Introduction

The last thing I remembered was the cold hospital room and the flatlining heart monitor. My wife, Ava, wasn't there; she was too busy arranging my adopted brother Ben's funeral.

My own birthday had been my death sentence. Mr. Chen, a rival, lunged at me with a knife. Ava, my bodyguard and fiancée, threw herself in front of Ben, not me.

The blade severed my spinal cord. I spent a decade paralyzed, yet I married her, giving her everything-my fortune, my name, my pathetic love. She never let me touch her.

Only after her death did I learn the truth: love letters addressed to Ben, bank statements showing her funneling my money to him. Her last diary entry: "Ben is everything. I will protect him with my life, just like I did on that day."

The monitor went silent. My world turned black. Then, a voice: "Ethan, it's time to decide."

My eyes snapped open. I was in the Miller estate, on my 25th birthday, the day I chose my wife. Ava stood there, cool and distant, an ice queen I had spent a lifetime trying to melt. A jolt of pure, undiluted hatred coursed through me.

"I've made my decision," I said, voice steady. I looked past Ava, past her confident smirk, and my eyes landed on Chloe Davis. In my past life, she was the only one who visited me.

"My choice," I announced, ringing with finality, "is not Ava Lewis."