Chapter 1
On our wedding day, my fiancé's childhood sweetheart stood on the hotel roof in a wedding gown and threatened to jump.
Julian chose me. Then she fell, and he never forgave me for it.
He found God for her sake. He made me kneel and beg forgiveness for her death. He cost me my baby, and he used my nephew to keep me from ever leaving.
I gave him my whole life.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my wedding dress.
This time, I caught his sleeve and said, "Go to her."
He'd chosen her all along. Now I'd make sure he spent the rest of his life paying for it.
"Tell Serena that if she wants to die, that's her choice. I'm not going up there to hold her hand!"
Julian Mercer's voice snapped me awake. I lifted my head, and the mirror showed me a woman in a white wedding gown.
Me. On my wedding day. Again.
Julian stood behind me, glaring at the planner who'd brought the news. Serena Vale, the girl he'd grown up with, was up on the hotel roof, threatening to jump.
In my previous life, I'd been so grateful he'd picked me over her. This time, I noticed what I'd missed before. Under all that anger, he couldn't keep still.
Maybe he'd already fallen for her by then. Maybe he'd only married me so no one could call him a cheater. Whatever the truth was, once Serena was dead, he decided I was the reason he'd lost her.
He locked me inside that marriage and made me pay for her death. He found God for her sake, but he couldn't find any mercy for my child. The whole world admired how faithful he was to his first love. They called me the homewrecker who'd come between them.
People said I'd earned every lonely, loveless year I got.
Not one of them knew he'd chased me first. For four years, he'd been at my side, sending flowers, showing up, never giving up. I'd only said yes because I'd believed he meant it.
He was the one who came after me. I was the one who paid.
Not this time. This time, I wanted nothing to do with him.
I reached out and caught his sleeve. "Julian, go talk to Serena."
He stared at me like I'd lost my mind. I used to blow up every time she crashed one of our dates. She was spoiled, she played games, and I couldn't stand watching her hang on him. Never once had I sent him to her.
"You want me to walk out on our wedding to go see another woman?" he said. "Evelyn, do you have any idea what the tabloids will do to you?"
The tabloids weren't what killed me in my previous life. He was.
"I don't care what anyone says, as long as you really love me," I said softly. "We can push the ceremony back. You and Serena go way back. If something happened to her, you'd never forgive yourself, and I'd never forgive myself either. I'd stop my own wedding to save a stranger. Why wouldn't I do it for her?"
The guests closest to us murmured. A few nodded. Even his parents, who'd always made it clear I wasn't good enough for their son, looked at me with something like respect.
Julian pulled me into his arms and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"Evelyn, I knew I picked the right woman. Wait for me. I'll get her down, and then we'll get married."
I nodded and gave him a little push toward the door. "Go. She needs you more right now."
He took off for the stairs without looking back. I watched him disappear, my fingers twisted so tightly in my skirt that my knuckles went white.
In my past life, he'd hated me for standing between him and Serena. Fine. This time, I'd step aside and let him have her.
To make it look real, I stood at the altar in my heavy gown and waited. One whole hour. The guests whispered and kept glancing at the doors. Half of them wanted to know what was happening on the roof. The other half felt sorry for the bride standing up there by herself.
Finally, Julian walked back in.
He wasn't alone. Serena was at his side, and she was wearing a wedding dress too.
I'd nearly forgotten that part. She'd had that same dress on when she jumped in my previous life.
Now she was hanging on his arm and smiling straight at me. The look in her eyes was pure challenge.
The whispers got louder. Every head in the room turned my way.
Julian hesitated, then cleared his throat. "Evelyn, Serena told me she's been in love with me for years. All she wants is one wedding with me. Just one. She swears she'll leave us alone after this, so... would you let her have today?"
