Chapter 3

The psych ward staff see things spiraling and call the cops immediately.

Police arrive fast, Morretti name probably helped, and drag the woman off me.

I push myself up from the pavement, wincing.

This woman. She's the same one who stabbed me to death in my last life.

I exhale slowly. Thank God the cops got here in time.

I take a moment to steady myself, then hold up my bruised arm and point to my swollen cheek. I look past the crowd, past Dante, and speak directly to the officer.

"Officer, these people physically assaulted me. And everything they've been shouting is defamation, none of it is true."

The officer scans the crowd, then his gaze settles on my face.

"We received a report that you stole a high-value item, which led to the owner's suicide. We're going to need you to come with us."

No. Something's wrong.

If this were just Dante and Gianna manipulating public opinion to frame me, they'd never involve actual law enforcement. Not the Morrettis. They keep cops at arm's length, or in their pocket.

Unless the surveillance footage still exists. The same footage from my last life.

I force myself to stay calm. "I didn't steal anything. Do you have evidence?"

The officer pulls out his phone and shows me the screen.

"We pulled footage from the restaurant and a secondhand jewelry dealer downtown. The person who took the necklace and the person who sold it, both are clearly you."

I stare at the screen.

It's the same footage. Identical to what I saw in my last life.

I zoom in with shaking fingers.

The woman in the video doesn't just look like me. She is me, same face, same expressions, same outfit, same scratch on my handbag clasp.

Down to the last detail. Exactly like before.

My heart is pounding.

I was dragged out of that restaurant by psych ward orderlies before the dinner even ended. I never touched the necklace. And for the past five days, I haven't been out of a doctor's or nurse's line of sight for a single second.

So why is it still me in that footage?

The crowd erupts.

"The cops brought receipts and she's still denying it!"

"She killed that man! Lock her up and throw away the key!"

My mind races.

Before I checked myself into the psych ward, I knew Dante and Gianna would try to come after me again. I expected it.

But I didn't expect the evidence to be this perfect. Not a single crack. Not a single flaw.

I lower my head, thinking hard, and the crowd takes it as a confession.

"See? She's got nothing to say!"

"Mafia bitch! You should rot in hell!"

I lift my chin and look the officer dead in the eye. "I did not steal that necklace."

Dante strides forward and slaps me again.

"Still lying? Summer, the Morretti family does not harbor a thief."

"We're done. I want a divorce."

Gianna stands two steps behind him, one hand tucked casually in her pocket.

"Summer, just stop fighting it."

"We were all there that night. We all saw you take it."

"And the surveillance footage is crystal clear, three days ago, you walked into a jewelry shop and sold it."

"Confess and they'll go easy on you. Keep lying, and it'll only get worse."

The crowd and the livestream comments explode.

"Her own husband is testifying against her and she's still lying through her teeth!"

"Shameless! A man is dead because of her and she's living her best life. Does she even have a conscience?"

I turn back to the officer, keeping my voice steady.

"The timestamps on that footage don't add up. During the entire period those videos were recorded, I was inside a psychiatric facility. I couldn't have stolen the necklace, and I couldn't have sold it."

"If you don't believe me, pull the hospital surveillance. You'll see."