Chapter 3

My heart had been slamming so hard it hurt, and only now did it start to settle.

I picked up my phone, ready to call the police.

Then I stopped.

I held back.

There wasn't enough evidence yet.

And even if I could get them charged, the most they'd face was theft.

A few years inside, and they'd be right back out.

I remembered the humiliation and death that had ended my last life.

I decided to let my revenge come harder than that.

They'd already stolen my jewelry tonight.

They probably wouldn't come back.

Little by little, I drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning.

My best friend's mother had made breakfast.

The moment she saw me come out of the bedroom, she waved me over.

I walked to her.

"Irma, you must have slept well after that milk last night."

I nodded with a smile. "I did, ma'am. Slept straight through till morning."

"You just feel things too deeply. That's why you can't sleep."

Just then Lucretia came down the stairs.

"Want me to sleep in your room tonight?"

I looked at her. "It's fine. I'm used to sleeping alone."

"Honestly, what am I going to do with you."

"If you still can't sleep tonight,"

"remember to call me."

I gave a small hum. "Sure."

It wasn't until after breakfast that I noticed Lewis hadn't shown his face all morning.

When I asked, they told me.

He'd taken my car to go see his girlfriend.

Lucretia caught my hand.

"You won't be upset that my brother took your car, will you? You're my best friend."

I shook my head. "Not at all."

"Thank you."

"You're the best."

Not long after, my best friend's mother left carrying a bag of something.

She said she was taking out the trash.

But I knew perfectly well.

There was no trash in that bag.

It was the expensive lobster and prime rib.

They'd stayed at my place for a few days now.

And they'd nearly cleaned my home out.

Still.

I glanced up at the clock on the wall.

Watching the seconds tick away.

I knew.

Something even more outrageous was about to play out.

Toward evening.

Lewis drove my car back.

He came with a pretty girl beside him.

She was his girlfriend, Gwendolen Stanley.

In my last life.

Lewis had used my car to bring his girlfriend to my house.

And lied that the place was his.

While I.

I was the "maid" he'd hired.

Back then, in a fit of anger, I'd told Gwendolen the truth.

And demanded the whole family move out.

That same night, I met a brutal end.

This life.

I wasn't about to make the same mistake again.

So when Lewis strolled into the living room with his arm around his girlfriend, playing the young master, I decided to play along.