Prologue
I died in prison at twenty‑two.
Wrongfully convicted. Framed. Sacrificed.
My grandma passed away, and I was taken in by my parents at thirteen.
My sister was fifteen.
From that day on, I became her permanent scapegoat.
Fourteen: she started a brutal fight, and I took the fall for juvie.
Eighteen: she drove drunk and attacked a cop, and I got locked up.
Twenty: she stabbed someone, and I was sent to prison for years.
While I rotted behind bars, she stole my boyfriend.
No one came to claim my body when I died.
Then I woke up.
I was reborn.
This time, my genius IQ caught the eye of a top‑secret federal agency. I became a confidential security system designer.
Love? I didn’t want it.
Family? I disowned it.
I would rise alone.
Chapter 1
After rebirth, I exposed critical security flaws in the prison and stopped multiple escape attempts.
My contributions cut my seven‑year sentence down to three.
I was getting out early.
My release date came. The sun blazed bright, the sky clear.
Upon my release, I was set to join the security agency right away.
High command gave me only seven days of leave before I reported for duty.
As I walked through the iron gates, a car pulled up.
Two people stepped out.
My sister Autumn Vale leaned against the door, her belly huge—at least seven or eight months pregnant.
Next to her stood Jett Marlow, my ex‑boyfriend.
They were driving my car.
My chest felt like a boulder had crashed straight through it.
The pain hit a second later, sharp and burning.
Autumn stroked her stomach, smiling like she owned the world.
That swollen belly was more blinding than the sun.
Jett touched her stomach gently, a softness I had never seen from him.
Before, he was only ever rough with me… unless he was begging for money.
He cooed at the unborn child.
“Baby, this is your aunt. She’s real smart, y’know.”
Smart.
Right. Smart enough to let them lock me away.
I was the stupidest person alive.
Jett slid into the driver’s seat like the car was his. Autumn sat in the passenger seat.
I sat in the back seat.
They held hands right in front of me, kissing and whispering like I wasn’t even there.
Rage boiled up from my bones, scalding my throat.
I felt sick. So sick I thought I’d throw up.
I wrenched the back door open and doubled over, retching.
Autumn glanced at me in the rearview mirror with pure disgust.
“Summer,” she said, like explaining to a child, “after you went in, Jett took care of me. So… things happened.”
Oh. Sure. “Took care of me” right into bed.
Jett noticed my cold stare and hurried to speak.
“Summer, you’ll forgive us, right? You’ve always been so understanding. You won’t mind.”
“Besides, your sister’s carrying my baby. That’s blood family.”
I let out a bitter, hollow laugh.
This was the man I once loved. These were my people.
In my past life, I’d been starved for love. Too obedient. Too desperate to be accepted.
I let them walk all over me. I fed their greed until they crushed me completely.
If I hadn’t taken the fall for Autumn, I would still be alive.
Dying once burned all the weakness out of me.
Family was no longer my weakness.
It was the fire that forged me into something new.
