Chapter 2

"So, Chloe," Mr. Henderson' s voice cut through my daze, pulling me back to the present. "You're the key to Oracle. The choice of collaborator is yours. Who will it be?"

He was smiling, expecting a quick, simple answer. It was the exact same question, the exact same moment that had sealed my doom.

A phantom pain shot through my chest, a memory of the final, crushing despair. My hands trembled, not from the air conditioning, but from a cold, deep-seated fear that clung to me from that other life. I could almost feel the rough hands of the security guards on my arms, the sting of tears in my eyes.

I took a shaky breath and looked at a nearby monitor. The date and time glowed in the corner. It was real. I was back. I had a chance to change everything.

My eyes found Jake Thompson in the crowd. He was standing there, confident, a predatory smile already on his lips as he watched me. He expected me to say his name. He was so sure of it, so arrogant in his belief that I was his for the taking. The same contemptible smirk he wore when he destroyed me was already there, just waiting.

I felt a cold wave of clarity wash over me. The fear was still there, but now it was forged into something hard and sharp: determination.

I would not go down that road again. I would not be his stepping stone.

I met his gaze, letting him see the ice in my eyes. I saw a flicker of confusion in his, a brief crack in his perfect facade.

Then I turned back to Mr. Henderson and spoke, my voice clear and steady, ringing through the silent room.

"I choose to work with Jake Thompson."

A ripple of surprise went through the crowd. It wasn't my choice that was surprising-everyone expected it-but the dead, emotionless way I said it. It wasn't the voice of a willing partner. It was the voice of someone setting a trap.

Mr. Henderson looked pleased, ready to move on. "Excellent. Jake, step forward. You and Chloe will make a formidable team."

But Jake didn't move. He was staring at me, his face a mask of shock and a strange, deep-seated revulsion. He looked at me as if I were a ghost he never wanted to see again.

Then, he did something I never expected. He took a step back.

"No," he said, his voice loud and firm, stunning the entire room into silence. "I refuse."

Mr. Henderson' s jaw dropped. He looked from Jake to me, utterly bewildered. He glanced at Sarah Jenkins, who was standing beside Jake, looking pale and clinging to his arm.

Jake didn' t look at the CEO. His eyes were locked on mine, filled with an accusation that made no sense in this timeline, but perfect sense to me.

"I have already committed to working on this project with my fiancée, Sarah," he announced, pulling her closer. "We will be forming our own team. I will not work with Chloe Miller."

He was offering a compromise, a way to compete. But the way he said it, the way his eyes burned with a familiar, hateful fire, told me everything I needed to know.

He remembered. Somehow, in some twisted way, Jake Thompson remembered the past life too.