Chapter 1

I was vacationing at the beach over Halloween break when my best friend suddenly called.

“Emma, the groom’s been waiting for you for two hours. The guests are all threatening to leave. Where are you?”

I checked my phone. October 31. My wedding was still three days away.

I kept rubbing in my sunscreen and laughed.

“Save the Halloween pranks for someone else. This one isn’t funny.”

The camera swung around. On the screen, my boyfriend angrily ripped off his boutonniere and threw it on the floor.

My parents were at the entrance, trying to calm the guests.

“Why would I joke about something as important as your wedding?”

“Just get over here!”

The call ended. With no time to think, I grabbed a cab and rushed to the venue.

But the display in the cab clearly said October 31.

Furious and frantic, I vowed to make my best friend explain what was going on.

A welcome sign with a picture of my boyfriend and me stood outside the hotel.

I was about to rush inside when a vase fell from an upper floor and struck me in the head, killing me instantly.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the beach that same day…

The ocean breeze carried a faint, briny smell.

My eyes flew open. I gasped for breath, an icy chill running through my entire body.

In my previous life, a flowerpot had shattered against my skull.

Pain had exploded through me. My body had gone numb, and blood had spread across the ground.

Even in the last second before I lost consciousness, I couldn’t understand why my wedding had been moved up three days.

I had spent six months planning it. I’d handled every detail, right down to writing the date on each invitation myself.

Before I could sort through my thoughts, my phone’s shrill ringtone dragged me back to reality.

My lock screen displayed the countdown to my wedding:

[Three days until the wedding.]

My best friend, Lily Parker, kept calling. I pushed down my anger and answered.

Her frantic voice came through the phone.

“Emma, it’s your wedding day! The guests have been waiting for two hours, and Ryan’s losing his mind. Where the hell are you?”

I stopped a woman walking past and grabbed her arm.

“What’s today’s date?”

She looked at me as if I were an idiot.

“October thirty-first,” she said, then walked away without looking back.

I faced the camera again, my brows drawn together.

“Lily, you heard her. My wedding is on the third. Stop joking around. This isn’t funny.”

Anger spread across her face, and her neck flushed red.

“Emma, I can usually put up with your jokes, but dragging some stranger into your little act is going too far.”

“Ryan’s mother is about to have a heart attack because of you, and you’re still playing these childish games?”

Someone beside Lily snatched her phone.

My boyfriend, Ryan Mitchell, looked furious. When he saw me sunbathing at the beach in my swimsuit, he practically screamed.

“Emma, do you even want to get married? How can you be on vacation at the beach on a day like this?”

“Get your ass over here within an hour and explain yourself to my parents!”

Behind him was the wedding setup I had spent three months choosing.

But the terror of my death in my previous life swept over me. I didn’t dare act rashly.

I clenched my fists until the sting in my palms forced me to focus.

Taking a long breath, I kept my expression calm.

“Ryan, I spent six months planning this wedding. We set the date for November third. Why did you bring everyone here today to humiliate me?”

His expression changed abruptly, and he turned the camera toward my parents.

They stood by the entrance, pleading with the guests and apologizing over and over.

“We’re so sorry. We’ve been calling her. The bride will be here any minute. Please, just be patient.”

Ryan’s furious voice blared from the phone.

“You still think we’re joking?”

“You clearly never wanted this wedding in the first place. Fine. Let’s call the whole thing off!”

The call disconnected. The afternoon sun blazed down on the beach. It was nearly eighty-six degrees, but I was drenched in cold sweat.

Ryan had always been even-tempered and serious. He wouldn’t drag this many people into some ridiculous prank.

And Lily was even less likely to. She got annoyed at the smallest jokes I made. Why would she stage something this elaborate?

Could I really have remembered the date wrong?

My hands and feet were freezing. I looked around helplessly.

Then I thought of calling my grandmother, who lived out in the country.

She had raised me. She’d promised she wouldn’t miss my wedding for anything.