Chapter 1

The screech of tires was the last thing I remembered.

Then, the smell of burnt coffee and cheap perfume.

I opened my eyes.

I wasn' t in the mangled wreckage of my car on the Pacific Coast Highway.

I was in my dorm room. Sunlight streamed through the window, catching dust motes in the air.

My roommate, Maya, stood in front of the mirror. She was wearing my dress.

Not the real one. A cheap, flimsy knock-off. The original was a custom piece, a birthday gift from my father, made from a unique silk blend that shimmered from blue to green. Hers was a flat, lifeless polyester. The seams were already straining.

My breath caught in my chest. I looked at my phone. The date was September 5th. The first day of the fall semester.

I had gone back in time. Back almost a full year.

Before the internship offer that drove her over the edge. Before she found out my father was Marcus Thorne, the CEO of Thorne Industries. Before she loosened the brake lines on my convertible.

In my first life, I saw her in this dress and felt a strange mix of pity and annoyance. I said nothing. I wanted to keep a low profile, to be normal Chloe, the girl who worked at the campus coffee shop, not Chloe Thorne, the tech heiress.

That silence, that desire to be liked, got me killed.

My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic, trapped bird. But on the outside, I was perfectly still.

Maya turned, a saccharine smile plastered on her face. "Chloe! You' re awake. Do you like my new dress? I thought it looked a little like yours, we have such similar taste!"

Her voice was a poisoned honey. The same voice that would later whisper lies to our other roommate, Hailey, turning her against me. The same voice that would cry crocodile tears to the Dean, painting me as a privileged bully.

In my first life, I smiled back. I said, "It looks great, Maya."

This time, I didn't smile.

A cold calm settled over me. I had been given a second chance. I wasn' t going to waste it being nice.

I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My voice was steady, devoid of any warmth.

"Take it off."