A man like that, I was certain, would become the greatest ally I'd ever have.

We met at a restaurant, and the conversation flowed effortlessly. Once we'd finalized the terms of our partnership, Stanley poured me a glass of red wine.

"To a fruitful collaboration."

I smiled and was just about to take a sip when the glass was snatched from my hand and hurled to the floor.

I looked up. Eugene stood there, his face dark as a thundercloud. Behind him, Sylvia wore a cocktail dress and an expression just as sour.

"Do you have any idea she's allergic to red wine?!" he barked at Stanley, then turned to me with a look of anguished betrayal.

"Rose, I heard you've been going on blind dates. But you shouldn't be throwing yourself at him just to get back at me!"

"Do you even know he's been to prison? How could you stoop so low—"

I raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

Across the table, Stanley's expression hardened. "Mr. Henson. If anyone's stooping low here, it's you and that little assistant climbing her way up beside you."

"And I'd love to know when exactly I went to prison."

I couldn't help but laugh. Stanley's supposed prison stint was something from my previous life, when I'd been nearly thirty. He'd been convicted of excessive self-defense while saving someone.

And besides...

My voice went cold. "Mr. Henson, you've got something else wrong too. The one who's allergic to red wine isn't me. It's the woman standing behind you."

"You've shielded her from drinks so many times. Don't tell me you've already forgotten."

Eugene's face cycled through shades of white and red.

I didn't bother with him any further. I grabbed Stanley's arm and we left.

The moment I got home, a text from Sylvia lit up my phone.

"Rose, could you please stop being so shameless? You're broken up. Stop throwing yourself at other women's men."

I scoffed and ignored it.

But the next morning, as I stepped outside for work, someone threw a bucket of filthy water right in my face.

"Disgusting tramp!"

By the time I'd cleaned up and rushed to the office, the project team was in shambles. The office had been ransacked. My colleagues sat around looking shell-shocked.

"Rose, clients are canceling their contracts left and right!"

"What happened?" I demanded.

A colleague showed me a viral post:

"My boyfriend and I are about to get married, but his ex-girlfriend keeps inserting herself. She's holding the company's core technology hostage, trying to stop our wedding. What do I do? I want to die..."

The comments below were a flood of abuse directed at me. Someone had doxxed my personal information too.

My colleagues asked me nervously what I planned to do.

I smiled coldly. Then I sat down and compiled every shred of evidence I'd gathered over the past six months documenting Sylvia and Eugene's affair. I organized it into a clean timeline and posted it online.

I tagged Sylvia directly: "My lawyers will be pursuing charges for defamation and cyberbullying."

I went all in. I didn't just post it. I paid to push it to the top of the trending topics, making sure their affair was plastered across every major feed.

Then I printed out the cease-and-desist letters along with the affair evidence and mass-emailed them to every single business partner connected to Eugene.

That evening, word reached me that Eugene had been summoned home by his family and given a beating.

They'd forced him to cut ties with Sylvia and ordered him to do whatever it took to win me back.

Eugene texted me, demanding I take down the posts immediately.

"Sylvia was just worried about me. That's the only reason she made that post. Why do you have to go after her like this?"

I blocked his number.

Meanwhile, my plans with Stanley moved steadily forward. One by one, the Hensons' clients agreed to work with us instead.

Now it was just a matter of time. Once everything was in place, Eugene would get the final blow he deserved.

But Eugene refused to let it go. He cornered me at a resort hotel.

"Rose! We need to talk!"

He grabbed my arm and dragged me into a room.

I wrenched free of his grip. "I have nothing to say to you."

"If you're here about Sylvia, you can leave right now. She started it. The only reason I haven't destroyed her yet is because I didn't think she was worth the effort. Don't mistake my restraint for inability."

Eugene's eyes churned with emotion as he looked at me.

"I've agreed."

I stared at him, baffled. "Agreed to what?"

He let out a long breath, as though he'd finally made some monumental decision. His whole body seemed to deflate.

"I've agreed to marry you. We'll do it just like last time. We'll get married, have the baby, and I'll cut all ties with Sylvia."

For a moment, all I could feel was the sheer absurdity of it.

I laughed. "You're out of your mind."

Eugene seized my arm, his grip bruising, his expression savage.

"Isn't this what you wanted? You know damn well the company's finished without that chip. You've been dangling it over my head, running off to cut deals with Stanley Farley. You just wanted me to regret it, didn't you?"

Resentment bled through every word.

"And you went after Sylvia. I told you, in this life I owe her. Nobody touches her! But you had to drag everything into the open, make it a public spectacle!"

"Do you have any idea that my family already shipped her overseas? They sent her to Southeast Asia!"

I let out a cold laugh. "And that's my problem how? She couldn't control herself, came after me, and now she's reaping what she sowed. You both deserve it."

"Let go of me!"

I shoved him hard, but he grabbed me, spun me around, and shoved me into the sauna room. The door slammed shut behind me.

My stomach dropped. I threw myself against the door, pounding on it with both fists.

"Have you lost your mind? There's a live charcoal fire in here! Let me out!"

Eugene stood on the other side, his face cold, his voice carrying a strained, almost reluctant calm.

"I didn't want it to come to this. You forced my hand."

"Rose, all you have to do is agree to give me the chip. Let me transfer the patent to Sylvia. I'll let you out, and I'll marry you. That's the deal."

"In your dreams!" I was shaking with fury. "Why the hell would I hand my chip over to her?"

Eugene's brow furrowed.

"In our past life, she collapsed right beside you and you didn't lift a finger. You let her die. In this life, you got her thrown out of the country. You owe her this."

"Be reasonable, Rose. Just give her the chip and my family won't send her away. She can stay, raise her child, live a quiet life. And I promise I'll never contact her again."

"Isn't that a good deal for you?"

I screamed at him.

"You bastard! Don't even think about it!"

Eugene sighed.

"Stay in there and think it over. Don't worry, the temperature's only around ninety degrees. It'll be uncomfortable, but it won't kill you. Whenever you change your mind, I'll open the door."

Then he turned and walked away.

He'd barely disappeared when another figure stepped into view.

Sylvia.

Her eyes glittered with venom.

"Rose Fox! So what if you're his fiancee? You still lost to me!"

She moved closer, savoring every word.

"You know, aren't you the least bit curious about how that factory fire started? About why Eugene and I were both there that night?"

My heart seized.

"You were using the baby to force a wedding, so Eugene said he wanted one last night of freedom with me before the ceremony. A proper goodbye. We went to the factory for the thrill of it." She tilted her head, a cruel smile curving her lips. "But I got a little too excited and knocked over a drum of machine oil."

"Eugene told me to get out first. But wouldn't you know it, a beam came down and knocked me unconscious."

The blood roared in my ears.

I thought of my past life. How I'd rushed blindly into that inferno to save her. How it had cost me my baby. How it had cost me everything.

And now I knew the truth. They were the ones who had built my suffering, brick by brick.

My vision blurred red with hatred. "Sylvia Swanson! I will make you pay for this!"

Sylvia threw her head back and laughed as she sealed the vent shut and cranked the temperature higher.

"On second thought, why don't you die first? Once you're gone, I can take that chip patent and marry your husband myself!"

With that, she strutted out and slammed the door behind her, grinning from ear to ear.

The temperature kept climbing. The air grew thinner with every breath.

My heart hammered against my ribs so hard I could hear it. My limbs went limp, heavy as melted wax, and I slumped to the floor.

I lost track of time.

Just as everything went black, the sauna door exploded inward, kicked clean off its hinges.