The little jar of Regeniskin sat there like Pandora's box.

She was too terrified to even touch it.

"Lemira, are you okay? Your hands are freezing," Stella said, gripping her fingers tightly.

Lemira looked up at Janice. "Throw it away."

"On it."

Though it physically pained Janice to throw away something so ridiculously expensive, she shoved the jar back into the bag, ready to chuck it in the trash.

If it caused Lemira this much distress, it belonged in the garbage.

"Wait."

Lemira's face was still pale, but she stopped her friend. "Don't throw it out yet."

Janice paused. "Is there some crazy backstory to this? You look like you absolutely despise it."

"I do," Lemira admitted.

Lemira turned to Stella. "You have that massive surgical scar on your leg, right? If you use this, it'll fade significantly. You'll finally be able to wear cute dresses and shorts again."

Stella froze, then shook her head rapidly. "No way. Even if the scar fades, I'd never have the guts to wear stuff like that."

"Why not? I'm designing custom orthotics for you. Once they're done, no one will even notice a difference."

Lemira squeezed Stella's hand. "Don't refuse to use it just because of me. My hatred for this serum has nothing to do with how well it works."

"Then what is it? Did they treat you like a lab rat when they were developing it?"

Lemira hesitated. "It's complicated. Rowan gave it to me, but ever since he got back, his attitude toward me has been incredibly strange."

"How strange?" Stella asked. "I mean, all your other brothers were blindly obsessed with Evelina and treated you like trash. I assumed this one was cut from the same cloth."

Lemira nodded. "That's exactly what I thought. But it's the complete opposite. He treats me amazingly well and completely ignores Evelina."

Stella pointed out, "Now that they all know her father conspired with the Sinclair family, anyone who still treats her well would have to be out of their mind."

"I'm just not used to it. Something feels deeply wrong."

Lemira swallowed the rest of her words. She couldn't tell them about her past life.

It sounded insane. Who would believe that she had died and come back?

If word got out, people would just assume she was schizophrenic.

And after enduring the absolute horror of the psychiatric ward in ber past life, she was terrified of ever going back. That place could shatter the sanity of ever the strongest person.

Janice nodded sympathetically. "I think your paranoia is totally justified. Your brothers are all toxic.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He's probably plotting Something."

Stella hummed in thought. "I actually

think if he had come back before the truth about. Evelina's dad blew up, he

Would have been as awful

the rest of them. But since he walked in knowing the truth, it

makes sense he's acting differently." Cóntent

Lemira stared at the serum, her chest tight. "Right. If the sequence of events changes... is he still the same person?"

Janice and Stella exchanged a baffled look. It was a bizarrely philosophical question.

Stella said softly, "Lemira, don't torture yourself over 'what-ifs.' Focus on the reality

in front of you, not on things that never happened."

Lemira's heart skipped a heavy beat.