Chapter 1 - The Necklace That Killed Me Twice|
The first time I died, my husband was smiling.
Not because he was happy to see me.
Because the woman he'd been sleeping with was standing outside my prison hospital room, wearing the satisfied expression of someone who had finally collected her prize.
Tessa Lane had stolen my husband, my home, and my reputation.
And Colin Mercer had helped her destroy me.
I was thirty-seven when a neglected infection finally ended the three miserable years I'd spent in prison for stealing an emerald necklace I had never stolen.
Colin had arrived that morning with divorce papers.
“You should sign, June.”
His voice was gentle.
Almost loving.
I remembered staring at him through the fever blurring my vision.
“Did you ever love me?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked through the glass wall toward Tessa.
And smiled.
That was the last thing I saw.
Until I opened my eyes again.
Sunlight touched my cream-colored bedroom curtains.
My oak dresser stood against the wall.
The photograph from our tenth wedding anniversary sat beside Colin's watch.
And my phone displayed a date that should have been impossible.
Thursday, October 8.
Three years earlier.
I sat upright, my heart hammering.
On the nightstand rested a blue velvet jewelry box.
I knew what was inside before opening it.
An antique emerald necklace.
The same necklace Colin had supposedly given me for our anniversary.
The same necklace Marlene Shaw later reported stolen from the collateral vault at Mercer Financial.
The same necklace that had sent me to prison.
I stared at the green gemstone.
Then I began laughing.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I remembered every terrible detail of my first life.
The arrest.
The forged signature.
The courtroom.
The divorce.
And Tessa moving into my house while I was still fighting to prove my innocence.
The bedroom door opened.
Colin stepped inside wearing his white dress shirt and charcoal trousers.
“Morning, sweetheart.”
He leaned forward to kiss me.
I turned my face away.
He stopped.
“What's wrong?”
“Bad dream.”
He smiled.
“Then I've got something that'll cheer you up.”
He lifted the emerald necklace.
“You'll wear this to the Whitmore Foundation Gala next Thursday.”
Exactly the same words.
Exactly the same smile.
Then Tessa entered holding a coffee cup.
Her eyes immediately found the necklace.
“Oh my God, June. Can I borrow that for the gala?”
In my first life, I'd refused.
This time, I took the necklace from Colin.
And placed it directly into her hand.
“Of course.”
Tessa gasped.
“Seriously?”
“Absolutely.”
She held it against her throat and smiled at her reflection.
Colin's expression changed.
“Maybe give it back until Thursday.”
Tessa turned toward him.
“Why?”
I watched my husband's jaw tighten.
Then I smiled.
“Yes, Colin.”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“Why?”
For the first time in twelve years of marriage, my husband looked afraid of me.
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And I realized something wonderful.
He had no idea I already knew how his story ended.
