Back at my apartment, I packed my bags immediately. The farther I got from Stan Delgado, the better.

The doorbell rang. Stan stood outside holding a folder of documents.

"Ms. Kaufman, I think we need to talk."

I moved to shut the door, but his hand shot out and held it open.

"About the company your father left you. Aren't you curious about its current situation?"

I stopped.

My father's company was the only thing I cared about in this world.

In my last life, after we married, Stan had taken full control of it. In the end, every last asset had been handed over to Annette Simmons as part of her dowry.

I kept my expression flat and let him inside.

Stan tossed the folder onto the coffee table.

"The company's cash flow has collapsed. Without a capital injection in three days, it goes into liquidation."

"And right now, I'm the only one who can put up that kind of money."

I turned to face him.

"What's the catch?"

Stan leaned in close.

"Marry me."

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

"Stan, what's in it for you?"

"You. You're what's in it for me."

The performance was flawless. But I had already died once. I would never fall for that lie again.

I picked up the folder and tore it clean in half.

"Then let it go bankrupt."

"I'd rather beg on the streets than marry you."

The moment Stan left, I called the company's finance department to verify.

The situation was worse than he'd described.

The cash flow wasn't just broken. Several massive debts were about to come due, and it was obvious someone had been sabotaging things behind the scenes.

Who else could it be but Stan?

He would stop at nothing to force me to submit. The playbook was identical to my previous life. First, engineer a crisis from the shadows. Then swoop in as the savior, so I'd be grateful enough to fall in line.

Not this time.

I listed my apartment and jewelry for sale. I even reached out to former rivals, offering to transfer my shares at a steep discount.

Every single one of them refused to see me.

Clyde Henson had put the word out: anyone who helped me was openly declaring war on the Henson Group.

Leona called to talk me down.

"Jade, would it kill you to just give in?"

"Stan likes you so much he went to Clyde on his knees for you."

"Marry him, save the company, and you'll have a good life. Everybody wins. What's so wrong with that?"

I hit the end-call button and blocked her number.

Three days later, the court summons arrived.

I sat in the empty rental unit, alone.

The door swung open. Stan stood in the doorway, umbrella in hand.

"Jade, stop fighting this."

He walked toward me and looked down from above.

"All you have to do is say yes, and all of this goes away."

I lifted my chin and stared straight at him.

"Stan, do you really think that if you back someone into a corner and then toss them a scrap of mercy, they'll worship you for it?"

His brow furrowed.

"I'm just trying to help you."

"Help me?" I stood and walked toward him. "By cutting off every escape route I had? By having Clyde blacklist me?"

Stan's hand shot out and gripped my jaw, fingers digging in.

"Jade, my patience has limits."

"You will marry me. There is no other option."

I smiled.

"Fine. I'll marry you."

Stan blinked. He clearly hadn't expected me to agree so easily.

His grip loosened, and that rehearsed warmth slid back into his eyes.

"There. That wasn't so hard."

"I'll give you a wedding."

I said nothing. The memory of my last wedding was still vivid. The ceremony. The wedding night. The homeless shelter I ended up in. I would never walk that road again.

Agreeing was only about getting the money.

The moment those funds hit the account, I was gone.

On the day we signed the marriage certificate, Stan was dressed to the nines.

He held my hand as we walked out of the courthouse.

"Jade, we're husband and wife now."

The warmth in his voice was almost convincing. I pulled my hand free and gave a noncommittal hum.

A sports car pulled up in front of us. The window slid down, revealing a face I knew all too well.

Annette Simmons. The woman Stan had never stopped thinking about.

In my last life, he'd thrown away my life just to keep her happy.

"Stan! Congratulations." Annette stepped out of the car and looked me up and down, a challenge glittering in her eyes. "So this is Miss Kaufman? She really is pretty. No wonder you skipped my birthday party for her."

Stan's shoulders stiffened, barely perceptible.

He turned to Annette, a thread of anxiety woven through his voice. "Annette, what are you doing here?"

She pouted, sauntering over to loop her arm through his. "I just wanted to meet your new bride."

Then she pressed closer, tilting her face up at him. "Stan, my stomach's acting up again. Will you take me to the hospital? Please?"

Right in front of me. His wife of five minutes. She didn't even pretend to care.

Stan glanced back at me. "Jade, Annette's health isn't great. I'll take her to the hospital. The driver will bring you home."

It had been exactly like this the first time around. The day we got our marriage certificate, one phone call from Annette, and he was gone. I'd sat alone in that apartment all night, waiting like a fool. Back then, I'd actually believed he was just looking after her like a sister.

I gave them both a pleasant nod. "Sure. Take your time. I won't see you out."

Stan clearly didn't appreciate my composure. His brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to say something, but Annette was already pulling him into the car.

The sports car shrank into the distance. I took out my phone and called the finance department.

"Has the transfer come through?"

"Yes, Ms. Kaufman."

My lips curved upward.

"Wire everything to the offshore account. Immediately. Then call the police and report the company for suspected illegal fundraising. File for bankruptcy protection."

Back at the apartment, I swept every matching couple's item Stan had so carefully arranged into the trash. Then I booked the earliest flight out of the country.

I was reaching for the door handle when it slammed open from the other side.

Stan stormed in, seized my throat, and pinned me against the wall.

"Jade Kaufman, you played me!"

A vein pulsed at his temple. His eyes were wide, bloodshot. "You moved the money? And filed for bankruptcy yourself?"

My head was forced back against the wall. I stared at him through the suffocating pressure on my windpipe.

"That's right."

"Your money disgusts me, Mr. Delgado."

His grip tightened.

"You have a death wish!"

I managed to drag a smile across my face.

"Then kill me."

"Kill me, and you'll never see a cent of it."

His hand released all at once. I slid down the wall and crumpled to the floor, clutching my throat, coughing so hard my vision blurred.

He crouched down and gripped my jaw, forcing my face toward his.

"Jade. You think you can run?"

"Your father's ashes are still at the cemetery. Try me. I'll have someone scatter them by morning."

I couldn't stop the trembling.

In my last life, that was exactly the threat he'd used. My father's ashes, held hostage, to force me into donating bone marrow to Annette.

I lunged forward and slapped him across the face with everything I had.

"Stan Delgado, you're an animal!"

His head snapped to the side. He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek where I'd struck him.

When he turned back, his face was pure fury.

"Fair enough."

"Since you won't behave, don't blame me for what comes next."

He stood and pulled out his phone.

"Cancel Jade Kaufman's flight. Freeze every bank account under her name."

A pause.

"And send someone to watch the cemetery. Around the clock."

He hung up and looked down at me, towering, absolute.

"Starting today, you don't go anywhere without my permission."

I was placed under complete house arrest. My phone and ID were confiscated, and I was locked inside the villa with no way out.

Stan went to the office during the day. At night, he came home and found new ways to torment me.

At meals, he had the housekeeper prepare dishes he knew made me nauseous. At bedtime, he cranked the air conditioning down to freezing and left me to shiver through the night.

Eventually, he stopped pretending altogether and brought Annette home.

Right in front of me, he held her close, his arms wrapped around her while she nuzzled against him.

"Stan, Miss Kaufman is watching," Annette murmured, nestled in his arms.

Stan spared me a careless glance.

"She's just a disobedient little toy. Ignore her."

I sat on the couch and watched their performance. Not a single ripple disturbed my heart. If anything, I found it laughable.

In my past life, I'd been kept in the dark, drowning in agony. Now all I felt was disgust.

I stood to go back to my room.

Annette called out behind me.

"Miss Kaufman, could you pour me a glass of water?"

I didn't bother acknowledging her and kept walking.

Stan's voice cut through the air like a blade.

"Stop."

"Annette asked you to pour her water. Are you deaf?"

I paused and turned around.

"You married me just to make me your maid?"

Stan closed the distance in two strides, seized a fistful of my hair, and wrenched my head back.

"Wife?" He looked down at me with open contempt. "You think you deserve that title?"

"Jade, I married you for one reason: to make you suffer."

"Your father destroyed Annette's family. Ruined everything she had. That debt falls to you now."

I froze.

My father destroyed Annette's family?

That was absurd. My father ran his business with integrity. He would never have hurt anyone.

"That's a lie!" I thrashed against his grip.

Stan shoved me away.

"Deny it all you want."

"It doesn't matter. You'll spend the rest of your life atoning."

He turned to Annette, and his voice softened instantly, as if he were speaking to a completely different person.

"Annette, how would you like to punish her?"

Annette fixed her gaze on me.

"Stan, I've been so dizzy lately. The doctor says I'm anemic."

She tilted her head, a picture of innocence. "Maybe Miss Kaufman could spare some blood for me?"

Stan agreed without hesitation.

"Done."

He called in a private physician. Several people pinned me to the table while the doctor inserted the needle. They drew a full eight hundred milliliters of blood.

My vision went black. Cold seeped through every inch of my body. I crumpled to the floor, too weak to even lift a finger.

Stan looked down at me. There was nothing in his eyes. No pity. No hesitation. Nothing.

"This is just the beginning."

"Jade, everything you owe Annette, I will take back from you. Piece by piece."

For days after the blood draw, I burned with a fever that wouldn't break.

Stan refused to let anyone call a doctor. The only thing the housekeeper was allowed to give me was a bitter herbal concoction forced down my throat each day.

I was too weak to leave the bed.

Annette, on the other hand, made a point of visiting my room to gloat.

"Jade, you really are pathetic right now."

She dragged a manicured nail down my cheek.

"Stan doesn't love you. He never did. Every time he touches you, it makes his skin crawl."

"Your wedding night, he actually..."

She paused on purpose, pressing her fingers to her lips to stifle a coy little laugh.

"He actually hired some homeless man off the street to keep you company."

"Too bad you ran. You missed the full experience."

My eyes snapped open. I stared at her, unblinking.

Even though I already knew the truth, hearing it spoken aloud still made bile rise in my throat.

I forced my trembling body upright and slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had left.

"Get out."

Annette shrieked and tumbled to the floor.

Footsteps pounded outside the door. Stan burst into the room. The moment he saw Annette on the ground, the color drained from his face. He rushed to her side and gathered her up.

"Annette, are you okay?"

Annette clutched her cheek, tears streaming down her face.

"Stan, I just felt sorry for Miss Kaufman. I only came to check on her."