Chapter 1

Ethan Miller woke up to the sterile silence of his master bedroom. The digital clock on the bedside table glowed a soft red: 2:00 AM. He stared at the ceiling for a long moment, his mind a quiet, empty space. This wasn' t a dream. He was 27 years old again. He remembered the screech of tires, the crushing impact, and then... this. Waking up in a life that everyone else called a fairytale.

He sat up and looked around the room. It was vast and cold, decorated with the kind of expensive minimalism that looked good in magazines but offered no comfort. On his wife' s side of the king-sized bed, the sheets were undisturbed. Olivia was probably still at the office, even at this hour. She was Olivia Hayes, the tech mogul, a name that carried weight in every corner of the globe.

His gaze fell on the silver-framed photo on his nightstand. It showed a smiling family: him, Olivia, and their two children, Noah and Chloe. To the outside world, he was Ethan Miller, the respected architect who had married a billionaire. He was the luckiest man alive. But looking at the photo, Ethan felt a deep, chilling emptiness. He saw a stranger with a forced smile standing next to a woman who was never really there and two children whose affection he had lost long ago.

He remembered the life he had just escaped. Years of being a shadow in his own home, his efforts ignored, his presence taken for granted. He remembered how his children' s eyes lit up not for him, but for another man. Liam Thorne. Olivia' s childhood sweetheart.

A cold resolve settled over him. He would not live that life again.

He swung his legs out of bed, the plush carpet doing nothing to warm his cold feet. He walked over to the sleek, built-in desk, turned on the computer, and found the file he was looking for. Divorce_Agreement.pdf. He printed two copies, the quiet hum of the printer the only sound in the massive house.

He didn't call Olivia. He didn't leave a note. He picked up his phone and scrolled through the contacts until he found the name that had haunted his previous life.

Liam Thorne.

He dialed the number. Liam picked up on the third ring, his voice thick with sleep. "Who is this?"

"It's Ethan Miller," Ethan said, his own voice steady and devoid of emotion.

There was a pause on the other end, then a confused, "Ethan? Do you know what time it is? Is Olivia okay?"

"Olivia is fine," Ethan said. "I'm calling about something else. I have divorce papers here. I' m ready to sign them. I want to give you everything. Olivia, the children, this house. It's all yours."

The silence on the line was profound. Liam was clearly stunned. "What are you talking about? Is this a joke?"

"I've never been more serious," Ethan replied. "You love her. She loves you. The children adore you. Everyone knows it. I' m just tired of getting in the way. I'm stepping aside."

"You' re just... giving up?" Liam' s voice shifted from confusion to a cautious, rising excitement. He was trying to find the catch.

"I' m not giving up. I'm escaping," Ethan said. He thought of his children' s last birthday party. Noah had run straight past him to leap into Liam' s arms. Chloe had presented Liam with the first piece of cake, a piece Ethan had cut. He had stood there, invisible, holding the knife.

"I' ll have my lawyer send the papers to you in the morning," Ethan continued. "You'll have everything you've ever wanted."

He hung up before Liam could respond, the finality of the click echoing in the silent room. He looked at the family photo one last time, then picked it up and placed it face down on the table. This time, he would walk away before he was completely destroyed.