Part 1I Died Once, Now I’m Here to Make Them Pay

My husband, a titan in the field of cardiac surgery, was on the coast with the woman he’d always loved, picking up seashells.

I called him, again and again, my voice raw as I begged him to come back and save his own sister.

His voice was a blade of ice. “Ivy, how dare you curse my sister? Why don’t you just die, you venomous bitch!”

He hung up and blocked my number.

His sister, Cassie, died on the operating table.

And the entire family blamed me.

They surrounded me, their faces twisted with rage. They beat me, broke my arms and legs, and dumped me in the deep woods to die.

I screamed for help.

Someone came.

But he didn’t come to save me. He came to kill me.

He stabbed me dozens of times. My last sensation was one of pure agony and despair.

Then, I opened my eyes. I was back on the day Cassie was murdered.

* * *

“Oh my God, someone’s been stabbed! There’s a killer!”

The screams of passersby swelled around me, a rising tide of panic. The crowd of gawkers surged toward the scene, a morbid curiosity pulling them forward.

Only I remained rooted to the spot, my body trembling uncontrollably.

The searing pain of a dozen knives plunging into my flesh felt so real, a phantom echo that served as a brutal reminder:

I, Ivy Ross, had been reborn.

In my past life, I had followed that same crowd, my heart pounding with a nameless dread. The victim was my sister-in-law, Cassie, lying in a rapidly expanding pool of her own blood.

I frantically called 911, rode with her to the hospital, and paced outside the operating room. I did everything I could, but she still died.

And her family, my husband’s family, decided her death was my fault.

They circled me like wolves, their voices thick with hate.

“You evil woman, Ivy! You killed my sister!” Grayson, my husband, had roared.

“Beat her! Kill this walking curse!”

They threw punches and kicks, dragging me to the floor. They broke my bones and then left me in the wilderness for the animals to find.

I screamed for help, but the man who came wasn't a savior. He was a monster who finished the job, leaving me to die in agony.

This time, I wouldn’t get involved.

I spun around, pushing against the tide of the crowd, and walked straight to the grocery store.

When I got home with the bags, the first thing I saw was the pinched, cruel face of my mother-in-law, Brenda Pierce.

“Where the hell have you been? A simple trip for groceries takes you all damn day?”

Her eyes, small and sharp, darted to the sink piled high with dirty dishes.

“What good is a daughter-in-law like you? Are you just going to stand there like a goddamn statue? Get to the kitchen and wash those dishes! Or do you expect an old woman like me to serve you?”

I lowered my head, hiding the inferno of hatred in my eyes. My voice was as gentle as a lamb’s.

“I’m sorry, Mom. Don’t be angry. I’ll do them right now.”

The moment I stepped into the kitchen, her phone rang.

“Yeah? Who is this?” she answered, her voice dripping with annoyance.

A second later, that voice shot up, a raw shriek that could have shattered glass.

“What did you say?! My daughter is in the ER?!”

The phone clattered to the floor. It was as if all the strength had been sucked from her body.

A cold smile touched my lips, but I rushed out, my face a mask of perfect ignorance. “Mom, what is it? What happened? You’re scaring me!”

Brenda’s face was ashen. Her lips trembled as she grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin.

“Ivy! We have to go! Now! Get me to the hospital! It’s… it’s Cassie!”