The Heiress' Vengeful Second Chance

Seven months of marriage, and my husband hadn't laid a single finger on me.

Not even on our wedding night. That evening, he'd abandoned me in our bedroom to go tend to his "friend." When I got into a car accident and begged for help, all I got was a cold "Go to hell" before he took a call from some woman cooing, "Max, get me the stockings."

I only learned the truth right before I died.

Now I'd woken up reborn - back to month three of this sham marriage. My phone rang with Max Hardy's demanding voice: "Stella, transfer seven hundred grand. Rowan wants a new car."

For a long moment, I just stood there clutching the phone, reality sinking in. I was really back.

"Hello? Did you suddenly go mute?" Max's impatient snap brought me back.

Everyone thought we were the perfect couple. Only I knew the truth - that on our wedding night, his "injured friend" Rowan Adams who needed him so desperately was actually his mistress.

Back then, I'd actually praised him for being so caring. "Go help your friend," I'd said sweetly. "I'd hate for you to abandon them just because we're married."

What a fool I'd been.

For seven months, Max barely came home - always "traveling for work" or with Rowan. We never even held hands. Only in death had I discovered their affair.

Now, reborn? I felt nothing but relief we'd never been intimate. The thought made my skin crawl.

"Her car shopping has nothing to do with me," I said coolly. "While we're at it, let's schedule our divorce."

Max's voice turned icy. "What's gotten into you, Stella? You're jealous of Rowan? She's like a sister to me. You're disgusting."

He delivered his favorite guilt trip: "I was going to spend tonight with you, but you've ruined that chance." The line went dead.

He expected me to come crawling back like always. Poor Max with his fragile ego - the struggling guy who married into money. I'd spent our marriage walking on eggshells to protect his pride, and he'd weaponized it against me.

Not this time.

I drove straight to the villa my parents bought us, ready to burn every trace of Max from my life. But as I pulled up, our housekeeper Linda stood outside wiping red-rimmed eyes.