Chapter 1 They called me the " Destiny Thief " in the comment sections that haunted my vision , all because I'd accepted an opportunity the golden girl had thrown away . Now , in this second life , she was back to reclaim everything . And her anonymous audience was cheering her on . " This time , our baby girl won't let anyone steal what's hers . " The irony was , she'd been given a second chance at life and hadn't learned a single thing . 1 The moment consciousness returned , I knew . I was twenty - two again . A fresh college graduate , standing in a hallway of the Rhodes Corporation , waiting for a job interview . f'stared at my reflection in the polished marble wall - the face was mine , but a decade younger , free of the lines of stress and grief I'd earned . A dizzying wave of shock and elation washed over me . That's when the words appeared , materializing in the empty air before me . " Ugh , the last timeline was so gross . It made me sick ." " I know , right ? How did that side character manage to steal all the heroine's good luck ? " " Thank GOD for the do - over ! This time our baby girl gets to keep everything she deserves ! " I blinked , bewildered , staring at the ghostly captions floating in my vision . What the hell was this ? Heroine ? Side character ? Was this some kind of sick joke ? It took me a moment to decipher their meaning . The so - called " Destiny Thief , " the " side character , " was me . And " our baby girl , " the heroine ... was Claire Covington . My gaze snapped to the other side of the waiting area . There she was . Claire , sitting perfectly poised , though a flicker of confusion in her eyes suggested she , too , was taking in her surro- undings with a sense of dislocation . And in that instant , I understood . She was back , too . She'd also been reborn . " Why is that thief staring at the heroine ? " " She probably noticed Claire's acting weird after respawning . " " Oh god , don't tell me she's going to start scheming already . I can't watch that again ! " Just for looking at her , a torrent of vitriol flooded my vision , The words were vile , accusations laced with a bizarre , personal hatred . A hot surge of anger burned in my chest . What the hell ? When did I ever steal anything from her ? As if summoned by my fury , Claire rose and walked toward me . I watched her approach , my posture tensing with alarm . In our last life , we'd crossed paths a few times , but we were hardly acquaintances . Now , however , her eyes held a chilling , predatory glint that made the hair on my arms stand up . 10:70 10:10 Chapter 1 "Audrey , " she said , her voice dripping with a condescending sweetness . " We meet again . This time , I won't let you take what belon- gs to me . If you know what's good for you , you'll leave now and stop wasting everyone's time . " She paused , then sighed with theatrical pity . " Oh, but I suppose there's no point in telling you that now . You wouldn't understand . " With that , she turned on her heel and swept into the interview room , leaving me alone in the hallway , reeling . I was completely lost . What had I supposedly stolen from her in our past life ? A few fragmented memories surfaced , sharp and clear . But if I remembered correctly ... weren't all those so - called " opportunities " things she herself had thrown away ? In our past life , we had both been here , interviewing for this same position at the Rhodes Corporation . I had failed the interview and was on my way out , dejected . But then the Director of HR had rushed after me , calling my name . My heart had soared as I followed her back , but my excitement was tempered by her non - stop muttering under her breath . It turned out that Claire and I had been neck - and - neck in our interview scores . But because Claire's family was local and well - conn- ected , the company had given her the edge . The offer was hers . To their shock , upon hearing the news , Claire had demanded a ridiculously inflated salary . She insisted she was a " generational talent " and knew her worth . The HR Director had tried everything - reason , flattery , laying out the company's generous bonus structure and industry salary stan- dards - patiently explaining that no company on earth would offer that kind of money to a fresh graduate with zero experience .