Chapter 1: The Hero Who Didn’t Die

Everyone said my husband died a hero—an only child, sacrificing himself for someone else. I took care of my in-laws without so much as a complaint, carrying every burden they threw at me, biting my tongue through every insult. I did it all for the family, for the memory of a man I thought I understood.

Until the day I glanced at my mother-in-law’s phone and saw a text: "Mom, Jessica’s pregnant. You’re going to be a grandma!"

Jessica Harper—the woman my husband had supposedly saved. The woman he actually loved, the one he’d risked everything for. The one who’d always been in the center of his heart, while I was just a fixture in the background, barely noticed.

Turns out, he wasn’t dead at all. He’d slipped into someone else’s body. And together with his family, they squeezed every last drop out of me—even got my daughter killed.

Lucky for me, I got a do-over.

The day I died, the Sutton family was celebrating, making sauerkraut pierogis—those chewy dumplings stuffed with tangy cabbage that always made the kitchen smell sharp and cozy. The house my parents left me was now theirs. My mother-in-law, grinning from ear to ear as she cradled her chubby grandson, used a pellet gun to blow apart my daughter’s favorite Barbie dolls—one decapitated, one missing a leg, another smashed to bits. Just as heartbreaking as my daughter’s car crash.

My father-in-law stood in the doorway, puffing on a cigarette, flicking ash into my parents’ beloved orchid—turning it into his personal ashtray and trash can. Inside, my husband and Jessica Harper curled up together on the couch, whispering and giggling:

"I saved you once; you gave me a second life. That’s real salvation. We’re Romeo and Juliet—"

Jessica wore my Chanel lipstick, my silk robe, her cheeks flushed with pure happiness.

I hovered outside, a ghost locked out of my own home. I was nothing but a memory to them, invisible and unwanted.

The Suttons, wracked by guilt, hired a bunch of self-proclaimed mediums, filled the storage room with crosses and salt lines, and scribbled my daughter’s and my names on a sheet—supposedly to keep us away forever.

They really thought they had all their bases covered.

I hadn’t had this nightmare in ages, but when I jolted awake, my hands were still trembling with rage, my chest tight as if I’d just come back from the dead.

My second chance began the day David Sutton became their so-called hero. The search and rescue team told us to brace for the worst. In my first life, I was so frantic I missed the clues—like what was on David’s phone.

His phone was packed with texts, calls—proof of all those secret meetings with Jessica Harper.

Heroic deed? Please. Try sneaking around and getting yourself drowned! Some hero. Who was he kidding?

My in-laws lost it, and suddenly every funeral detail landed on me.

I had David Sutton cremated, then had the ashes ground again and again until they were powder-fine—only then did I agree to bring them home. The absurdity of it all made me want to laugh and scream at the same time.

Back home, I paused in the kitchen, took a breath, then whipped up a batch of sauerkraut pierogis for my in-laws—with a special ingredient this time.

I also set out a fresh box of Marlboros for my father-in-law—doctored with a little something extra, just for him.

After that big meal, they actually perked up a bit. My father-in-law lit up, started rambling about his son’s glory days. The tip burned a weird color. I cleared the table, the corners of my mouth twitching in a cold, private smile.

When everything was finally cleaned up, I wiped my hands, put on my most worried face, and said, "There’s something I probably shouldn’t say, but I just can’t let it go. I feel like David can’t rest like this—not after what that woman did to him."

I showed my in-laws the chat logs I’d pulled from his phone.

It was all Jessica Harper—flirting, arranging meetups, always pulling him in. She survived, he drowned.

Knowing how much they despised women like that, I figured they’d hate Jessica Harper even more than they hated me right now.

"I met Jessica Harper—the one David saved. She told me he owed her, that he gave up his life willingly… She didn’t even say thank you."

My mother-in-law’s eyes went bloodshot with rage. "What kind of trashy girl is she? How could she treat my son like that?"

I forced out some crocodile tears, hiding my face like I couldn’t take it. "David meeting a woman in private and texting isn’t the end of the world, but this—she can’t just cost someone his life and walk away! I’d rather skip the whole hero thing if it means David never gets justice."

"How can we just let this go?" they demanded.

I dangled the bait: why not ask for money?

Last time, I was too green. By the time the funeral started, Jessica Harper had already left the hospital, showed up at our door, fell to her knees, and put on a show, fooling everyone.

But this time, I had David’s cremation done fast. Before Jessica even left the hospital, I’d already poured gasoline on the Suttons’ fury.

The day Jessica Harper came to visit, she didn’t even make it past the entryway before my father-in-law threw her and her gifts out together.

With the Suttons shouting, "Quit pretending. You didn’t spend a cent and cost us our son—yeah, right!"

Jessica Harper must’ve been floored. It was her first time meeting everyone, including me. Her face went pale, then red.

She tried to say it was an accident, but the Suttons came at her like a pack of wolves, ready to tear her apart.

She finally dropped the nice-girl act and screamed that we were trying to extort her. That was the first real crack in their little alliance.

The Suttons demanded $800,000. Jessica called her lawyer. Suddenly, no one was talking about heroics anymore.

That’s more like it.

David Sutton? Please. Hero? Not even close.