After rebirth, I fulfilled my husband’s and childhood friend’s wishes.
Chapter 1
When the kidnappers told Chad to pick one of us, me or Tiffany, his childhood sweetheart, he picked me. I shook my head, though. “Save Tiffany first, Chad.” I knew he’d regret it. Big time.
Last time around, after I got rescued, those creeps had taken some nasty pictures of Tiffany. She couldn’t handle it and ended up taking her own life that same night. Chad, Mr. Cool and Collected, pretended it didn’t bother him. We still walked down the aisle. But he made my life a living hell after we said, “I do.”
Seven years of that, and I finally pushed him into a divorce. Then, on the way to sign the papers, he lost it, driving the car off a cliff. Even as we were dying, he was still blaming me. “We owed Tiffany everything,” he yelled, “This whole marriage was penance, and you had the nerve to be happy!”
No thanks. Not doing that again.
“Ashley, come with me.” I knew I’d been given a do-over the moment I felt the knife pressed against mine and Tiffany’s throats. They laid it out, crystal clear: Chad could only save one of us.
Chad looked back and forth between us, his face a wreck. Just like before, he reached for me. I just shook my head. “Chad, go get Tiffany.”
This time, I wasn’t taking on anybody’s baggage. No way was I carrying the guilt of someone else’s death.
Chad seemed relieved. “Okay, Ashley, I should save you because you’re my fiancée, but you said it, so don’t blame me when I do.” And he practically bolted with Tiffany, like I was going to change my mind any second.
But that’s the difference between us. When I make a choice, I own it. Last time, he brought the ransom money, but the kidnappers pulled a fast one and said it was only good for one. Chad picked me, and we drove back to town to get the rest of the money. While we were gone, those animals took advantage of Tiffany. They snapped some photos and wanted to mess with her.
Luckily, we showed up with the cops just in time. Even though they didn’t go all the way, it was enough to break Tiffany. She went home, waited for everyone to fall asleep, and slit her wrists. Chad heard, but he didn’t show anything. He calmly handled the funeral and threw a bunch of money at her family to make them feel better. I even tried to postpone the wedding, but he shot that down. “Ash, marrying you is something I’ve had planned forever, and I’m not letting anything change it.”
But that “anything” he was talking about haunted him for seven years. Marrying me was just a way to keep me trapped, paying for Tiffany’s death. Like any of that was my fault.