The rain poured heavily, turning the streets into rivers. Savannah Quinn stood outside the Locke estate, completely drenched from head to toe.
She’d had enough.
Three hours ago, she had been sitting in her parents’ dining room and heard her adoptive sister Celeste laughing at something Ethan had whispered in her ear.
Her mother had smiled and her father had poured more wine as they looked at them. No one had noticed Savannah wasn’t eating. Or maybe they had noticed. They just didn’t care.
So she had left early and driven through the city to go to the only man who could save her.
"Miss Quinn," Ansel Locke said coldly. "It’s past midnight."
"I know." Savannah’s voice trembled. "And I’m sorry, but I...I need to talk to you. Please."
Savannah closed her eyes and let the tears fall that she had been holding back for years now.
"I’m not asking for money," she continued. "I just need five minutes."
The tall iron gate stood in front of her. Inside, the mansion was dark except for one window on the second floor. It was his study. She knew he was watching her through the security camera.
"Mr. Locke, please..."
"I don’t help leeches."
Then the intercom turned off.
Savannah stood frozen as the guards told her to leave.
"Please...just five minutes," she whispered, even though he couldn’t hear her anymore.
"Please leave, Miss Quinn," one of the guards said.
Savannah glanced at him and took a step back. She didn’t remember how she got back into her car.
"Go home. Just go home," she told herself as she drove aimlessly.
But where was her home?
Was it a luxury apartment she shared with her husband, Ethan, who hadn’t touched her in six months? A husband who treated her sister as a princess and her as a burden.
Or was it a family that had replaced her with someone who they thought was luckier, prettier, and easier to love?
She had no home. Savannah drove on the highway and pressed the accelerator harder than necessary. The road ahead was wet and dark. It was hard to see the road properly because of both the rain and her tears.
"I love you. But I can’t leave Celeste." Ethan’s words echoed in her mind.
BOOM!!
Her car lost control and crashed into the guardrail. The world around her began to spin.
"I’m...I’m...."
The car flipped over. Glass shattered everywhere. Pain shot through her body as the car landed on its roof, soaking her in blood.
She tried to move. But she couldn’t feel her body anymore. Rain poured through the broken windows, mixing with her blood on the ground.
She tried to breathe, but it hurt too much.
This is it. This is how I die.
Click. Click. Click.
A tiny hope flared in her chest when she heard someone approaching.
"Help," she tried to say, but it came out as a gurgle. "Please... help..."
Someone crouched beside the broken window.
It was her sister, Celeste.
"I always wondered how you’d look at the end," Celeste said softly and tilted her head. "I thought you’d be angrier. But look at you...you’re... nothing."
Savannah tried to speak but no sound came out.
Celeste reached through the broken window and gently touched her cheek.
"I’d say I’m sorry," Celeste said. "But we both know that would be a lie."
She got up and brushed the dirt from her dress.
"Goodbye, sister," she said sweetly. "Thank you for everything."
Then the darkness swallowed Savannah.
When her eyes opened again, she found herself standing. She was alive. But her right hand was aching. She looked down at her hand. Her fingers were red and tingling. She could tell she had just slapped someone.
"What..."
She looked up.
Ansel Locke stood in front of her. His one hand was pressed to his cheek and he was looking at her with a deathly glare.
No. No, no, no...Am I back in time?
She looked around. She was in his study. She looked at the date on her phone.
October 10, 2023.
2023? Not 2026??
Her eyes immediately moved to his desk. A few pieces of torn paper lay there while others were on the floor. She remembered this moment.
In her first life, Ansel had offered her a marriage contract. But she had torn it apart and thrown the pieces at him.
"I’d rather marry a dog than a man who thinks marriage can be bought," she had told him.
But she also remembered the rain and how she died. She instinctively put her hand to her chest. She was fine. There was no blood or injury. She wasn’t in pain anymore.
I’m back! I’m back! Fate has given me a second chance!!!
"Get out!" Ansel’s loud voice brought her back to reality.
She looked at Ansel again. He was the man who had offered her a marriage contract because of his grandfather’s will. She remembered Ansel explaining to her that he had to marry within ninety days or else his uncle Victor would take control of the company. And she had rejected him because she had been madly in love with Ethan.
And what had marrying Ethan given her? Death.
Suddenly the memories came rushing back.
Savannah was six years old, sitting on the stairs in her grandmother’s house when her mother walked through the door with a beautiful little girl.
"This is Celeste," her mother said happily. "She is your little sister from now on."
Savannah didn’t want a sister. But she smiled anyway and took Celeste’s hand.
"Welcome home, my little sister."
Soon after Celeste came to live with them, the Quinn family’s business began to thrive. Their failing company became a success story and their small home became a mansion.
"You’re our lucky charm," Savannah’s father would say, ruffling Celeste’s hair.
And everyone believed that.
Savannah had her first kiss at fifteen. She was nervous yet thrilled. Daniel had asked her to the school dance and she had spent weeks picking out a dress. But the night before the dance, Celeste came to her room in tears.
"Daniel asked me out," she said. "I told him no, because he is yours but he said...he is only with you to get to me."
Savannah’s heart broke.
"It’s okay. It’s not your fault," Savannah said and gently wiped her tears.
She immediately broke up with Daniel and didn’t go to the dance.
"It’s fine. It was just a crush."
But the pattern didn’t stop. It happened again and again. Every boy Savannah liked found his way to Celeste eventually. And every time, Celeste rejected them with tears in her eyes.
Savannah thought her sister loved her. She didn’t know it was all an act. Celeste wasn’t giving up those men. Instead, she was collecting them.
Then she met Ethan Moore. He was kind and handsome. He looked at Savannah like she was the center of his universe...the person he had been waiting for his whole life. He never looked at Celeste twice. He stayed with Savannah through the bad days and the worse nights.
She thought she had finally found the love of her life and married him. Their marriage was perfect until Savannah found him with Celeste in their bed after three years of marriage.
Ethan admitted to the affair with Celeste without hesitation still claiming he loved her too. Her parents blamed her for being a bad wife. According to them, if she hadn’t been such a terrible wife, Ethan would have never gone to Celeste.
Savannah was done with them. She wanted a divorce. But Ethan had refused because he couldn’t see her walking away from him. Celeste had cried when she heard about the divorce and begged her to not leave her family and Ethan and promised that she would keep her distance from Ethan from now.
But instead they got even more close since now there was nothing to hide. And eventually it felt like Savannah was the other woman in their relationship. And her parents...they only encouraged Celeste.
It was only then she saw the true colors of everyone she had considered family.
Savannah snapped back to reality. She was still standing in Ansel’s study. The memories faded but they left clarity behind.
Her sister had been stealing from her since the day she arrived, and Savannah had given it away everytime with a smile.
She had spent twenty four years of her life giving pieces of herself to people who never deserved them. And in return, they had left her to die in the rain.
I’m not dead. I’m alive. I won’t repeat the same mistakes again. I won’t give myself away again. I am going to take back everything that belongs to me.
Starting with the man standing in front of me.