chapter 1

The Ashford Group went bankrupt, and all the executives ended up in prison.

My father, loyal to old friendships, had pulled strings to save two sons from the Ashford family. But to make it work, he decided they needed to marry into our family instead of the other way around.

I got to choose first, and I picked Damien Ashford—the Ashford family heir, a financial genius who'd been confined to a wheelchair for years due to his illness.

My stepsister, Ashley Brooks, ended up marrying Julian Ashford, the illegitimate son who had severe mental health issues and a violent temper.

After we got married, I spent every penny I had finding doctors to cure Damien's legs. I did everything in my power to help him rebuild the Ashford Group from the ground up.

He made it back to the top again.

But the night before he was supposed to hold our wedding ceremony, he tied me up in an abandoned house on the outskirts of town.

"This is all your fault. You stole Ashley from me. If you'd let her choose me first, Julian never would've killed her. You ruined both of us. You're the one who should die!"

I died in that fire, wearing my wedding dress, watching the flames close in with nothing but despair.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment when my father told us to choose our husbands.

This time, I'd let Ashley choose first.

"Ashley, why don't you go ahead and pick?"

*****

The news was playing footage of all the Ashford Group executives being led into prison.

My father stood in the main hall with two young men, waiting for Ashley and me to choose which one would be her husband and mine.

One was Damien, the Ashford family heir, a financial genius trapped in a wheelchair.

The other was Julian, the illegitimate son rumored to have serious mental health problems.

The chandelier overhead kept swaying, making it hard for me to see clearly.

In my past life, I'd chosen Damien because I thought treating him well would lead to happiness. I spent a fortune hunting down the best doctors to cure his disability and did whatever it took to help him rebuild the Ashford Group.

But on the night before our wedding, he burned me alive in that abandoned house in the middle of nowhere.

The searing pain of the flames still terrified me, and the despair I felt as my body turned to ash wouldn't leave my mind.

I looked over at Damien now. He was exactly the same as he'd been in my previous life, sitting elegantly in his wheelchair, perfectly dressed and composed.

But this time, I noticed something different. His eyes were locked on my stepsister Ashley with an intensity that was impossible to miss.

Ashley's timid voice pulled me back to the present. "Eloise, you should choose first. I'm fine with either one."

Reality finally hit me.

So I really had come back. I'd been reborn to this exact day, the day Ashley manipulated me into choosing a husband.

After the entire Ashford Group got thrown in prison, my dad felt bad for the family and took a huge risk to protect the two Ashford brothers.

But to be safe, he decided they needed to marry into our family instead of the other way around. That way, their business rivals couldn't target them.

Just like my past life, Ashley put on her pitiful act. "Eloise, Damien's so tragic. He used to be so proud but now he has to rely on other people. Didn't you say you really liked him?"

I rolled my eyes internally.

What the hell? I never said anything like that.

The truth was, Ashley thought Damien was useless because he was paralyzed, but she still wanted him because he was hot.

So she put on this whole performance to make it look like I bullied her into settling for the other option.

Setting aside the fact that Damien couldn't walk, he really was talented.

I'd only picked him last time because I felt sorry for him. It broke my heart to see someone that brilliant trapped in a wheelchair.

So I'd gone along with what Ashley said and chosen him without thinking it through.

But after we got married, Damien stayed cold and distant with me.

That went on until the day Julian deliberately crashed his car with Ashley in it. When she ended up in the hospital, Damien practically crawled there just to see her one last time.

That was when I finally understood. Damien wasn't some aloof, emotionally unavailable guy who couldn't express himself.

He just didn't have any feelings for me. He'd been in love with Ashley the whole time.

He even blamed me for her death.

After he'd clawed his way back to the top, he dragged me out to the middle of nowhere and burned me alive.

His words still echoed in my head. "Eloise, didn't you say you loved me? Didn't you say you'd do anything for me? Then go ahead and die.

"Don't bother begging. I've wanted to kill you for so long. Even looking at you makes me sick.

"Ashley lost everything, and then you took me away from her too. If you'd just let her choose me first, Julian never would've killed her. You ruined both our lives. You're the one who should die!"

The fire caught my wedding dress instantly.

The flames spread so fast they swallowed me whole. My burned clothes melted into my skin and I begged Damien to save me, but it didn't matter.

His heart was too cold.

I remembered every second of that agony. So now that I had another chance, I wasn't going to make the same mistakes.

This time, I didn't play along with Ashley's script.

I waved my hand dismissively. "Where'd you even hear that rumor about me liking Damien? I just respect his business skills. There's nothing romantic about it.

"Besides, Damien's been staring at you since he walked in. It's pretty obvious he likes you better."

"Besides," I added, "you're my little sister. I should let you go first."

When I said that, Damien's gaze snapped away from Ashley and landed on me instead. He was frowning now, and his eyes had gone dark and cold.

I knew that look. It was the exact same expression he'd worn right before he killed me.

That was when it clicked. Damien had been reborn too.