chapter 1

In my past life, my brother's wife pretended to be me and returned a bunch of stuff she never bought. The seller got so pissed she came to my house and killed me and my unborn baby.

Then, she burned the whole place down.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back before any of it happened.

This time, I made sure Barbara was gone before she could destroy my life.

*****

Loud knocking erupted at my front door. The sound jolted me upright on the couch, my heart racing.

I stared at my cozy living room—whole and undamaged, nothing like the charred remains I remembered.

Part of me still couldn't process that this was real. Somehow, I'd been given another chance.

Barbara Wilson, my brother's wife, shuffled out of the bedroom in her slippers, heading straight for the door.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" she called out. "What's with all the banging?"

Watching her approach the door sent ice through my veins. "Stop! Don't open it!" I shouted.

Too late. Her hand was already on the doorknob, turning it.

"Delivery for this address," announced the tall man standing on my porch.

Relief flooded through me as I pressed my hand against my racing heart. Thank God it wasn't the killer.

Barbara shot me an irritated look. "Ophelia, what are you standing there for? Don't you see all these packages on the ground?"

I pulled out my phone to check the date, and that was when it hit me. Today wasn't the day I died in my past life.

That happened on my nephew, Jake Wilson's birthday, when Barbara was supposed to take him to the amusement park.

I remembered how she'd asked me to stay home that day to sign for a delivery. So when the doorbell rang later, I'd opened it without thinking twice.

But it wasn't a delivery person waiting outside. It was some crazy woman I'd never seen before.

She had a huge machete in her hand. The second I opened the door, she charged in and started hacking away at me.

I collapsed in a pool of my own blood, staring up at her in shock.

Right before I died, I watched her pour gasoline all over my house and light the curtains on fire.

But here I was, alive again. I touched my slightly rounded belly where my baby was growing inside me.

This time, I wouldn't let any of it happen.

I helped Barbara carry the packages inside. Pretty soon, our living room was so packed with boxes we could barely walk around.

Barbara was obsessed with online shopping, especially clothes. She had enough outfits to wear something different every single day of the year.

Sometimes I wondered how one person could possibly need that many clothes, but I kept my mouth shut about it.

Barbara was humming happily while tearing open her latest package when my phone rang, cutting through my thoughts.

The caller ID showed an out-of-state number I didn't recognize. I hesitated for a second, then picked up.

"If you send back one more piece of worn clothing, I swear I'll kill you."

The voice belonged to a woman, and she was furious. Her anger practically burned through the phone.

My blood turned to ice. I knew that voice. I'd never forget it as long as I lived.

In my past life, this same woman had shown up at my door with a machete and hacked me to death.

I forced myself to stay calm and keep my voice steady. "Hey, let's just talk about this calmly."

"There's nothing to talk about! You returned clothes you'd already worn, and now I can't resell half of them. I had to eat the cost myself. I blocked your account, but then you just created a new one to keep scamming me. Are you seriously that shameless?"

She kept going, her voice getting angrier with every word.

The memory hit me all at once. I remembered this now. She'd called me in my previous life too.

Back then, I was swamped with work, so when I got those calls, I figured some seller had the wrong number. I didn't think much of it.

I never imagined she'd actually track me down and kill me.

Looking back now, this whole thing was never a mistake. Someone was behind it all along.

But when I really thought about it, I hadn't ordered any packages recently, let alone returned anything. How could any of this be my fault?

I had no choice but to explain. "Look, I have no idea what's going on here, but I promise I'll figure it out and make this right."

The seller laughed coldly. "Fine. I'll wait. Let's see what kind of explanation you come up with."

I tried to calm her down by asking for her store name. I placed an order for ten pieces of clothing right then and there, confirming the purchase on the spot.