Ryan had died once.At least, he was pretty sure he had.There weren’t many other explanations for falling asleep in a cheap apartment after working fourteen hours straight and waking up as a seventeen-year-old boy bleeding beside an unfamiliar highway.That had been three years ago.Now, at twenty, Ryan stood in front of a pair of massive black gates and stared at the mansion beyond them.He had imagined many endings for his second life.This wasn’t one of them.“Mr. Harrington and his family are waiting inside, Young Master.”Ryan glanced at the middle-aged man standing beside him.Young Master.He still wasn’t used to that.Three days ago, he had been Ryan Cole, a young man living alone and trying to figure out why he had been thrown into a world that felt strangely familiar.Then two men in expensive suits had appeared at his workplace.There had been DNA tests.Questions.More tests.And finally, an answer.Ryan wasn’t Ryan Cole.Or at least, this body hadn’t been born with that

By seven in the evening, Ryan had learned three things about the Harrington family.First, they took the word dinner far too seriously.Second, rich relatives could apparently smell inheritance from miles away.And third—Someone kept following him.Ryan stopped in the second-floor hallway.The footsteps behind him stopped too.He turned.Emma stood six feet away.She smiled.“Hi.”Ryan stared at her.“Why are you following me?”“I’m not.”“You’ve been behind me for ten minutes.”“I live here.”“You followed me into the library.”“I read.”“You picked up a book upside down.”Emma looked down at the book in her hand.It was, in fact, upside down.She calmly turned it around.“Experimental reading.”Ryan stared at her.Is she always like this?Emma’s mouth twitched.“Yes.”Ryan froze.“What?”Emma’s eyes widened.“I mean—yes, I read.”“You just said—”“Dinner!”She suddenly pointed downstairs.“People are arriving.”Then she ran.Ryan watched her disappear around the corner.Weird.Very

Ryan opened the door.Five people stood outside.His father.His mother.And all three sisters.He stared at them.They stared back.Nobody spoke.Ryan slowly looked from Catherine to Richard, then toward the three women standing behind them.“What are you doing?”Emma opened her mouth.Victoria immediately grabbed her arm.“We came to check on you,” Victoria said.“All five of you?”“Yes.”“At the same time?”Sophia smiled awkwardly. “We’re a close family.”Ryan looked at their faces.This family is terrible at lying.Sophia’s smile disappeared.Richard cleared his throat.“Your mother wanted to make sure you had everything you needed.”Ryan looked at Catherine.She nodded quickly.“Yes.”“At eleven at night?”Catherine hesitated.Ryan sighed.“Whatever.”He stepped aside.“Come in.”The five Harringtons entered.Ryan closed the door, then returned to the sofa.His phone was still in his hand.Catherine noticed it immediately.“Did something happen?”Ryan looked at her.For half a se

Ethan was watching them.Ryan noticed it eventually.Not immediately.His attention was still on the anonymous messages glowing on his phone.You saved her this time.But how many of them can you save before you forget what happens next?Ryan read the words once more.A cold feeling settled in his stomach.Someone knew too much.Not just that Victoria’s accident had been supposed to happen.The sender knew Ryan had remembered it.That should have been impossible.Ryan had told no one about the novel.No one knew he had lived another life.No one even knew he wasn’t truly the Ryan Harrington who had disappeared fifteen years ago.At least…That was what he had believed.“Ryan?”Victoria’s voice pulled him back.He locked the phone.“I’m fine.”“You don’t look fine.”“I haven’t looked fine since I arrived here.”Under normal circumstances, Sophia would have laughed.She didn’t.Richard was still speaking to the security team.Catherine stood beside Victoria, holding her daughter’s hand

Ryan stared at the photograph.The woman was tied to a wooden chair.Her hair was streaked with gray now, but the face was unmistakable.The same woman from the old photograph.His nanny.Alive.At least when the picture had been taken.Ryan zoomed in.A concrete wall.One broken window.A metal shelf.Nothing else.The location attached to the message pointed to an abandoned industrial district forty minutes away.Come alone if you want to know why she took you.Ryan’s jaw tightened.Obviously a trap.Outside his room, Catherine stopped running.But if she’s really alive…Catherine turned toward Richard’s study.Ryan grabbed his jacket.He had no intention of going alone.He also had no intention of sitting in the mansion while someone who might know what happened fifteen years ago was being held hostage.He opened his bedroom door.Two security guards were waiting.Ryan stopped.That was fast.“Mr. Harrington wants you downstairs,” one said.Ryan stared at him.How the hell does Dad