A slap cracked across my face. I pressed my hand to my cheek and stood there, stunned, before it finally registered: I had been reborn on my wedding day.
A tearing pain ripped across my scalp.
Mrs. Abbott's contorted face filled my vision, and just behind her stood Denise Galloway, wearing that coy half-smile that never quite reached her eyes.
This was exactly how it had happened before. Denise had waved a forged medical report in front of my mother-in-law and wound her up like a toy.
She'd nearly destroyed my reputation and my wedding.
Mrs. Abbott spat at my feet.
"Shameless little tramp! You almost set foot in my family! I'll beat you dead first!"
Denise put on her concerned act, voice dripping with false sympathy:
"I know the report looks bad, but what if Miss Galloway caught those infections by accident? A dirty towel at a public bath, maybe..."
Mrs. Abbott's voice pitched higher, furious:
"Stop defending her! That medical report says she's had over a dozen abortions! You think THAT was an accident?!"
The aunts and neighbors who'd come to help with my bridal preparations heard every word.
Their gazes slid toward me, thick with disgust and contempt:
"Good lord! The outpost requires a physical before marriage, and it turns out the Galloway girl is THAT kind of woman!"
"Thank God his medic got here in time, or poor Ezra would've actually married that filthy thing."
In my previous life, despair had swallowed me whole. I'd thrown myself at Denise, clawing at her clothes, screaming:
"Why are you doing this to me?! Why do you have to destroy everything I have?!"
Our fight drew Ezra and his commanding officers.
Denise crumpled into Ezra's arms, the picture of wounded innocence:
"Captain Mason, I was just delivering the premarital exam results. She seemed so nervous, I made a little joke to lighten the mood. I never imagined your wife would get angry enough to hit me!"
I begged Ezra through my tears, trying to explain how she'd slandered me, fabricated diseases out of thin air.
All of it to tear us apart and ruin the only happiness I'd ever managed to find.
Denise just blinked those wide eyes of hers, her voice dripping with hurt:
"I never said that! I said you had a little cold. You must have misheard me. It's all just a misunderstanding."
"Besides, I don't even know you. Why would I want to ruin your happiness? If anything, I hope Ezra finds all the happiness in the world!"
I tried to pull Mrs. Abbott and the other older relatives over to back me up.
But Ezra cut me off, his tone measured and dismissive:
"Shelagh, enough. It was a joke. Denise is our unit's medic. If you keep making a scene, you're embarrassing all of us."
My eyes burned as I looked at his commanding officer's stony face and Ezra's exasperated expression.
In the end, for the sake of his reputation and his career,
I swallowed every last drop of humiliation.
But not this time. Never again.
I shoved Mrs. Abbott aside,
wound my arm back, and slapped Denise across the face with everything I had.
She stumbled and fell to the ground, staring up at me in open-mouthed shock.
Her shriek turned every head in the room.
Just like in my previous life, Ezra came striding over with his commanding officer close behind.
Denise's eyes reddened instantly. She scrambled to her feet and lunged toward Ezra's arms.
But I moved first. I ripped the veil from my head and hurled it to the ground.
"Ezra Mason, if your wedding gift to me is letting your medic spread lies that I'm diseased, then this wedding is off!"
Ezra stared at me, stunned:
"Shelagh, what are you talking about? What lies?"
He turned to Denise with a furrowed brow, though his voice stayed gentle:
"What happened? Walk us through it. How did this misunderstanding start?"
"If you did something wrong, just apologize properly. And if Shelagh's the one who made a mistake, I'll have her apologize to you. Don't worry."
Denise's dewy eyes shimmered, and she parted her lips to speak.
I cut her off with a cold laugh and turned directly to the commanding officer:
"Sir, I don't know how your medical staff are trained, but apparently they're free to mock people at will and tell them they're sick."
"If this was sanctioned by you or by Ezra, then please cancel our marriage application. I refuse to marry a man who doesn't respect me."
I unpinned the corsage from my chest, the one that marked me as the bride, dropped it on the floor, and turned to leave.
"Shelagh!"
Ezra closed the distance in two strides and grabbed my arm. His eyes were tight with panic:
"I had no idea she'd joke around with you like that. She's just... she's a little too friendly, doesn't know where the line is. I'll apologize on her behalf!"
"But you can't just throw around words like 'calling off the wedding.' Do you understand what that means? Both units sent their leadership here today to celebrate with us. If you throw a fit right now, it'll..."
A bitter laugh echoed inside my chest.
Ezra was the youngest captain at the outpost. If everything went smoothly, he was on track for a promotion this year.
A happy marriage and a devoted spouse were points in his favor.
No matter how much he loved Denise, he would never let her destroy his image in front of his superiors.
In my last life, I loved him. I couldn't bear to see him caught in the middle, so I backed down.
But in this life, all that love had curdled into hate.
And hate gave me the freedom to squeeze every pressure point he had, to collect on the debt from my previous life.
I turned back to him, my voice ice:
"Fine. I'll go through with the wedding. But I need to see some sincerity first."
My gaze locked onto Denise, and I let a tremor of wounded pride creep into my tone:
"A wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Instead, she told everyone I was sick on the happiest day of my life. That's not a joke. That's a curse. Even an enemy wouldn't stoop that low."
"What Denise Galloway did was absolutely out of line!"
I touched the handprint on my cheek where Mrs. Abbott had slapped me, and let the tears fall.
"Look, she misled my own mother-in-law into turning on me. She nearly destroyed my wedding. Don't I deserve an explanation?"
The older women in the crowd rallied to my side immediately.
Mrs. Abbott noticed the red mark on my face, and guilt crept into her voice as she spoke up for me.
"She's right! It was all Denise Galloway running her mouth, making me turn on my own daughter-in-law!"
"She owes us an explanation!"
Only then did Ezra notice the handprint on my cheek. Something flickered in his eyes. Concern, maybe.
But the moment I mentioned making Denise pay, that concern dissolved into hesitation.
I looked past him and turned directly to the commanding officers.
They responded without delay:
"Denise Galloway is demoted. One month of community labor."
The corner of my mouth curled.
"And she needs to apologize to me. Right here. In front of everyone."
Denise stood before me with tears brimming in her eyes, bent at the waist, and apologized.
Then, under a chorus of scorn from the crowd, she turned and ran off crying.
Ezra's gaze followed her retreating figure. His throat bobbed. He turned and said:
"She doesn't know her way around here. I'll go check on her, make sure nothing happens."
I let out a cold laugh and didn't stop him.
I waited. Ate my fill, drank my fill, and counted the minutes until roughly the same time they'd ended up in bed together in my previous life.
Then I stood up and put on a show of surprise.
"Where did Ezra go? Did he have too much to drink? Everyone, help me find him!"
I made sure the commanding officers came with me as I headed toward the bridal suite.
My dear sister's favorite pastime had always been making me watch with my own eyes as she and my fiancé
tangled together on the wedding quilt I'd sewn with my own hands, right there in our bridal suite.
So right now, they had to be in there.
This time around, I was going to humiliate them both in front of everyone.
Let the whole world see them for what they were. Let them be charged with adultery and rot in prison together, since they loved each other so much.
Breathless sounds drifted through the door. I strode forward and kicked it open.
But the only person inside was Ezra, leaning against the headboard, watching us with a perfectly blank expression.
The glass of drugged water that should have been in his system had been splashed across the floor.
And Denise, who should have been in this room, was nowhere to be seen.
My mind went blank for a split second.
"Well, if everything's fine, we'll leave you two to it."
The officers read the room, turned around, closed the door behind them, and left.
Ezra's gaze settled on me. It was the same look of disgust I'd known so well in my previous life.
"Shelagh. I can't believe that even after being sent back, you still haven't learned your lesson. You actually tried to get your own sister thrown in prison."
"But this time, you won't get your way. I told you. As long as I'm here, no one touches Denise or the baby she's carrying."
"So. You came back too."
Shock jolted through me, but I steadied myself almost instantly.
There was no point in pretending with him anymore.
I let every trace of warmth drain from my face.
"Then let's get a divorce."
But my words earned no agreement. Ezra's brow furrowed hard, and he cut me off.
"No."
I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. A bitter laugh escaped me.
"Are you out of your mind, Ezra? You're so terrified I'll bully her. You keep saying you want to make it up to her and the baby. If we divorce, you can marry Denise. You can treat her as well as you want, out in the open. Problem solved."
"Unless..."
A possibility crossed my mind, and I smiled. It wasn't a kind smile.
