Ashes to Dawn
Grace Williams believed the worst thing in her life was the cancer slowly stealing her future. She was wrong.
On April 12, 2023, weakened by illness and trapped in a loveless marriage, Grace returns home to a devastating discovery. Her husband, Michael Park, is in bed with her best friend, Susan Hargreaves. The confrontation turns violent, and in the chaos, Michael kills her.
But death is not the end.
Grace awakens in 2013, ten years before her murder, with all her memories intact. She realizes that fate, or perhaps the spirit of her late father, has given her a second chance. This time, she refuses to be a victim.
Determined to escape her tragic future, Grace manipulates events to bring Michael and Susan together, trapping them in the toxic marriage that once destroyed her life. Soon, she discovers she is not the only one who remembers the past.
Her quiet manager, Ethan Adams, has also returned with his memories. Once secretly in love with her, he is now determined to protect her. As their bond deepens into love, they attract the attention of Ethan’s ambitious ex fiancée, Rachel Stevens, who joins forces with Michael and Susan.
Their alliance spirals into betrayal and violence that ultimately destroys them.
When everything finally collapses, Grace stands free from the life that once doomed her. On April 12, 2023, the day she once died becomes the beginning of a new life filled with love, hope, and a future she chose for herself.
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Chapter: Chapter 6GRACE'S POV APRIL 12th, 2013There was a sound.It came first as a distant ringing, sharp and persistent, like something fighting to pull me back from wherever I had fallen. It cut through the quiet darkness, growing louder, closer, more insistent.“Grace?” “Grace!” I woke up with a loud gasp, breathing heavily. There was a very cold sensation on my head. I put my hands on my face to see if I had been downed with water. There was nothing on my face, except a trail of drool from my mouth. But it felt like I drowned and I'd just been brought out of the water. My head pounded and my heart raced terribly. There were voices around me, but I couldn't focus on any of them. “Grace? Are you alright?” I heard a voice ask. I shook my head, and shut my eyes, trying to calm down. “Here, have a bottle of water.” A bottle of water was pressed into my hand, I twisted the bottle open and took a long drink. Because even though I felt like I drowned and was brought out of the water, my throat wa
Last Updated: 2026-03-28
Chapter: Chapter 5CHAPTER FIVEGRACE'S POV April 12, 2023.4:16pmI'd always heard that betrayal hurts, that it was brutal, but I never thought I'd be experiencing one. Especially not when it was my best friend and my husband in our bed. My gasp drew their attention and they looked my way. Susan gaped, eyes wide, skin pale and flushed at the same time. They were under the sheets, tangled up in their limbs. There was no denying what was happening at that moment. If I thought my heart was hurt by cracking, my heart shattered. I saw red, and my head ached in a way that made me cradle my forehead. “Grace…” Susan started, but I stopped her by raising my hand. The last thing I wanted to hear was what she had to say. “How long has this been going on?” I asked both of them, my voice cracking. Susan glances at Michael whose attention was on me. He didn't look remorseful or whatever, he had a blank expression on his face, not saying anything.“A few months.” Susan replied, getting out of the bed and strug
Last Updated: 2026-03-23
Chapter: Chapter 4CHAPTER FOURGRACE'S POV April 12, 2023. 6:30 am.The alarm rang at 6am as usual, but I didn't move for the next 30 minutes.For a moment, I just wanted to lay down and forget about everything worrying me. It's like my head refused to cooperate with me and everything I wanted.The pain had already woken me again before dawn, sharper than it had been the day before. It stood low in my abdomen, steady yet heavy, like something was pressing the inside of me. I wondered if pregnancy felt that way too. I laid still, breathing slowly, waiting for the wave pain to pass. Beside me, Michael was already awake.He sat at the edge of the bed, scrolling through his phone, his back turned toward me.“You’re up late,” he said without looking. Little did he know that I'd been awake way before the alarm rang. Little did he know that I had to stay still as if the pain would disappear if I did so. “I didn’t sleep well.” I replied, pulling myself to a sitting position. I was ready to get out of the b
Last Updated: 2026-03-23
Chapter: Chapter 3GRACE'S POV When I left the hospital, the sky had turned gray. It seemed to match my mood. Lovely. I half expected it to start raining so I could finally let go and cry my eyes out. I stood outside for a long moment, holding the envelope of medical reports against my chest. Maybe if I held it tight enough, it would disappear alongside the illness. It didn't work. Eventually, I realised that I probably looked weird as I stood there, outside, unmoving. People probably thought I was a suicide bomber. I drove away from the hospital, praying that the ache in my chest would disappear.When I reached the house, the sun was already beginning to set. I hadn't realised how much time I had spent in the waiting room at the hospital until then. The living room was dark with the curtains drawn, almost like no one lived there. Michael wasn’t home from work yet, so I started thinking about dinner for the both of us. I moved through the house slowly, and into the bedroom. I set my bag down on th
Last Updated: 2026-03-23
Chapter: Chapter 2GRACE'S POV The office building stood tall and bright against the morning sky. It was one of the tallest buildings in the area, so it was noticeable from a certain distance.I turned off the engine, pulling out the keys and stepping out. I've never understood people who casually left their keys in the ignition. Inside, everything felt calm and like the usual. The soft hum of the air conditioning steadied the rhythm of the lobby.At the front desk, the receptionist, whose name I always forget, sat, typing away on her computer. Her thinly rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose, and her nails were perfectly painted in red.“Morning, Grace,” the receptionist called, sending a smile and a wave my way.“Morning.” I smiled back, feeling terrible for not remembering her name.”I said hi to my other colleagues on my way to my desk. At my desk, I took a deep breath and said a small prayer, asking for strength for the day. I opened my laptop and began sorting through emails. Numbers, sc
Last Updated: 2026-03-23
Chapter: Chapter 1GRACE’S POVApril 11, 2023. 6:00 a.m.My alarm rang loudly, but I had already been awake for nearly an hour. Even then, it started me a bit.Sleep didn’t seem to come to me as easily as it did before anymore. Whenever it tried to come, it was thin and restless, slipping away whenever the dull ache in my stomach increased into something sharper. This morning the pain had woken me before dawn, as usual. It left me dreading the entire day already. The pain laid curling low beneath my ribs, and spread slowly outward like water penetrating a cabin.I laid still, staring at the ceiling, the doctor's voice echoing in my head. I couldn't get it out of my head.Gastric cancer.The words still didn’t feel real, even after hearing them twice. The doctor had spoken gently, carefully, as if speaking softly could make the pain go away.“It’s spreading, Mrs. Williams.” He had said, eyes searching my face as my own eyes strayed from his to my fiddling hands.I turned to the other side of the bed. B
Last Updated: 2026-03-23
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