Chapter 1

Max POV 

Is this it? Is this the end?

The thought coils through my mind smoke, slow and poisonous, curling thighter with every breath i take.

Is this how I die by the hands of the people I trusted the most? My husband and my best friend. I was laying on the ground, covered in my own blood and my so called husband and best friend were watching me take my last breath, laughing.

"Pathetic," she says, voice low and syrupy. "She actually thought we cared." My so called best friend, Emily said as she rapped her arm around my husband.

Alex chuckles, a sound that once melted me. Now it slices straight through my heart.

My fingers twitch against the tile, searching for something, anything to anchor me, to fight back. But my body is heavy, sluggish. My blood is warm at first, then chilling as it leaves me.

It is so strange, what you actually remember when you are dying. Not the wedding vows, not the big and small fights and agurements, not even the kiss on the football field where it all began.

I can remember clearly the way Alex looked at me in high school like i was the only girl in the room. I remember trusting Emily with everything about me, things i never even told my own parents. My parents, they never actually liked Alex and Emily but i shut them up and i did no listen to them. I thought if i have those two, i have everything i ever wanted but it was a lie.

God, i was so stupid.

FIVE MONTHS AGO, 

Back when everything was okay, when my life was perfect or so i thought.

The morning sun shined through the kitchen windows, catching the dust mots in midair and painting everything gold. Alex was already dressed and ready for work, he was wearing a white shirt that hugged his body and broad shoulders, his tie was knotted perfectly by me. He went to the coffee machine and stood there, smiling as he was scrolling through his phone.

I rapped my arms around his waist from behind him. "Morning" i said

He hummed in response but he did not look up. "Morning, coffee is ready" he said and poured the coffee inside two cups.

His voice was warm, casual, the voice he used everytime to whisper I love you countless times over the years, the voice i fell in love with. But, i did not help but noticed the way he angled the screen of his phone away from me.

On the dinning table, a plate of panckes sat there, waiting for me to eat it, it was thick, fluffy, just the way i like it. I grinned.

"Since when do you make breakfast? i asked Alex as i took my sit.

"Well, since your best friend told me to spoil you more" he said while taking his sit, finally looking at me, smiling. That smile, it still makes my heart stutter. And like that, the tiny pang of unease i was feeling a while ago drifted away.

Later that morning, after Alex left for work, i met up with Emily for our weekly brunch. I was already in the cafe waiting for her when she walked into the cafe like she owned the place, her perfect hair catching the light. Emily has been by my side since freshman year back in high school. 

We have been through everything together, we have survived everything together. She has always been there for me when i needed advice or when me and Alex have an agurement or a fight.

"You look great, you are glowing, Marriage life is really perfect for you" she said as she slid into the booth.

I just laughed at her. "Oh please, we have been married for four years now, why are you acting like we are still in our honeymoon phase" i said.

She smiled at me but something in it did not reach her eyes. I did not notice, i never noticed, not back then until it was too late.

Back in high school, Alex was my first love. He was the golden boy, Captain of the football team, the bad boy and the school's hottest jock, a perfect jawline that makes the girl loose their minds, and i was just me.

I have always noticed him because of how popular he was but he never noticed me. So one day, Emily invited me to a pep rally. Emily was on the cheer squad so i went just because she asked. Alex and his team mates were playing football on the field and Emily and the remaining cheerleaders were cheering for them, they were winning. After the match, Emily said i should wait for her that she wanted to get something so i sat on the field and Alex walked up to me.

I was surpised he came up to me in all his charm and confidence. He asked if i wanted to grab ice cream. I was confused because why was he talking to me. That was the start. We dated all through our senior year, everyone was jealous of me because i was dating the football captain.

Emily was with me all through everything, every date, every fight, every little breakup, she was there. She was the sister i never had and i was so lucky to have her in my life. Or so i thought.

The first time i started noticing something was wrong, i even convinced myself i was imagining it. It was few months before my death, I invited Emily over to my place for some barbecue, Alex was on the grill and Emily was standing so close to him. I was just coming back from the kitchen when i saw them. Alex said somthing to her and she laughed, touching his arm. 

I cleared my throat and immediatly, they step apart so quickly.

"Is everything okay? i asked

"Everything is fine. We were just talking about what you two have planned for your coming anniversary" Emily replied. I just nodded my head.

Alex nodded, expression unreadable. "You want cheese on yours?

I smiled, told myself I was overthinking it, and let it go.

The day of my death, It happened in the living room, late at night.

I went to bed early, nursing a headache. When I woke hours later, thirsty, I padded down the hallway in my socks.

Voices drifted from the living room.

"…she is clueless," Emily was saying.

Alex’s low laugh followed. "She always has been."

I froze.

"You think she will figure it out? Emily said

"Not a chance. By the time she does, it will be too late." Alex replied her

My pulse thundered in my ears. I stepped into the room and that was when Alex’s eyes met mine, cool and sharp, nothing like the boy I fell in love with.

I didn’t get the chance to speak.

The pain came first a sharp, searing blow to my side. My knees buckled. I hit the floor, gasping. Blood rushed hot between my fingers where I tried to hold myself together.

Emily crouched beside me, her expression almost tender. "You should’ve stayed in bed."

Alex stood behind her, his shadow long over both of us. "Goodbye, babe."

The last thing I saw was their joined hands.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die.

Mine didn’t.

All I saw was fire.

When I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t staring at tile or blood or the faces of traitors.

I was looking at a ceiling I didn’t recognize.

The air smelled of expensive cologne and leather. My body felt… wrong. Heavier. Larger. My hands my hands were bigger, calloused, with veins running like rivers beneath tanned skin.

Panic clawed at my throat. I stumbled to my feet, caught sight of a mirror across the room

And froze.

A stranger stared back. A man.