Introduction

The antiseptic smell was the last thing I remembered.

In my "other" life, the one that ended in blood and despair, I died from late-stage cancer in an unpaid hospital bed.

My parents, Sarah and Robert, cried. They held my hand, promising to take care of everything, just as they had for years while I diligently sent them money for my health insurance.

But they lied. The money was gone, squandered on a secret life.

My father finally broke, confessing they' d adopted a son, Liam, channeling all my money to him, building a new family on the foundation of my slow death.

The betrayal shattered something inside me. The weight of the kitchen knife, my mother' s scream, then nothing.

Until I blinked.

Sunlight streamed through my bedroom window. My husband, David, slept beside me. My body felt healthy, a full year before Dr. Evans' death sentence.

A terrifying, undeserved second chance.

I remembered the insurance renewal notice I' d ignored yesterday because I trusted them. This time, I wouldn't.

When I called my mother, her usual syrupy sweetness faltered. "Oh... perfectly fine if you handle that yourself," she said, before asking for another twenty thousand dollars for renovations.

I gave it to them, a ticket to the truth.

Then came the photo: a blurry, half-demolished kitchen, and in the corner, a bright blue, brand-new plastic dinosaur. Liam already existed.

The confusion lifted, replaced by a cold, sharp purpose. The hunt had begun.