Chapter 2

I lay in a hospital bed for three days. No flowers, no calls, no Mark. The nurses were kind, but their pity was a constant reminder of my abandonment. The burns on my arms and back throbbed, a physical manifestation of my husband' s betrayal.

On the fourth day, a hospital administrator came to my room.

"Mrs. Evans," she said, her tone professional but firm, "your husband has not responded to our calls regarding payment for your treatment. If we don't receive a deposit, we may have to suspend non-essential care."

Humiliation washed over me. I had to call him, to beg. He finally answered on the fifth ring, his voice annoyed.

"What?"

"Mark, the hospital... they need payment."

He sighed, a sound of pure exasperation. "I'll be there."

He arrived an hour later, but he wasn't alone. Jessica was with him, clinging to his arm. She wore a stunning new designer dress, the kind I knew we couldn't afford. On her wrist was a delicate, expensive-looking bracelet. She looked radiant, recovered, and triumphant.

"Sarah, really," Mark started, not even looking at my injuries. "You're being so dramatic. Do you have any idea how expensive things have been?"

I stared at him, speechless.

"I had to get Jessica essentials," he continued, gesturing to her immaculate appearance. "She lost everything in the fire. Clothes, jewelry... she needed to feel normal again. And you're here complaining about a few medical bills?"

Jessica gave me a small, smug smile. "Mark has been so wonderful. He even found me a new place."

She paused for effect, her eyes gleaming.

"It's the apartment right next to yours. He said it would be best, so he can help me recover... and keep an eye on you, of course."

The threat was clear. He wasn't just leaving me; he was systematically dismantling my life, piece by piece, right in front of my eyes. He was going to haunt me, to control me, to ensure I had nothing.

"You're having an affair with her," I said, the words tasting like ash. It wasn't a question.

Mark scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Jessica is a colleague. You have such a dirty mind, Sarah. It's the same thing you said in our last life, always so suspicious."

He grabbed Jessica's hand. "We're leaving. I've paid the deposit. Try not to cause any more trouble."

They walked out, his arm wrapped protectively around her.

Lying alone in the sterile room, I felt a cold clarity settle over me. He was right about one thing. I was suspicious in our last life, and I was right then, too.

I remembered something else from that life. Despite attending a state school, I had scored in the top percentile on the bar exam. That score landed me a prestigious clerkship, the foundation of a successful career that he grew to resent.

I knew, with chilling certainty, what he would try to sabotage next. My future. My career. My bar exam.

"Not this time," I whispered to the empty room. "Not again."

My plan for independence began to form.