Don' t you worry, son. Sarah is fine. She was so worried about you. She' s pregnant, you know. We need to get rid of Chloe so you can marry Sarah and give me a proper grandson."

Sarah. His assistant. Pregnant.

The words hit me one by one, each a separate blow. Betrayal. An affair. A plot to murder me for money. His family, his own mother, was in on it. They wanted me dead so he could marry his mistress.

The world tilted, and for a moment, I thought I would be sick. My mind reeled back through the years. I remembered meeting Jake in college. He was charming, ambitious, full of dreams. I was the quiet, trusting girl from a wealthy family, and I fell for him completely. My parents had been hesitant, they saw a ruthless ambition in him that I mistook for drive. But I was stubborn. I insisted.

After we married, I used my sizable dowry to fund his new company, TR Company. I believed in him. I thought we were building a future together.

Then, his family moved in. Brenda, with her constant complaints and sharp tongue. His lazy, entitled sister, Tiffany, and her spoiled, aggressive son, Liam. Our beautiful home, a wedding gift from my parents, became their playground. They treated me like a servant, criticized everything I did, and made my life a living hell. Jake always told me to be patient, to endure it for his sake. Now I knew why. He never saw me as his wife. I was just a stepping stone, a bank account to be drained and then discarded.

The grief was a physical thing, a crushing weight in my chest. It was so heavy I could barely breathe. But then, something else began to bubble up from beneath the pain. It was hot and sharp.

Rage.

A cold, clear rage that burned away the tears and the shock. They had tried to kill me. They had left me to die while they planned a new life with my money. They were hurting my daughter.

Lying in my husband' s hospital bed, inside his body, I made a vow. They wanted to ruin my life? Fine. I would ruin theirs first. I would use this body, his body, to dismantle everything he had built. I would take back what was mine and make him, and every single one of them, pay for what they did.

Justice wasn't enough. I wanted revenge.