Betrayal Buried the Wrong Woman

My mother-in-law, Teresa Hawke, said she was trapped inside her burning villa.

I called my husband, Asher Jensen, begging him to save her. But he was too busy at some bar, flirting with his childhood sweetheart, Melanie Lanner.

It wasn't until I begged him, over and over, that he finally went to save Teresa. But Melanie was snatched from that same bar, tortured, killed, and dumped.

He acted like none of it mattered until I got pregnant. Then out of nowhere, he threw it all back on me, saying it was my fault.

Asher pulled every string he could to bankrupt my family, driving Mom and Dad to leap to their deaths. Then he rounded up a gang of violent psychopaths and threw me in with them.

I begged again and again, but he just watched me with that dead stare.

"You'll suffer like Mel did before she died! She left this world in agony. Why should you get to live? That's not fair."

99 stab wounds—that was how many it took before I finally bled out and died.

And then, I woke up, right back on the day Teresa screamed for help from inside that burning villa.

The pain crashed into me like a tidal wave. I felt hollow, like the wounds had torn right through me, leaving nothing but air.

Instinctively, I clutched my stomach, and somehow, everything around me sharpened. A low buzzing filled my ears.

It was my phone, rattling violently against the table. Teresa Hawke's name flashed on the screen.

I was back, reborn into the very day she'd screamed for help. I picked up, and the same words from my past life came rushing back.

"Val, the house is on fire! I'm trapped! You have to come now—"

The line went dead before Teresa could finish.

All I got from Asher Jensen was that same sneer.

"Knock it off. Leave my mom out of whatever game you're playing. Seriously, what did you say to mess with her head like that? Today's a big day for Mel. She finally learned to ride a bike. I'm heading out, so don't stir up any drama while I'm gone."

To everyone else, my marriage to Asher looked like a perfect match, like something out of a fairy tale. I thought so too, at first.

But once the vows were said, his coldness made it obvious that marrying me was just a move to keep his family happy. His heart had always belonged to Melanie Lanner.

I grew up believing in the promise of marriage. Even though Asher never paid me any attention, Teresa was always kind to me.

That was why, in my past life, when I got that call from her, I kept begging him, over and over, to save her. Thankfully, he made it in time. She got away with just a few scrapes.

But Melanie was taken from the bar, tortured, killed, and dumped. And he put all the blame on me.

Now that I