Chapter 1

I was the villain’s mother who died too soon.

Dead mother. Emotionally absent father. No one who really loved him.

That was how my son, Nico Moretti, grew up lonely, volatile, and eventually became obsessed with the first girl who ever showed him genuine kindness.

He tried to possess her.

He destroyed everyone who stood between them.

And in the original ending, he died with nothing.

The system told me I had to save him.

So I came back.

I looked down the alley at my currently very alive eighteen-year-old son.

Black leather jacket.

Silver rings.

Smudged eyeliner.

Blue-black hair falling over one eye.

An electric guitar case leaned against the brick wall behind him.

Three boys from his underground band stood nearby like backup muscle.

I looked at the kitchen knife I had just bought from the restaurant-supply store next door.

Save him?

Please.

I used to be a Donna.

This wasn’t redemption.

This was a mother disciplining her son.

And that was nobody’s business but mine.

When the system brought me back, Nico was cornering a skinny boy behind the music club.

He turned a switchblade lazily between his fingers.

“Tell me the truth, or lose a hand. Pick one.”

Black leather. Dyed hair. Piercings.

The full delinquent-rock-star package.

Then he tried to plant one boot on top of a dumpster to make himself look more intimidating.

He misjudged the height.

His leg slipped.

His crotch hit the edge.

His face twisted in agony.

I watched from the other end of the alley.

Then I silently walked into the store next door and bought a knife.