Chapter 1

The sterile air of the pre-flight briefing room chilled me to the bone.

It was the taste of betrayal, bitter and metallic, that filled my mouth once more.

Liam, my fiancé, and Chloe, his protégé, had crushed my career, my reputation, my entire life.

They had effectively killed me.

Then, I opened my eyes.

I was back in the exact room, at the precise moment it all went wrong.

My heart hammered, a frantic drumbeat of terror and a cold, rising fury.

"Ava, are you listening?" Mark, my second-in-command, looked at me, concerned.

He told me Chloe Vance had brought an undeclared briefcase, a "gift."

I recognized it instantly: Project Chimera, a dangerous AI prototype.

In my past life, I'd tried to protect Liam, only to have him orchestrate my complete downfall.

He' d publicly accused me of corporate espionage, painting me as unstable and emotional.

I had broken protocol for him, and he used it as a weapon.

That version of me, naive and trusting, was dead.

"You' re right, Liam," I heard myself say, my voice softening.

"A gift is just a gift. We' ll let it go this one time."

My team stared at me in disbelief.

But I wasn' t saving him.

I was giving him enough rope to hang himself.

This time, he would be the one to fall.

…

…

The cold, sterile air of the pre-flight briefing room was a ghost on my skin. It was a memory I had tried to bury, a nightmare I had lived through once before. The taste of betrayal, bitter and metallic, filled my mouth again. I had been killed by the two people I trusted most in the world, my fiancé Liam and his adoring mentee, Chloe. My career, my reputation, my life-all destroyed. And then, I woke up.

I was back. Back in this exact moment, in this exact room. The universe had given me a second chance, a rewind to the day it all went wrong. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of terror and a cold, rising fury. I would not make the same mistakes again.

"Ava, are you listening?"

My second-in-command, Mark, was looking at me with concern. "The manifest for Mr. Patterson's flight just came in. His guest, Chloe Vance, has an additional piece of luggage. A gift for him, she says."

The name Chloe Vance hit me like a physical blow. I looked past Mark, through the reinforced glass of the control room, and saw them. Liam, my fiancé, the charismatic tech genius, stood with his arm draped casually around Chloe's shoulders. She was gazing up at him, her eyes shining with an obsession I now recognized all too well. In her hands, she held a sleek, silver briefcase.

Project Chimera.

The name screamed in my mind. In my past life, that briefcase held a dangerous AI prototype, a device capable of mass manipulation. I discovered it, and like a fool, I tried to handle it quietly to protect Liam. I reported it, yes, but I used my own reputation as leverage to soften the blow for him, making it seem like a mistake by his mentee.

He thanked me by orchestrating my complete and utter downfall.

"According to protocol, all electronics, especially undeclared prototypes, need a full security scan and registration," Mark said, his voice firm. He was a good officer, always by the book.

I nodded, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. "You're right. Go tell them."

Mark walked out to the private lounge. I watched through the glass, my hands clenched. I saw him speak to Chloe, who immediately pouted and turned to Liam.

Liam' s easy smile vanished. He waved Mark away with a flick of his wrist. I couldn't hear his words, but I didn't need to. I knew his arrogance, his belief that rules were for other people.

Mark returned, his face tight with frustration. "He refuses. He said it's a personal gift and that I shouldn't waste his time."

Right on cue, Chloe herself glided into our control room, the silver briefcase held protectively in her arms.

"Ava, darling," she cooed, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Liam is so busy. We can't be held up by these little formalities. You understand, don't you? It's just a gift."

She was undermining me in front of my own team, just like last time.

"It's standard procedure, Chloe," I said, my voice flat.

"But we're not standard people," she replied with a laugh, glancing back at Liam as if for approval. "Liam is Liam. And I'm his guest. Surely you can make an exception for your fiancé?"

The word "fiancé" felt like ash in my mouth.

Another one of my team members, a young woman named Sarah, muttered under her breath just loud enough for me to hear. "Here we go again. She thinks because she's his little pet, she owns the place. I heard she got her last assistant fired for looking at Liam for too long."

The whispers from my team confirmed it. This was real. I was back. And this time, I would not be the one to fall.