Ethan Sterling was in critical condition, poisoned by a new designer drug. As the family's private physician, I was forced to be the cure. My body, treacherously fertile, caught the first time. After the wedding, I gave him what his family had always wanted: beautiful, brilliant fraternal twins. But our marriage was a cage. Ethan wouldn't let our children call him "Dad." He spent his nights getting drunk, clutching a photograph of Chloe Reed—the one he called his soulmate. On our tenth wedding anniversary, he locked me and our children in the basement and burned us alive. It turned out that for all those years, he had harbored a deep-seated resentment for the night I saved him. He was stubbornly convinced that I had used his moment of vulnerability to claw my way into his powerful family. In his mind, I was the reason his relationship with Chloe had shattered; I was the reason she had spiraled into a depression that ended with her walking into traffic. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the night Ethan Sterling was drugged. This time, I give the opportunity to "save" him to Chloe. And I walk toward the library… 1 "Dr. Chen, you have to go in. Mr. Sterling is getting worse." The housekeeper’s frantic voice barely registered. My body was locked in a tremor I couldn't control, a phantom memory of fire licking at my skin. The agony of being burned alive felt branded onto every nerve ending. In the back of my mind, I could still hear the desperate cries of my children, trapped with me in that suffocating basement. "Dr. Chen?" That name felt foreign. It had been a decade since anyone had called me that, not since I had become Mrs. Ethan Sterling. "It's his birthday party," the housekeeper, Mrs. Hayes, stammered. "I don't know what happened, how it could go so wrong." Her words were the key. I stopped dead. I was back. This was the night it all began. I took a deep, shuddering breath, the air tasting of a second chance. "Mr. Hayes," I said, my voice surprisingly steady, turning to the anxious man beside her. "Go and get Chloe Reed. It looks like Mr. Sterling has been drugged. A powerful aphrodisiac, from the symptoms." The head housekeeper looked stunned. "But, Doctor..." "Get her," I commanded, my tone leaving no room for argument. "Unless you want to be responsible for what happens next." As he scurried away, I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to calm the frantic hammering of my heart. In my first life, I was the one who opened that door. Ethan had descended on me like a feral animal, a storm of heat and desperation. And the staff, just outside the door, had dutifully ignored my cries. The inevitable happened. I got pregnant. A quick, quiet wedding followed. I thought it was the beginning of a fairy tale. It was the prologue to a nightmare. Ethan despised me. He saw my presence that night as a calculated, predatory move. He was convinced I had used his moment of vulnerability to claw my way into his wealthy family, shattering his relationship with Chloe, the one he considered his soulmate. He blamed me when, months later, a distraught Chloe walked into traffic and was killed. He never let our children call him Dad. On our tenth wedding anniversary, he locked me and our twins in the basement and set our world on fire. I pushed the searing hatred down, letting it cool into a hard, dense stone in my gut. I smoothed my collar, turned away from Ethan’s bedroom, and walked toward the library. If my memory served me right, Ethan’s father had fallen victim to the same plot. The Sterling men were notorious for their difficulty in fathering children. Ethan himself was the product of IVF, a fact that had secured his otherwise tenuous position as the sole heir. This time, what if he wasn't? I pushed open the heavy oak door to the library. Marcus Sterling was slumped in a leather armchair, his face flushed, his silk tie hanging loose around his neck. When he saw me, his eyes widened, like a drowning man spotting a piece of driftwood. He lunged, pulling me into the room and into the start of my new life. 2 The next morning, I walked out of the library, my clothes rumpled, my body aching. I nearly collided with Chloe Reed, who was emerging from Ethan’s bedroom, a smug, satisfied glow about her. She froze when she saw me, then her lips curled into a contemptuous smirk. "Well, well, Dr. Chen. Doing the walk of shame, are we?" Her voice was laced with derision. "Or are you just feeling guilty? I guess seducing an old man for a shot at the family fortune isn't exactly something to be proud of." I gave her a look as cold as a morgue slab. "Takes one to know one." Chloe's face tightened. "Don't you dare compare us. I'm going to be his wife. You... you're just the kind of mistake that gets paid off and sent away." My gaze dropped. She was right, in a way. In the first timeline, the maid who had been sent in to "help" Marcus was dismissed with a generous check. But I wasn't that maid. I was ferociously, almost unnaturally fertile. It was the one card I held that had gotten me through the Sterling gates before. I glanced meaningfully at the maid's uniform she was still wearing from her "duties" last night. "I'd worry more about yourself, Chloe." Just then, Ethan stepped out of his room, wrapping an arm around Chloe’s waist. He looked at her with a tenderness that twisted something in my chest, a phantom pain from a life I no longer wanted. "Chloe, are you okay? You should be resting." She leaned into him, her voice a breathy whisper. "I have to get back to work. I can't just disappear." She shot a pointed look at me. "I'm not Dr. Chen, after all. I don't have the luxury of leisure." Ethan grunted. "She's just staff, same as anyone else." He turned his gaze back to Chloe, softening it. "Don't worry. I told you I'd take care of you." His eyes, when they finally fell on me, were chips of ice. "I heard you're the one who sent for Chloe. Smart move. But don't get any ideas. You stay in your lane and away from things that don't concern you." His words were a dagger, reminding me of a past I was desperate to escape. He always knew I had feelings for him. In that first life, I learned that the Sterlings had anonymously funded my college scholarship on Ethan’s recommendation. I developed a crush, a quiet admiration that led me to take the job as the family’s private physician, just to be near him. Before we were married, I had asked him if he truly wanted this. His answer was chillingly pragmatic: "It has to be someone. It might as well be you. Don't overthink it. Just be Mrs. Sterling." Once our children were born and his position as heir was cemented, the facade dropped. He was a user. A hollow man. "Understood," I murmured. This time, with me out of the way, I was morbidly curious to see what kind of epic love story they would manage to build. As I turned to leave, Ethan’s hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around my wrist like a manacle. His eyes narrowed, focusing on a patch of skin visible at my collar. A dark, ugly mark stood out against my skin. "What is this?" His voice was a low growl. "Have you no shame? Giving yourself away to just any man." The sudden movement sent a jolt of pain through my bruised body. I fought to keep my face impassive, meeting his furious gaze with a cold one of my own. "That has nothing to do with you, Mr. Sterling." His face went dark with a strange, possessive rage I couldn't decipher. "Who was it? One of the groundskeepers? Is that all you're worth?" Before I could answer, a small, pained whimper came from behind him. "Ow... my leg..." Ethan dropped my wrist instantly and spun around. Chloe was leaning against the wall, her face a mask of delicate suffering. "I think I pulled something..." Without a word, Ethan swept her into his arms. Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest. But over his shoulder, her eyes met mine, and they were gleaming with pure, unadulterated triumph. I remembered this Chloe. The one who used her feigned fragility as a weapon to keep Ethan tethered to her. When he married me in the other life, she spiraled, jumping from one wealthy man to another, trying to make him jealous. It was a path that led her to hard drugs and, eventually, a fatal overdose that looked like a traffic accident. And Ethan, the fool, had mythologized it as a death born of a broken heart. I placed a hand on my lower abdomen. A deep, primal heat was already spreading from my core, a feeling more intense than the last time. It looked like Ethan was about to have a few little brothers. A slow, cold smile spread across my face. 3 Marcus Sterling was called away on urgent business overseas shortly after that morning. His only communication was a text message: Don't worry. I will take responsibility for you. Wait for me. I didn't need his reassurances. Even if "responsibility" just meant a bank transfer, the moment my pregnancy test came back positive, a wedding would be non-negotiable. What I hadn't anticipated was how quickly my life in the Sterling manor would become a living hell. My disheveled exit from the library that morning had been witnessed by the entire staff. They had all assumed I'd been with Ethan. But when Ethan publicly declared that Chloe was to be his future wife, instructing everyone to treat her as such, the whispers started. "So if it wasn't the young master... who was Dr. Chen with?" "Who do you think? Some stranger she snuck in. The Sterlings have a strict no-fraternization policy for staff. She's broken a cardinal rule." "I always thought she seemed a bit too proper. Turns out she's just desperate." Mrs. Hayes, the housekeeper, had seen me go into the library, but without a direct order from Marcus, she kept her mouth shut. The rumors, fueled by the other staff eager to curry favor with the newly elevated Chloe, festered and grew. My clothes would be "accidentally" dropped on the muddy floor of the laundry room. My tea would sometimes have a vile, slimy texture. "Oh, Dr. Chen, your sweater fell again," Chloe would say, clutching a thermos of some nourishing broth, her face a perfect mask of false sympathy. "These maids are just so clumsy." I'd meet her gloating eyes, pick up the soiled garment without a word, and walk away. The gossip turned venomous. They said I'd been promiscuous before I even arrived. They said I flirted with the male staff. The whispers became so detailed and grotesque, they even fabricated the color of the underwear I wore each day. "I heard she was with the gardener last night." "Wouldn't surprise me. I saw her coming out of the hedges behind the greenhouse, her blouse was all wrinkled." I clenched my jaw and endured. Their goal was simple: to humiliate me until I quit. I was on my way to find Mrs. Hayes, to demand some semblance of order, when I ran straight into Ethan in a quiet corridor. He grabbed my arm, yanking me into a small, dark supply closet. "You just can't get enough, can you?" he hissed, his face inches from mine, his eyes burning with contempt. "Is sleeping your way through the staff list your new hobby?" I struggled against his grip. "Let go of me, Ethan. You're pathetic, believing every piece of gossip you hear. What's next, are you going to force yourself on me?" I sneered. His grip tightened painfully. "A woman like you doesn't get to use a word like 'force'." I stared back at him, silent. Finally, he spoke, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "I know you want me. Behave yourself, and I'll let you be my mistress." The sheer arrogance of him was nauseating. "I'm not interested." SLAP. The blow was so sharp my head snapped to the side. "Your stable boy can't give you what I can," he snarled. "Ava, you're testing my patience. End it with him." My cheek stung, and I could taste blood. For a split second, a flicker of something—regret? concern?—crossed his face. He softened his tone, a clumsy attempt at seduction. "Stop being stubborn. Chloe gets the title, but you'll have everything else she does." I laughed, a raw, bitter sound. "I said, I'm. Not. Interested." He shoved me back, sending a stack of linen boxes tumbling. "Then get the hell out of my house! The Sterling family has no need for a private doctor who sleeps with the help!" I didn't even grant him a final glance. I turned and walked out. Leaving now was for the best. I couldn't stomach another day of watching him and Chloe play house. I stepped out of the closet and found Chloe standing there, her eyes narrowed with a venomous glare. "Ava. Why do you always have to get in my way?" I scoffed. "Please. A man like Ethan is a prize only you would want." I brushed past her and headed for the grand staircase. "Dr. Chen, what are you doing? No, please, don't!" Her sudden scream made me whip my head around in confusion. In that split second, I saw her deliberately throw herself backward, tumbling dramatically down the long, carpeted stairs. 4 My eyes widened in disbelief. I couldn't process what had just happened. Down below, servants rushed toward the sound of the fall. Ethan burst out of the supply closet, his face a mask of panic, and vaulted down the stairs to Chloe’s side. "Chloe!" He gathered her into his arms, his voice thick with anguish. She was covered in theatrical scrapes and bruises. "It's not Ava's fault," Chloe whimpered, clinging to him. "It's my fault. I took you from her. It's only natural she'd be angry." She looked up at Ethan, tears streaming down her face. "But I just can't bear to give you up." "Ava!" Ethan’s roar echoed through the foyer. "How dare you! Get down here!" Two burly security guards seized my arms, dragging me down the stairs and forcing me to my knees in front of Chloe. The impact on the marble floor sent a blinding shock of pain up my legs. "Which hand did you use to push her?" Ethan demanded, looming over me. "I didn't touch her," I said through gritted teeth. "Check the security cameras." Chloe sobbed harder into Ethan’s chest. "No, don't. It was me. I fell all by myself. It has nothing to do with Dr. Chen." "You're too kind, Chloe," Ethan murmured, stroking her hair. "You don't need to protect a monster like her." A bitter, hysterical laugh escaped my lips. No matter the timeline, no matter the circumstances, Ethan would never, ever believe me. "Since you can't remember which hand it was," Ethan said, his voice dropping to a chillingly calm tone, "we'll just have to break your right one." A cold spike of fear pierced through me. I was a doctor. My hands were my life, my career. "No, you can't!" I shook my head, panic rising in my throat. "You can call the police, you can have me arrested, but you can't touch my hands!" A cruel smile played on Ethan’s lips. "So they are important to you." He savored my terror. "Alright then. We'll start with the fingers. Someone get me a hammer." From the safety of his arms, Chloe watched me, her eyes alight with vicious glee. I was drowning in hatred, choking on the injustice of it all. I had done nothing wrong, yet here I was, trapped in their sadistic drama once again. Ethan took the heavy mallet from a groundskeeper himself. He raised it high, bringing it down with sickening force on my smallest finger. Pain, white-hot and absolute, exploded in my hand. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a scream. My finger was a mangled, twisted ruin. "This is the punishment for not learning your place," he whispered, his breath hot against my ear. "You were so much more obedient in our last life, why did you have to change..." I didn't catch the end of it, but the implication was clear. He remembered too. A fresh wave of fury, potent and pure, surged through me. I locked my eyes on his. He raised the hammer again. "Beg me," he taunted. "Beg me, and maybe I'll stop." "No," I spat. "Ethan Sterling, in this life, one of us is going to destroy the other." His face contorted in rage, and he lifted the hammer for the final blow.
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