POV: Maya Chen
I kick the attic door as hard as I can.
A.X. was right. The lock breaks easily. It was never really locked. Jennifer was testing me, seeing if I'd panic or fight back.
I choose to fight.
I run down the stairs to my bedroom, my mother's police report clutched in my hands. Jennifer might have moved the original evidence, but she can't erase digital footprints. Not yet. In my first life, Jennifer didn't learn about covering her online tracks until three years from now.
I have a three-year advantage.
I lock my bedroom door and turn on my laptop. My hands shake as I type. I know Jennifer's passwords because I saw them in my first life when she got drunk and logged into her accounts in front of me. She used the same passwords for everything: RobertMills2010.
Her dead lover's name and the year they started their affair.
Stupid and sentimental. Perfect for me.
I access her email first. Thousands of messages. I search for "Robert Mills" and "insurance."
Fifty-three results.
My heart races as I open them. Email after email between Jennifer and Robert, planning my mother's death. "The brake lines need to look like normal wear," Jennifer wrote. "Make sure there's no evidence."
Robert replied: "Don't worry, baby. I'll make it look like an accident. Then we'll be rich and together."
But they never got together. Jennifer killed him too, five years later, when he started blackmailing her for more money.
I screenshot everything and save it to a USB drive. Then I access her bank records using her email to reset the password.
The account opens, and my stomach drops.
Jennifer has been stealing from my father for twelve years. Monthly transfers of fifty thousand dollars. Six hundred thousand dollars a year. Over seven million dollars total.
But that's not the worst part.
There's a recent transfer from three days ago. One million dollars sent to an account labeled "Lily Chen - Education Fund."
My stepsister Lily. Jennifer's daughter.
I click on Lily's account details. The account was opened yesterday—the same day Jennifer supposedly "woke up" from being reborn.
But something's wrong. The account has transactions going back three months.
My blood runs cold. Jennifer lied. She didn't wake up yesterday. She's been awake for at least three months, maybe longer.
And she's been paying Lily. But for what?
I dig deeper into Lily's account. There are payments to someone named "Derek Wang - Business Consulting."
Derek. My ex-husband from the first life. But I haven't met him yet in this timeline. I won't meet him for another year.
Unless...
I search for Derek Wang online. His social media profile loads. He's twenty-two years old, already in his senior year at Shanghai University. His profile says he started a "business consulting company" three months ago.
The same time Lily's account was opened.
They're already working together. Before I even meet Derek. Before any of the first timeline happens.
This isn't a repeat of my first life. This is something different. Something planned.
My phone rings, making me jump. The caller ID shows "Sophie Lin."
Sophie. My best friend from my first life who I pushed away because Derek didn't like her. This time, I won't make that mistake.
I answer. "Hello?"
"Maya Chen, why aren't you answering my texts?" Sophie's voice is sharp and worried. "I've been trying to reach you all night!"
"What texts? I didn't get—"
"Check your messages. Now."
I open my text messages. Twenty-three unread texts from Sophie, all sent in the last hour. But my phone never rang. Someone blocked the notifications.
The first text says: "MAYA, DON'T MEET A.X. TOMORROW. IT'S A TRAP."
My heart stops.
"Sophie, how do you know about A.X.?"
Silence. Then Sophie's voice drops to a whisper. "Because I'm the one who sent you those warning texts before you died. I've been trying to save you for three timelines, Maya. And I keep failing."
The room spins. "What?"
"I'm reborn too. I've died and come back three times. Each time, I try to warn you. Each time, you die anyway." Sophie sounds like she's crying. "The first time, I didn't know Jennifer was evil. The second time, I figured it out too late. The third time, I sent you those warning texts about Derek and Lily, but you still got hit by that truck."
"You've lived this three times?"
"Yes. And each time, A.X. appears and offers to help you. But Maya, A.X. is the reason you keep dying. They're not trying to save you. They're trying to control you."
My hands shake so hard I almost drop the phone. "Who is A.X.?"
"I don't know their real name. But I know they're dangerous. They've been reborn more times than any of us. They remember things from timelines that haven't even happened yet." Sophie's voice breaks. "Don't meet them tomorrow. Please. I can't watch you die again."
"But A.X. said Jennifer isn't my real enemy—"
"A.X. is LYING!" Sophie screams. "They always lie! In the second timeline, you trusted them. They promised to help you get revenge. Then they betrayed you to Jennifer, and you died in a fire. In the third timeline, they pretended to love you, and you died from poison. They kill you differently each time, Maya. It's like a game to them."
My mind races. Sophie has lived this three times. A.X. has lived it more than three times. Jennifer just woke up. And I'm caught in the middle.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I ask. "How do I know you're not the dangerous one?"
Sophie laughs, but it sounds sad. "Because I'm about to tell you something only your real best friend would know. In first grade, you peed your pants during the school play because you were too scared to ask for a bathroom break. I was the only one who saw, and I gave you my jacket to cover it up. You made me promise never to tell anyone."
Tears fill my eyes. That really happened. Sophie really was there for me, even when we were seven years old.
"I believe you," I whisper.
"Good. Now listen carefully. Don't go to that café tomorrow. Come to my house instead. I'll show you proof of everything—all three timelines, all the evidence. We'll figure out how to survive this together."
"Okay. I'll come to your house."
"Promise me, Maya. Promise you won't meet A.X."
"I promise."
We hang up. I sit on my bed, my mind spinning with information. Jennifer is evil. Derek and Lily are already planning something. A.X. is a killer who's lived through multiple timelines. And Sophie is the only person I can trust.
My laptop dings. A new email.
From: A.X. Subject: Sophie is Lying
I open it with shaking hands.
"Dear Maya, by now, Sophie has contacted you and told you I'm dangerous. She's lying. In truth, Sophie Lin has killed you in five different timelines. She's obsessed with you. In love with you. And every time you reject her love, she murders you and forces a reset so she can try again. I've been trying to stop her for seven timelines. Tomorrow at the café, I'll show you proof. Come alone. Your life depends on it. - A.X."
Below the email is a video attachment labeled "Timeline 4 - Sophie's Confession."
I click it.
The video shows Sophie standing over someone in a hospital bed. The camera is hidden, but I can see everything. Sophie is holding a pillow. The person in the bed is me—older, sick, dying.
"I'm sorry, Maya," video-Sophie whispers. "But if you won't love me, then no one can have you. See you in the next life."
She presses the pillow over my face.
The video ends.
My phone rings again. Sophie calling back.
I stare at the phone, my heart pounding.
Who do I trust? The best friend who's saved me three times? Or the mysterious A.X. who has proof my best friend is a killer?
One of them is lying. One of them wants to help me. One of them wants me dead.
And I have twenty-four hours to figure out which is which.