"Forget it, Mom. I'll figure something out on my own."

That evening, Joel came home from work.

He stood in the doorway in a white dress shirt, leaning against the frame. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, striking features.

In my past life, that face was all it took. I fell for him completely, loved him until it killed me.

He looked like he'd been out entertaining clients. Too much to drink. His gaze was slightly unfocused.

He loosened his tie and sat on the edge of the bed, squinting at me.

"Leila, the family's already poured all its resources into me."

"Maya just graduated. She barely knows anyone."

"She came to you because she sees you as real family. How could you turn her down?"

I glanced up at him, then lowered my eyes back to the magazine in my hands.

"I didn't turn her down."

"I just asked her to sign an IOU."

"Is that really necessary?" Joel looked genuinely confused.

"If it's not necessary, then forget the whole thing."

Joel's mouth opened and closed. Nothing came out.

When he realized I wasn't budging, he raked a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm taking a shower," he muttered, and walked off.

He disappeared into the bathroom.

The next morning, at the breakfast table.

Maya's eyes were red and swollen. She'd obviously been crying all night.

Laurel held her bowl and looked at me like I was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

Drew Henson, on the other hand, was the same as always.

As if the tension in the room didn't exist. Eating, drinking, minding his own business.

Joel peeled a boiled egg for Maya like he was trying to make up for something.

"Maya, don't worry about the money. I talked it over with your sister-in-law last night."

"She has a small apartment downtown. You can move in there for now."

I slammed my chopsticks down. My head whipped toward Joel.

"When exactly did you 'talk it over' with me?"

"That apartment is already rented out!"

Laurel jumped in immediately, her voice dripping with sarcasm:

"So you'd rather let a stranger live there than your own sister-in-law? Is that it?"

Joel stared at me too, something odd in his expression:

"Do you have some kind of problem with Maya?"

In my past life, if he'd asked me that, I would have said no without hesitation.

But now I took a deep breath and held my temper with everything I had.

"I don't have a problem with her. I have a problem with you."

Joel blinked. "What did I do?"

"You made decisions about my property without my consent."

"That's it? We're married..."

"Married people still discuss things, don't they?"

"I..."

Joel had nothing.

I didn't finish breakfast. I grabbed my bag and went straight to the office.

During the lunch break, I met up with my best friend.

She was a lawyer. Her time was measured in billable seconds.

I got right to the point. "I want to divorce Joel. Can you help me sort out my premarital assets?"

She froze. "You've only been married a month. Did he cheat?"

I shook my head. "No. Just family issues."

She winced.

"In that case, it has to be a mutual agreement. If Joel doesn't consent, the court almost certainly won't grant a divorce."

That was just how the law worked.

Easy to get married. Nearly impossible to get out.

That evening, Joel was waiting outside my office. A massive bouquet of red roses sat in the passenger seat.

"Come on, don't be mad. The apartment thing was my fault. I've already figured out another way to handle it."

The second those words left his mouth, my scalp prickled.

I jerked my face up from the roses and stared at him, eyes wide.

"What did you do?"

Joel kept his eyes on the road. He glanced at me once through the rearview mirror.

"That's none of your concern!"

The memory hit me like a freight train. After Joel's car accident in my previous life,

I'd tried to sell the apartment, only to be told at the office that he'd already transferred it to Maya.

Terrified of history repeating itself, the first thing I did when I got home was tear through every drawer and cabinet.

"What are you looking for?"

Joel followed me in.

I looked up. "Where's the deed?"

Something flickered behind his eyes, but he went ahead and pulled it out.

"Right here. See?"

I snatched it from his hands and flipped it open, my fingers clumsy with urgency.

A bright red mortgage registration stamp stared back at me. It hadn't been there before.

"What is this?"

I jabbed my finger at the stamp.

Joel turned his face away and said nothing.

"Talk!"

"You have three seconds before I call the police."

I grabbed my phone and dialed 911.

Joel ripped it out of my hand and threw it onto the bed.

"I took out a mortgage on this apartment. The one we're living in right now."

I stared at him, unable to process what I'd just heard.

"This property is jointly owned. Or did you forget I put in five hundred thousand dollars?"

"How much did you borrow? Where's the money?"

Joel saw how worked up I was and moved to clamp his hand over my mouth.

"Keep your voice down. Maya will hear you."

I laughed. The kind of laugh that comes right before something breaks. "You gave it to her?"

Joel's expression locked up for a second. When he realized I'd already figured it out, he stopped pretending.

"Eight hundred thousand. Transferred every cent to Maya's account."

"We can pay it back over time. Getting her a place to live comes first."

I dug my nails into my own palm, forcing myself to stay steady.

"Give me back my five hundred thousand."

Joel stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

"What are you saying? You want a divorce? Over a house?"

"Yes."

My voice cut through the room like a blade.

Laurel and Maya had been eavesdropping in the living room. The moment things escalated, they came barreling through the door.

Laurel planted herself next to Joel and rolled her eyes at me.

"Leila, I don't like to meddle, but if I'd known you were this selfish, I never would've let Joel marry you."

Maya stood there with red-rimmed eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tugged at my sleeve.

"Leila, please don't do this. I'll give the eight hundred thousand back to Joel."

"I'm not even their real daughter. They shouldn't have to sacrifice so much for me."

"I'll just... I'll leave. I'll figure things out on my own."

She turned away, chin trembling with theatrical resolve, and started toward the door.

Joel lunged forward and caught her wrist, pulling her back.

"You're not going anywhere."

Laurel gathered Maya into her arms and stroked her hair.

"You may not be ours by blood, but we raised you for over twenty years. This is your home."

"That eight hundred thousand? Consider it a gift. I'm making the call for Joel."

"And Leila, if you insist on making a scene, you can start by returning the hundred and eighty thousand we spent on your bride price and the two hundred thousand for the wedding banquet."

Joel pulled me aside. His eyes were strained, his jaw tight, as if he were the one being wronged.

"Leila, you weren't like this before. You told me once that as long as you could marry me, you'd do anything."

Yes. Before. I'd loved him so much that every sacrifice tasted sweet.

And what did it get me?

He signed our apartment over to Maya behind my back. Every birthday gift he ever gave me was a fake.

This family had no room for me. Not even the baby I carried for ten months. My child was born dead.

He registered Maya's illegitimate child under my name, and I spent seven years as a stay-at-home mother raising a kid that was never mine.

In my last life, I ended up homeless, and I died by slamming my head into a wall.

When I didn't respond, Joel pulled me tightly into his arms.

"Come on, it'll be fine. I'm about to get promoted. I'll pay it all back sooner or later!"

As he spoke, he reached into his suit pocket with practiced ease and produced a small red velvet box.

He opened it right in front of me.

Inside, nestled against the satin lining, sat a gold four-leaf clover necklace.

"Did you forget what today is? It's your birthday."

"Your husband remembered. Look, I got this just for you."

In my previous life, I'd been moved to tears when Joel gave me this necklace.

I threw myself into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time, and from that day on I devoted myself to this family without reservation.

But now, knowing the necklace was fake, all I felt was a chill creeping up my spine.

He was using the same playbook from my last life to keep me tethered.

To make me pour everything I had into this family.

He and Laurel were running a textbook good-cop-bad-cop routine.

The goal was simple: make me give in.

A flash of jealousy crossed Maya's eyes.

But her voice was all concession:

"Don't worry, Leila. I won't take your money for nothing. Once I'm settled in my job, I'll save up and pay you back. Every cent."

Laurel softened her tone too, taking my hand and patting the back of it gently:

"Leila, dear, family is supposed to help each other out. Maya isn't the type to forget a kindness!"

Three pairs of eyes fixed on me, brimming with expectation.

Waiting for me to fold.

But their eagerness to push the house purchase through stirred something uneasy in my gut.

I suddenly remembered what the clerk had told me in my previous life, after Joel transferred the property to Maya.

I'd asked offhandedly:

"When did this happen?"

The clerk flipped through the file, looked up, and said:

"2019."

2019. The year my son was born.

That year, Maya and I were pregnant at the same time. Joel signed the property over to her to "give her some security."

In my last life, Maya's excuse for borrowing three hundred thousand from me had been a car. This time, it was a house.

She was this desperate to move out of the family home. Could it be because she was already pregnant?

The thought snapped my gaze down to Maya's stomach.

Maya flinched, one hand instinctively shielding her abdomen as she stepped back.

A reflex. Pure self-preservation.

Everything clicked into place.

The last trace of warmth in my heart went cold.

I pressed my back against the wall and let my gaze travel slowly across the three faces in front of me.

When I spoke, my voice could have frosted glass.

"Joel. I want a divorce."

"Here's the property division agreement and the divorce plan I've drawn up."

"I'm serious. Sign it."

The color drained from Joel's face:

"Why? Just because I gave Maya the eight hundred thousand?"

Maya's tears spilled like a broken strand of pearls, and she dropped to her knees in front of me with a thud. "I'll give the money back!"

Laurel's expression turned black as ash. She lunged at me, her hands closing around my throat.

"You ungrateful bitch, are you trying to drive my daughter to her death?"

Joel and Maya rushed forward to pry her off.

The air was being crushed out of my lungs. I thrashed on instinct, and in the struggle my stomach slammed into the corner of the bedroom vanity.

"Ah!"

A churning, wrenching pain tore through me.

My body curled inward against it.

Maya clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at my legs:

"Blood. There's so much blood!"