Chapter 1

The day Eleanor and I got married, the man who had taken my place committed suicide.

By our second year of marriage, that event had completely torn us apart.

She hated that I, the true heir, had returned and caused Brandon Montgomery's death. I resented her for still clinging to the man who had usurped my identity for twenty years. For ten years, we attacked each other with the vilest words, cursing each other to hell.

Until an earthquake hit. She shielded me with her body, her spine bearing the brunt, creating a path for me to survive. The ceiling beam crashed down, leaving her a bloody mess. As she lay dying, she whispered in my ear, "If I had known he would die, I wish I'd never brought you home."

"If there's a next life, I only want you as my family."

Ultimately, I died in the aftershocks.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she brought me to meet my birth family.

She suddenly pulled back. "Julian, I made a mistake. The Montgomery family's son, lost twenty years ago, isn't you."