The rebirth

Chapter 1

Fafane

I woke with a gasp, my chest burned as I clawed at my throat, expecting to feel the cold edge of a knife. There was nothing, no blood, no pain, no ropes, just the frantic beat of my heart. “What?”

My breathing came in short, uneven bursts as I looked around the leather seats, at my favorite vanilla air freshener. With the half-empty bottle of water rolling across the passenger seat, I was in my car. My hands tightened around the steering wheel while memories crashed into me like a tidal wave.

Henry, my sister's laughter while she was holding the knife under my neck, and the people I had called Mom and Dad standing there, watching me die without lifting a finger.

A sob escaped before I could stop it. “No.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to convince myself it had all been a nightmare. It wasn’t; I remembered every second, every betrayal and lie, all the promises that turned into a weapon.

My trembling fingers reached into my purse for my phone the lock screen lit up. July 5th. One year earlier. I stared at the date until my vision blurred.

“No.” My voice cracked. “This isn’t possible.” I checked again, the same date and year. My pulse pounded so loudly I could barely hear myself think.

I was alive, not just alive but back to a full year before they murdered me.

My eyes slowly lifted toward the windshield. Across the parking lot stood an elegant restaurant, its golden lights reflecting in the evening sky. Recognition hit instantly; tonight was the night I agreed to go on the blind date.

I almost laughed. In my previous life, my coworker had insisted I meet a friend of her cousin. A mechanic, I had refused. Why would I meet another man when I was happily engaged to Henry? Instead, I called Henry, apologized for even considering it, and drove straight to him.

If only I had known he had spent that night in another woman’s bed, my sister’s bed. A bitter smile spread across my lips. “What a joke.”

I wiped away the tears still clinging to my cheeks. “No more.” No more trusting people simply because they smiled, no more pretending my family loved me.

This life would be different. I unlocked my phone again and stared at Henry’s contact. In my last life, seeing his name made my heart race. Now, it made me sick without hesitation; I blocked his number.

One tap was all it took to erase the man I once thought I’d spend forever with.

“I hope you’re confused,” I whispered. “You deserve worse.” A strange calm settled over me. For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t reacting; I was choosing.

My gaze drifted back to the restaurant, the mysterious blind date. A mechanic, at least that’s what everyone had called him.

I smiled. “I skipped this once.” Opening the car door, I stepped into the warm evening air. “This time,” I locked the car and started walking toward the entrance. “I’m curious.”

Without realizing it, every step carried me farther away from the life that had ended in betrayal and closer to the man whose oil-stained hands would rebuild the shattered pieces of my heart.