THEIR COLD AND CONFUSED HEARTS

The marriage contract that would merge our two corporate empires was laid out before me. I was supposed to sign my life away to Jace Robertson, the man I had loved since we were kids.

But my love had been burned away the night the chandelier fell. When it came crashing down, my fiancé didn't pull me to safety. He shoved me aside to shield my cousin, Cassidy, with his own body.

He chose her. Instinctively.

My own mother rushed to her side, later telling me I needed to be more understanding. "Cassidy has always been delicate, Ellie. Jace did the right thing."

It was then I remembered everything. In my last life, I died alone in a cold hospital room from a cancer they found too late. Jace was on a romantic trip to the Amalfi Coast with Cassidy. My mother was at a charity luncheon.

My last thought was a regret so deep it could tear a hole in the universe. I had wasted my one precious life on people who saw me as nothing more than a stepping stone.

But now, I was back. The pen was in my hand, the contract on the table. Jace wanted Cassidy. My mother adored her. Fine. Let them have each other.

With a steady hand, I drew a single, clean line through my name on the signature line and wrote in a new one: CASSIDY COLEMAN.

This time, I would live for myself.

Chapter 1

Ellie Stanley POV:

The contract that signed away my life was also supposed to be my marriage certificate.

"Ellie, for God' s sake, just sign it," my mother, Jocelyne Stanley, said, her voice as crisp and cold as the starched white linen on the dining table. "Jace is on his way. The Robertsons are expecting confirmation within the hour."

Her fingers, adorned with rings that could fund a small country, tapped an impatient rhythm against the polished mahogany. The sound echoed the frantic beat of the grandfather clock in the hall, each tick a countdown to the end of my autonomy.

I stared down at the document. It was printed on thick, creamy stock, the kind of paper that felt important, permanent. It smelled of money and lawyers. My fingers traced the embossed seal of Robertson Corp intertwined with Stanley Industries. A merger. A marriage. To them, it was the same thing.

A lifetime ago-or maybe just last year-I would have treated this moment with a reverence it didn' t deserve. I would have imagined my hand shaking with joyful anticipation, my heart fluttering at the thought of binding my life to Jace Robertson. I had loved him, or at least, I had loved the idea of him. I' d loved the boy who promised to protect me, the man I thought I saw glimpses of beneath the polished corporate heir.

But love had been burned out of me, cauterized by a thousand small betrayals that culminated in one blindingly clear moment. The Stanley Foundation Gala. A night of champagne, fake smiles, and a near-death experience that had served as my final, brutal awakening.

"I' m waiting, Ellie," my mother prompted, her tone sharpening.

I picked up the heavy, gold-plated fountain pen left for me. It felt cold against my skin. I didn't look at her. I didn't need to. I knew the exact shade of disappointment that would be clouding her perfectly made-up face.

Jace arrived then, his footsteps brisk on the marble floor. He didn' t greet me. He just walked straight to the table, his eyes fixed on the contract.

"Is it done?" he asked my mother, loosening the knot of his silk tie as if the air in the room was suffocating him. He was anxious. I could see it in the slight tremor of his hand as he ran it through his perfectly styled dark hair.

He was handsome, devastatingly so. The kind of handsome that made heads turn, that graced the pages of business magazines under headlines like 'Most Eligible Billionaire Bachelor.' He had a strong jaw, eyes the color of a stormy sea, and a smile that could disarm anyone.

Anyone but me. Not anymore.

I remembered Cassidy sighing dramatically whenever Jace entered a room, her hand fluttering to her chest. "Oh, Ellie, that jawline could cut glass. You' re the luckiest girl in the world," she would say, her eyes not on me, but glued to him.

I looked at Jace, my fiancé, the man who was supposed to be my partner for life. "I need a minute to read this over properly," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "You can go wait outside, Jace. I' m sure you have more important things to do."