Mira's POV
I never went to Coffee Bay.
The mystery text sits in my phone like a bomb waiting to explode, but I'm not stupid enough to meet a stranger who knows about my secret money. Not today. Not when I have one chance to change everything.
But now, standing in the Blackwell mansion with champagne glasses clinking around me and Vivian's angry eyes burning into my back, I'm thinking if I made the right choice.
Something is wrong with my sister. She's been weird since she picked me up—asking strange questions about money, looking at me like I'm a stranger. When I asked what the detective wanted on the phone, she went pale and said, "Nothing. Wrong number."
It wasn't a wrong call. I heard a woman's voice say "Detective" before Vivian hung up.
But I can't think about that now. Across the room, Ethan Blackwell is sharing a story that makes everyone laugh. He's twenty-eight, beautiful, and charming. His smile is perfect. His voice is warm. Women lean closer when he talks, like moths drawn to a flame.
I used to be one of those bugs. In my first life, I thought that smile meant he was kind. I thought his charm meant he loved me.
I was so wrong.
Now I see what I missed before. The way his eyes don't match his smile. The way he touches people's arms when he talks—calculating, not nice. The way he scans the room even while trying to focus on whoever's in front of him.
Ethan Blackwell is a singer. And five years from now, his achievement will cost me everything.
"He's perfect, isn't he?"
I jump. A woman stands beside me—older, maybe fifty, with sharp eyes that see too much.
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"Ethan Blackwell." She sips her champagne. "Everyone thinks he's perfect. Charming. Warm. Everything his bigger brother isn't." She nods toward the other side of the room. "But appearances can be deceiving."
I follow her eyes and see him. Adrian Blackwell.
He stands alone near the windows, looking at his phone. He's thirty-two, tall, and serious. His face could be cut from stone. While everyone else laughs and talks, he seems totally separate—like he's at a different party than the rest of us.
In my first life, I felt sorry for him. I thought he looked lonely and cold. I thought Vivian was brave for trying to get his attention, and I was glad when she "won" him so I could have fun, warm Ethan instead.
I didn't know Adrian wasn't cold. He was grieving. Taking care of his dying mother in secret while running a company and acting everything was fine.
"Why are you telling me this?" I ask the woman.
She smiles slightly. "Because you're Mira Chen. And in about five minutes, the Blackwell father is going to make a statement that changes your life. I wanted to give you a chance to choose wisely." She walks away before I can ask what she means.
My heart pounds. Who was that? How did she know my name?
Before I can follow her, someone taps a glass. The room goes quiet.
An older man steps forward—Mr. Blackwell Senior, the boys' father. He looks like Adrian will in twenty years: powerful, serious, frightening.
"Thank you all for coming tonight," he says. His voice fills the room easily. "As many of you know, I've made a choice about my sons' futures. Both Adrian and Ethan must marry within six months, or they lose their fortune."
Whispers spread through the crowd. I already knew this was coming, but hearing it again makes my stomach twist.
"Tonight," Mr. Blackwell adds, "we have two very special guests. Vivian and Mira Chen, daughters of the Chen family. Both my sons have showed interest in getting to know them better. So I'm suggesting something unusual." He stops, and the room holds its breath. "Each sister will choose which brother she wants to follow. Tonight. Right now."
The room bursts with shocked whispers.
My hands go numb. This isn't how it happened before. In my first life, the brothers picked us over several weeks of dating. We didn't have to pick instantly. We had time.
Why is everything different?
Vivian appears beside me, grabbing my arm hard enough to hurt. "What is happening?" she hisses.
"I don't know," I whisper back.
"Ladies?" Mr. Blackwell looks straight at us. "Who would like to choose first?"
Vivian's hand tightens on my arm. I can feel her shaking—not from fear, from rage. She's angry that I said I wanted Adrian. She thinks I'm trying to steal her plan.
If she only knew the truth. If she only knew that in another universe, she gets so jealous of my marriage to Ethan that she murders me.
But I can't tell her that. I can barely believe it myself.
"I'll go first," Vivian says loudly. She lets go of my arm and walks forward, her head high. She looks beautiful and strong, like a queen approaching a throne.
She stops in front of the room and smiles. "I choose—"
"Wait." The word leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
Everyone turns to stare at me. Vivian's face goes red.
"Wait?" she repeats, her voice dangerous. "Wait for what, Mira?"
My mind runs. Something is wrong. Everything about tonight feels wrong. The mysterious writing. The strange woman. The officer calling Vivian. The sudden change in how we're meant to choose.
This isn't how my first life went. Which means I'm not just revisiting the past—I'm in something new. Something I don't understand.
And if I don't understand what's going, how can I make the right choice?
"I—" I start, but Ethan's voice stops me.
"If I may," he says easily, walking forward. His smile is beautiful, charming. "I think the girls need more time to decide. This is a big choice. Perhaps we could give them until midnight?"
"No," Adrian's voice cuts through the room like a knife.
Everyone freezes. Adrian never speaks at parties unless he has to. Now he's walking toward us, his face still blank but something burning in his eyes.
"If we're doing this," Adrian says simply, "we do it now. No games. No delays." He looks directly at me, and I feel like he can see right through to my soul. "Choose."
"Adrian's right," Mr. Blackwell agrees. "The answer should be simple. Vivian, you were about to announce your choice."
Vivian's hands are fists at her sides. "I choose... Ethan."
The room gasps. She picked Ethan? But she wanted Adrian. She said she wanted Adrian. Why would she—
Then I understand. She changed her pick because I said I wanted Adrian. She's beating me. Making sure I don't get what I want because I tried to want the same thing she did.
My sister just gave up her plan out of spite.
"Interesting," Mr. Blackwell says. "And Mira? Which brother do you choose?"
Every eye in the room turns to me. Ethan smiles his charming smile, already assuming I'll be glad to have him. Adrian looks at me with those cold, calculating eyes.
This is it. This is the moment that changes everything.
In my first life, I picked Ethan and died for it.
But this isn't my first life anymore. Nothing is the same. And I'm scared that even picking differently might not save me.
"I choose—" I begin.
The lights go out.
All of them. The entire house plunges into darkness. Women scream. Glass shatters. Someone shoves me hard from behind, and I stumble forward, my hands reaching for anything to stop myself.
Then I hear Vivian scream. Not a startled scream—a frightened one.
"MIRA!" she shrieks. "SOMEONE HAS A GUN!"
A loud bang rings through the darkness.
Someone just fired a shot.
And I'm pretty sure they were shooting at me.