Qing Gongzi
16 Published Stories
Qing Gongzi's Books and Stories
My Life, Their Game: The Second Chance
Sci-fi I was 17, a perfect 1600 on my practice SAT in hand, and my controlling mother, Maria, was smiling.
It was the unsettling, predatory smile that always preceded the worst moments of my first life.
"Hypothetically," she purred, "would you swap that score with Jennifer, just to see your twin sister happy?"
I was a fool then, so desperate for her approval, so blind to the truth, that I said yes.
That "yes" sealed my fate: Jennifer stole my academic success, got into an Ivy League, and became a lauded 'genius' influencer.
I was left with her failing grades, denied every opportunity, condemned to dead-end jobs, and ultimately, died agonizingly young in a hospital bed.
My parents watched me fade, their low voices filled with chilling satisfaction, not grief.
"Stella was born to ensure Jennifer's success," my mother had said, "It's her purpose. She served it well."
That day, I learned my life was a resource pack, a disposable battery for my sister.
But then, darkness turned to blinding light, and I gasped, bolting upright on our floral living room sofa.
The same sun streamed through the window, the dust motes danced as before.
My mother looked up from her phone, that same predatory gleam in her eyes, about to ask the same question.
This time, no.
This time, things would be different. The Neglected Wife Makes Her Spectacular Comeback
Romance Ciel rushed to the VIP hospital suite, terrified by an "urgent" text about her husband's grandmother.
Instead, she found her billionaire husband, Dion, tenderly comforting his mistress, Baylie.
Dion threw a separation agreement on the table, demanding Ciel take the public blame for his infidelity and leave with nothing.
"Sign it," Dion sneered, "or tomorrow morning, every sordid detail of your time in the foster system will be on the front page."
He threatened her with her sealed childhood records—the deepest, most painful trauma she had guarded with her life.
The cruelty didn't stop there. To protect his mistress's fraudulent charity, Dion used his corporate power to get Ciel suspended from her law firm.
Worse, just to punish Ciel, he deliberately funded a known domestic abuser, giving the monster the financial power to take away the children of Ciel's only pro bono client.
For three years, Ciel had been a silent, obedient wife. She had endured his coldness, even foolishly hoping for the anniversary diamond necklace that she ultimately saw sparkling around Baylie's neck.
How could the man who once vowed to protect her weaponize her deepest scars and destroy innocent lives just to prove he could?
But the despair finally burned down to ash.
Ciel didn't cry or beg. She calmly left the antique wedding ring on his pillow, shredded their only wedding photo, and completely erased her digital footprint from his world.
When Dion finally realized what he had lost, the game had already changed. My Husband Sold Me to the Don
Mafia My husband, Hudson Higgins, used my dowry to buy his way into the Chicago underworld while his family treated me like a servant in my own home. I endured their insults for the sake of my five-year-old daughter, Josie.
But then, the unthinkable happened. I found Josie's small, lifeless body by the garden fountain, while my sister-in-law Karly and mother-in-law Eleanor stood by, complaining about their party plans.
"She was just too naughty," Karly sneered, adjusting her pearls over my dead child.
When I turned to Hudson for help, he looked at me with dead eyes and told me it was just her fate. In that moment of absolute grief, I remembered the words of the ruthless Don Damien Falcone: "Your husband is a man who knows how to close a deal."
The truth sliced through me like a blade. Hudson hadn't just ignored the Don's interest in me; he had actively sold me to the Devil of Chicago to buy his seat at the table. He let his family punish me for the very sin he committed.
I had lost everything-my dignity, my mother, and now my baby-all sacrificed for a man who traded his wife's body for power. The sorrow in my chest evaporated, replaced by a scorching, blinding thirst for a blood vendetta.
After lunging at Hudson and feeling the world explode into white, I opened my eyes to find myself back in the winter of 1928. It was the exact night the nightmare began, and Don Damien Falcone was walking toward me in his penthouse.
This time, I won't be the broken bird in his gilded cage. If Hudson wants to use me to climb the ranks, I will use the Don's dark obsession to burn the Higgins family to the ground. Too Late, Husband: Watch Me Shine
Modern My husband gave $250,000 of our life savings to his mistress for a fake surgery. I had sacrificed my own career to build his, and this was my reward.
When I confronted him, he twisted our deepest shared trauma into a weapon.
"You were so quick to get rid of our first baby, weren't you?" he sneered.
His words hit me just hours after I had secretly terminated our second pregnancy-a choice his cruelty had forced upon me. I found him at the hospital comforting her, and he shoved me to the ground in front of a crowd, calling me heartless.
He brought her back to our home, wrapping her in my favorite blanket on my sofa, while I was still reeling from the loss of our child.
He thought our twenty years together meant I would always forgive him, that our love was a fortress.
He was about to learn it was a house of cards, and I was holding the match. Reborn: After 99 Divorces
Modern I stood at the edge of the freezing pond on the Boone estate, my body trembling with a fear that rattled my bones. Across from me, Amanda Olsen looked immaculate in her cashmere coat, a sharp contrast to the jagged reality I was trying to hold together.
"Why?" I whispered. Amanda just smiled, admitting she killed Grandpa Boone because he actually liked me. She pulled out a thick envelope-divorce papers Cordero had signed that morning. She told me he called me a parasite and was celebrating with her the night I suffered a miscarriage.
Before I could even scream, Amanda lunged and shoved me into the icy water. My heavy wool coat acted like a sponge, dragging me into the artificial abyss. I thrashed and gasped for air, but Amanda just stood on the bank, watching me drown with her hands tucked casually in her pockets.
As my lungs burned and the darkness closed in, I realized I had spent my entire marriage taking their abuse. I was the "foster trash" and the "gold digger" who let them win every single time. I was dying alone, hated by the husband I had tried so hard to love, while my murderer stood victorious on the shore.
I never fought back. I just let them destroy me.
Then, a violent spasm tore through my body. I sat up gasping, sucking in dry, air-conditioned oxygen instead of murky pond water. I wasn't dead. I was back in the opulent master suite, surrounded by red rose petals and wedding decorations.
The digital clock glowed: October 14, 2019. I had gone back five years to the very night my nightmare began.
The bathroom door clicked open, and Cordero stepped out, looking at me with the same cold disgust I remembered. But as I gripped the silk sheets, a new resolve hardened in my chest. This time, I wasn't going to be the victim. This time, the Boone family was going to find out exactly what happens when you push someone too far. From Humiliation To New York Queen
Modern My rival' s lies got me expelled from USC. The fight with my parents that followed was our last; they died in a car crash that night, leaving me with crushing debt and my rebellious brother, Bennie.
To save Bennie from jail time over a fight he didn't start, I took a humiliating job at a high-end nightclub, a place where my dignity was the price of admission.
There, I was forced to kneel before my ex-fiancé, Demetri. He watched with cold indifference, now engaged to the very woman who destroyed my life. He was even the lawyer for the family Bennie had supposedly bullied, his voice a weapon as he publicly shamed me.
He was my everything, yet he believed I was a monster. He stood by as my world crumbled, choosing to defend the woman who orchestrated my downfall.
After the truth was finally exposed, he sacrificed everything for me, losing his career and fortune in a desperate attempt at redemption. But it was too late. I had already taken my brother and moved to New York, ready to build a new life and find new love, far from the man who shattered my old one. From Servant to Savior
Romance The alarm shrieked through the silent mansion, a sound I knew better than my own heartbeat. For fifteen years, I had been Dorian Steele' s living, breathing medicine, my blood the only cure for his fatal seizures.
But then, his fiancée, Ainsley, arrived. She was flawless, a vision of cold, stunning beauty, and she looked like she belonged here.
He shoved me away from him, pulling the silk sheets up to cover my worn pajamas as if I were something dirty.
"Kira, clean this mess up. And get out." He dismissed me like a servant, after clinging to me for life just moments before.
The next morning, she sat in my chair, wearing his shirt, a love bite visible on her neck. She taunted me, and when I spilled coffee, he didn't even notice, too busy laughing with her.
Later, Ainsley accused me of breaking Eleanor' s prized porcelain vase. Dorian, without question, believed her. He forced me to my knees on the broken shards, the pain searing my flesh. "Apologize," he growled, pressing down on my shoulder. I whispered my apology, each word a surrender.
Then, they drained my blood for her, for a fabricated illness. "Ainsley needs this," he said, his voice flat. "She's more important." More important than the girl who had given him her life.
I was a resource to be exploited, a well that would never run dry. He had promised he would always protect me, but now he was the one holding the sword.
I was nothing more than a pet, a creature he kept for his own survival. But I was done.
I accepted an offer from the Estes family, a desperate, archaic idea of a "propitious marriage" to their comatose son, Emmett. It was my only escape. Coma, Cruelty, and Caleb's Betrayal
Modern After donating bone marrow to save my brother, a rare complication put me in a coma for five years.
When I woke up, I found my family had replaced me. They had a new daughter, Hailie, a girl who looked just like me.
They told me my jealousy over her caused a car crash that forced Hailie and my parents into hiding. To make me atone, my fiancé, Caleb, and my brother locked me in an isolated villa for three years. I was their prisoner, their slave, enduring their beatings because I believed my suffering was the price for my family's safety.
Then, a doctor told me I had terminal lung cancer. My body was failing, but my tormentors decided on one last act of "kindness"-a surprise birthday trip to a luxury resort.
There, I saw them all. My parents, my brother, my fiancé, and Hailie, alive and well, drinking champagne. I overheard their plan. My torture wasn't penance. It was a "lesson" to break me. My entire life had become a cruel joke.
So, on my birthday, I walked to the highest bridge on the island, left behind my medical diagnosis and a recording of Hailie's confession, and jumped. Shattered Vows, Unveiled Truths
Romance My husband, David, beamed with pride at our son Ethan' s university acceptance. I sat across the table, a ghost in a designer dress, invisible. I was the silent engine of their success, but tonight, I was out of fuel.
That night, a notification from our shared cloud storage revealed David' s secret: a photo album of him and a young flight attendant, Olivia Hayes, on romantic trips. My heart shattered as I recognized a delicate silver necklace on her-the one I' d admired and hinted at to David, which he' d bought for her.
When David and Ethan walked in, their laughter died as they found me on the floor, the truth exposed on my phone. David' s anger flared, accusing me of being hysterical, while Ethan, his loyalty firmly with his father, told me not to ruin their night. David then casually tossed a credit card at me, thinking money could fix everything. I refused, my voice clear and steady as they walked away, leaving me alone in the house I had built, a home where I no longer belonged.
The man I married, who once vowed "Wherever you go, I will go," had just run to another woman as I lay bleeding on the airport lounge floor after an explosion. He didn't even glance back. That crystal-clear moment solidified everything: he wouldn't save me, he wouldn't even try.
I looked at him, the stranger he had become. "I want a divorce, David," I declared, my voice loud and clear, silencing the chaos around us. I knew then that the only thing I regretted was not ending this sooner. Architect of Her Own Life
Romance My hands methodically folded a sweater, placing it into an open suitcase on the bed, sharp creases betraying the inner turmoil I tried to hide.
Outside, New York City glittered, oblivious, my life' s soundtrack of distant sirens and traffic hum now signaling its end.
An email confirmed it: one-way ticket, New York to Rome.
Then the elevator dinged. He was home, and he wasn' t alone.
Liam O' Connell, my partner of eight years for whom I' d put my own promising career on hold, walked in with his protégé, Chloe Davis, draped over his arm, their laughter about a private joke stopping short at the sight of my packed bags.
Chloe' s sharp eyes surveyed the scene, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips before she feigned concern, asking if I was redecorating.
Liam' s charming smile faltered, replaced by annoyance, and he accused me of being dramatic, as if my leaving was just a tantrum.
I had built his tech empire with my architectural eye, crafted presentations that won investors, only for him to shatter our partnership and give me a front-row seat to his betrayal.
The man who once promised me everything on a Brooklyn fire escape, now stood before me, offering a new car key-a desperate, material bribe-for the wound that cut straight to my soul.
He fundamentally misunderstood; he thought my love was a negotiation, a problem to be managed.
"You were sleeping with your protégé, Liam," I stated, my voice steady, cutting through his classic, cowardly excuse that "it just happened."
He dismissed eight years of my life, of my love, as meaningless, claiming Chloe was young, confused, and looked up to him.
But I saw his profound, unshakable disrespect.
I had given him everything, only to be replaced by a newer, shinier model, a cruel commodity in his world.
"No, it' s not complicated," I said, ringing with clarity. "You made a choice. And now, I' m making mine."
As the car sped towards the airport, I pulled out my phone and turned it off, leaving him on the sidewalk with his useless car key.
This wasn' t an escape; it was a homecoming.
I was flying towards a future I would build for myself, free from a man who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. The Second Chance Citadel
Modern The Citadel' s emergency comms system exploded with red alerts.
I was at my post, ready to defend, until I saw the man I loved, Matthew, my fiancé, leading his entire elite team off-campus for a supposed "training exercise."
It was a lie orchestrated by his obsession with Sabrina, the newest recruit they were celebrating in downtown.
In another life, I' d chased after them, only to witness Sabrina' s capture and execution, leading Matthew' s grief-fueled rage to turn on me, ultimately putting a bullet in my head.
This time, I stayed, determined to change our fate, but Matthew' s arrogance and blinding infatuation led to a new nightmare.
He cut me off, refused to believe the attack was real, clinging to his misplaced trust in Sabrina while the Citadel fell, his mother Maria captured and later brutally killed.
Then came the accusation, an echo of my past: Matthew, again consumed by rage and manipulated by Scythe' s lies, aimed his gun at me, blaming me for his mother's death.
Why did he always fall for the trap? How could he be so blind?
But then, a loyal junior agent burst in, exposing Sabrina as the hidden daughter of Scythe' s leader, the true mole who poisoned our team.
As Matthew' s world shattered, his father, Director Lester, stepped in, putting a decisive end to Sabrina' s treachery.
Now, I'm back, armed with knowledge of betrayal and a second chance, tasked with rebuilding the Citadel from ashes.
But the phantom pain of Matthew' s first betrayal and the searing memory of his bullet still haunt me. The Imposter Husband
Modern My mother-in-law, Brenda, a vision of fragile piety, sat pregnant on my porch swing.
Everyone saw a grieving widow; I saw a master manipulator.
Then he arrived-the man who looked exactly like my husband, Mike, but wasn't.
He defended Brenda's fake theatrics, grabbing my arm when I refused her water.
Something inside me snapped. I slapped him.
Brenda' s false shock turned the town against me, labeling me "unhinged."
My imposter "husband" systematically destroyed my memories, even disassembling our baby' s crib.
He called the sheriff, painting me a deranged threat.
At a public ceremony honoring my real husband, Brenda feigned a fall, inducing premature labor.
Amidst the horror, 'Mike' then accused me of infidelity, twisting my miscarriage into a tale of instability.
The town condemned me, believing every word.
I was the villain, the crazy wife; their judgment was a scorching fire.
They thought they saw a monster.
But their entire world was a carefully constructed lie.
And I held the truth.
"There is shame in this family," I declared, my voice cutting through their righteous fury, "but it's not mine."
My methodical vengeance was about to dismantle everything. When Love Became Cruelty
Modern For five years, I chased Marcus Thorne' s ghost.
My husband, a test pilot, vanished, but I refused to believe he was gone.
I sold my house, exhausted my savings, working endless shifts to fund my search.
My last treasure, my father' s telescope, was pawned for a gala ticket-a chance at closure.
At that glittering event, I saw him.
Marcus. Alive.
He smirked beside my stepsister, Izzy Vance.
"She actually did it, Marcus! Pathetic," Izzy scoffed, revealing their cruel prank.
His eyes, tender for Izzy but ice-cold for me, confirmed his betrayal.
He blamed my father for Izzy's fake scar, claiming my family "owed" them.
My five years of grief? A calculated lie to punish me.
They publicly shamed me, then imprisoned me, slowly destroying my spirit.
How could the man I loved orchestrate such monstrous cruelty with my own stepsister?
Every taunt, every manipulation, the deliberate shattering of my father' s telescope-why this relentless torment?
What secret sin warranted such vengeance?
But when they framed me for arson, then abandoned me in the scorching desert with rattlesnake attractant, nearing death, a new fire blazed.
I would not be their casualty. The Silence That Screamed
Mafia My life was a perpetual grind, a blur of diner shifts and endless cleaning jobs.
Every ache, every sleepless night was for him, for Mike, and the "debt" he owed to the terrifying Desert Scorpions motorcycle gang.
Fifty thousand dollars, he said, or they'd kill him.
I sold my mother's locket, praying it would buy his safety, buy our future.
My son, six-year-old Leo, coughed beside me, his asthma worsening, the inhaler almost empty.
I kept telling him, "Mommy's getting the money, sweetie. Daddy's going to be safe, and then we can get you the best doctor."
But one night, Leo's struggle for breath became a desperate fight for air.
Panic seizing me, I scooped up his limp body, clutching the crumpled "debt" money, and ran into the street.
"Children's clinic, fast!" I screamed to the cab driver.
The city lights blurred, Leo gasped, and then, a terrible, final silence filled my arms.
He was gone. My baby was gone.
Numb, I stumbled towards the warehouse Mike described, Leo's cold ashes in my bag, still with the money for his "contact."
But then, Mike's voice drifted out, light and cruel: "This 'Scorpion' scare was genius. Got her working like a dog."
"So, no actual threat?" I heard.
"Nah. Just needed to keep her on the hook. Tiffany's wanting that new kitchen, and Cody's birthday is next month."
My world shattered. Leo died for a lie.
The money felt like poison, his ashes like lead.
A cold, hard resolve solidified in my heart.
Mike Johnson would pay. You might like
My Life, Their Game: The Second Chance
Qing Gongzi I was 17, a perfect 1600 on my practice SAT in hand, and my controlling mother, Maria, was smiling.
It was the unsettling, predatory smile that always preceded the worst moments of my first life.
"Hypothetically," she purred, "would you swap that score with Jennifer, just to see your twin sister happy?"
I was a fool then, so desperate for her approval, so blind to the truth, that I said yes.
That "yes" sealed my fate: Jennifer stole my academic success, got into an Ivy League, and became a lauded 'genius' influencer.
I was left with her failing grades, denied every opportunity, condemned to dead-end jobs, and ultimately, died agonizingly young in a hospital bed.
My parents watched me fade, their low voices filled with chilling satisfaction, not grief.
"Stella was born to ensure Jennifer's success," my mother had said, "It's her purpose. She served it well."
That day, I learned my life was a resource pack, a disposable battery for my sister.
But then, darkness turned to blinding light, and I gasped, bolting upright on our floral living room sofa.
The same sun streamed through the window, the dust motes danced as before.
My mother looked up from her phone, that same predatory gleam in her eyes, about to ask the same question.
This time, no.
This time, things would be different. The Face In The Footage
George B My name is Sarah Miller, and I’m reliving the worst day of my life.
I’ve already lived this nightmare once: my five-year-old daughter, Emily, gone.
She’s found drowned, and chilling security footage shows *me* pushing her into the pond.
The first time, I was branded "Monster Mom," a "Child Killer," and died in prison, screaming my innocence.
My parents withered under the shame.
But I woke up, back on that same Tuesday.
I vowed to change everything, locked every door, kept Emily home.
Yet, she vanished from our locked house.
And the footage? It still shows *me* pushing her.
My husband, Mark, erupted in rage, my mother-in-law shrieked accusations as I was arrested.
How can this be happening again? I changed everything! The house was secure!
Who is doing this? Who is truly framing me in this impossible loop?
As the handcuffs clicked, a desperate, insane lie tore from me: "It wasn't me! It was my parents! They’re the killers!"
This shocking accusation, born of raw anguish, bought me precious time.
It forced the police to look beyond the obvious, leading them to a fake preschool setup and the terrifying truth: my identical twin sister, Jessica, thought long dead, was alive.
And she wanted my life. The Last Call: From Star to Scapegoat
Zhi Yao My life was a blueprint for success.
Ethan Miller, a rising star in architecture, about to claim the American Horizon Architectural Prize, surrounded by my loving sister Ashley, my beautiful fiancée Victoria, and even my adopted brother Jason.
But one call, one dark warehouse, shattered it all.
Ambushed, my hands crushed, my career obliterated, I woke to a nightmare.
My own sister and fiancée, the women I trusted most, confessed to orchestrating the brutal attack to clear the path for Jason’s success.
They abandoned me in an earthquake, then left me for dead on an exploding yacht, all while publicly slandering my name to cover their tracks.
The betrayal was a pain far deeper than any broken bone, a horrifying injustice that twisted my soul.
Why them? Why Jason? Why this absolute destruction of my life?
But just as despair threatened to consume me, a mysterious offer emerged: "reforging" through Phoenix BioGenesis.
I accepted, not for healing, but for a chilling rebirth, returning as a ghost of my former self, a silent observer ready to meticulously dismantle the lives of those who thought they had won.
This time, the masterpiece would be my revenge. Betrayal's Echo: A Wife's Revenge
Huang Xiaohuai Dr. Evelyn Reed had finally done it.
Three years of relentless work, the neural interface cure for her paralyzed husband, Ethan, was a success.
A triumphant smile touched her lips as she reached for her phone to share the life-changing news.
But an email caught her eye, a cheerful invitation that turned her world to ice.
"Dr. Ethan Vance and Miss Tiffany Reed request the pleasure of your company at the celebration of their marriage."
Ethan. Her husband. Tiffany. Her own niece.
It was a sick joke, a complete error, yet the high-end Parisian wedding agency confirmed its legitimacy.
Her joy evaporated, replaced by a cold dread as she drove through the night, a ghost to a celebration she was never meant to see.
She saw him there, standing, whole, laughing, with Tiffany tucked into his arm, radiant in white.
He kissed her, a tender kiss meant for the world to see, and Evelyn' s world tilted off its axis.
Then she heard them talking, overheard their cruel confessions: he had always loved Tiffany, while Evelyn was merely "a necessary step," "a convenient solution."
The man she had sacrificed everything for, the man who had promised his undying love, had been betraying her for two years with her own blood.
The pain of betrayal, the hollowness of her sacrifice, the absolute injustice of it all, left her hollowed out, empty of tears.
She watched him walk away from her in the hospital, choosing Tiffany, right after a fire, right after she found out a bomb, orchestrated by Tiffany, nearly killed her.
This wasn't a love triangle; it was a war, and she was losing.
Driven by a quiet, ice-cold resolve, Evelyn began to fight back. Stolen Code, Broken Heart, Fierce Comeback
Gu Mumu The flickering TV in my dingy motel room was the only light, illuminating the peeling wallpaper.
On screen, Ethan Vance, my ex-fiancé, smiled his perfect, camera-ready smile, touting 'EvolveAI' and his "future-defining" Prometheus algorithm.
Reporters swarmed him; he was the king of Silicon Valley, the brilliant mind behind the world' s most advanced AI.
My world. My code. My future. He had stolen it all. Everything.
I remembered the day he left, his eyes cold and empty, my three years of coding on a hard drive in his bag, a venomous "You were always just… holding me back."
He didn't just take the code; he took my savings, my reputation, blacklisting me from an industry I helped build, all while Bethany Cole, my best friend, stood arm-in-arm with him, eyes gleaming with triumph.
They left me with nothing but eviction notices, forcing me to sell everything I owned, living as a ghost under pseudonyms, cleaning up security flaws for companies that would never hire Scarlett Hayes.
The pain of that betrayal was a constant, suffocating darkness, a deep pit I couldn' t climb out of, trapped by unseen enemies and their whispers of my failure.
But watching him on that screen, basking in my stolen glory, a cold, sharp rage began to burn through the despair.
In that cheap motel, I swore a vow: I would get justice, I would take back what was mine, and he would not build his empire on my ruins.
My chance came weeks later: a vulnerability in his IPO network led me to a familiar digital signature-a back door I'd built into 'Prometheus,' a failsafe only I knew. He was arrogant, so certain he' d erased me he never looked for the ghost I' d left behind.
He was on the verge of becoming a billionaire. And I had the key to his kingdom.
A slow smile spread across my face. The game wasn't over. It had just begun. I wasn't going to be a victim. I was the storm he never saw coming. I would let him climb to the peak of his triumph. And then, I would burn it all to the ground. Lost Time, Found Love: Ava’s Return
Rum Runner The first thing I felt was the slow, steady beep of a machine.
I opened my eyes to a sterile white ceiling, definitely not my bedroom.
A nurse rushed in, dropping her clipboard, whispering, "She' s awake!"
Then a doctor: "Mrs. Hayes? Ava? Can you tell me your name?"
"Ava Reed... Ava Hayes."
"And the year?"
"2023. It' s October."
Their pitying looks made my skin crawl. "Ava," the doctor said gently, "It' s not 2023."
He pointed to a digital screen: July 12, 2038.
Fifteen years. Gone. Just like that.
The car crash that felt like yesterday had apparently happened a decade and a half ago.
My Lily, my four-year-old daughter, would be nineteen.
My husband, Ethan…
I called him, desperate, finding his contact on a sleek, alien device.
A voice answered, but it wasn' t his. It was cold, hollow.
"Who is this?"
"Ethan? It' s me. It' s Ava."
Then, a harsh, bitter laugh. "My wife is dead. She died fifteen years ago. Don' t you dare use her name again."
He was about to hang up.
"The scar!" I screamed, "Under your left rib, from Miller' s Peak! And Lily… she called her bear 'Sir Reginald Fluffen-Bottom' !"
Silence on the line. Then a whisper: "How… how do you know that?"
Who was this stranger on the phone? What had happened to my life, my family?
I was Ava Reed, a woman robbed of fifteen years.
"Because I am your wife, you idiot. Oceanville General, Room 304. Ten minutes."
I hung up, a cold, hard knot forming in my stomach.
Ethan never showed. Instead, a slick lawyer offered me a hotel, a car, a credit card.
I took the car.
My daughter. Lily. 
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