chapter 1

In the city of Riverton, everyone knew the Chambers family had two stunning daughters who had been raised to marry into power.

My sister Esme Chambers and I had a match set a long time ago. She would marry into the Hendricks, and I would marry into the Juarez.

In my last life, Allan Hendricks from the Hendricks family was hit by a car and fell into a coma. He never woke up. Three months after Esme married into the Hendricks, the family went under, and my sister was left with nothing.

The Chambers had a rule at home. If a daughter married out and failed to bring the family profit, she was left to fend for herself.

I once heard my mom say that my aunt married out but failed to bring anything back to our family. In the end, she died miserably on the streets.

Esme didn't want to end up like that. She came to me, begging me to introduce her to Jake Juarez so she could become his lover.

"Erin, we grew up together, shared everything from food to clothes. It's just a man. Why can't you give him to me?"

I refused. After all the years we had grown up together, I couldn't just throw her to the wolves by pushing her toward the Juarez family.

But behind my back, she set me up. She framed me for Allan Hendricks's death, and in that life, I ended up in prison, starving to death behind bars.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back in a scene I could never forget. The familiar living room, the familiar faces.

Jake had shown up at my family's house with lavish gifts, the living room stacked high as he made his so-called proposal. He looked every bit the polished gentleman, his eyes brimming with sincerity, but behind that mask lurked nothing but darkness.

Esme had dressed to kill in a red slip dress, her makeup flawless, her smile sultry. She wasn't leaving me a shred of dignity. Clinging to Jake's arm, she rose on her toes and kissed him in front of everyone.

"Jake, marry me. I'm so much more fun than my sister."

That line stirred something twisted in Jake. What he loved most was breaking down people who seemed interesting, until there was nothing left of them.

In my last life, because I was as stiff as a board, Jake had forced all kinds of strange drugs on me.

The memory sent a chill down my spine.

I kept my eyes fixed on him, waiting for his answer.

Jake curved his lips into a smile, pulled Esme closer by the waist, and said, "Alright. We'll get married in a week."

Esme walked up to me, looking all innocent. "You're not mad, are you, Erin?"

I almost laughed out loud. This was perfect. I had no idea why, after being reborn, Esme would actually volunteer to marry Jake.

I pinched myself, and the sting told me it was real. I smiled and said, "That's great. Congratulations."

Perfect. Stay together and make each other miserable.

Esme didn't expect that reaction. She thought I was too heartbroken to fight back, so she added softly, "Erin, the Hendricks family will be yours to marry into."

I made up my mind. Marrying a man who would never wake up was still better than marrying a monster.

This time, I'd rather live as a wealthy widow, burning through money I'd never be able to use up, while I watched Esme drag herself down step by step.

My parents didn't object. To them, it didn't matter, both daughters were getting married off anyway, and the weddings would happen at the same time.

In the days that followed, Esme was busy trying on dresses and shopping for things she would need after the wedding.

I told her Jake liked women who kept things interesting, so on her wedding night she should put on more layers. The thrill was in peeling them off, one at a time.

She glared at me and warned me not to set my sights on Jake again.

I nearly laughed in her face. Advice meant nothing to someone hell-bent on her own destruction.

At least if she listened, she might make it through her wedding night with fewer scars.

As the wedding day drew closer, the Juarez family pulled out all the stops for Esme. The show was even grander than what I remembered from my past life. The motorcade of luxury cars stretched for what felt like miles.

They rolled out a red carpet from the driveway all the way into the hotel, making sure not a speck of dust touched Esme's feet.

On her hand, she wore not one but three diamond rings, each larger than the last. Around her neck hung a rare pink diamond necklace that had taken a month to cut and polish.

Esme never passed up a chance to flaunt it. She rubbed it in my face and kept flooding Instagram, as if she wanted the whole world to know.

"Erin, I'm so sorry. I don't know why Jake would give up on you to marry me. It must be all my fault."

"Erin, if you really want Jake, I'll go to him right now and call off the wedding. Please don't hate me."