Chapter 1

I started a livestream in the middle of the street and set my million-dollar mansion on fire in front of everyone watching.

Everyone called me crazy.

“A house worth over a million dollars, and she just burns it down? There has to be something seriously wrong with her!”

I stood in the street, watching the flames roar. Instead of feeling heartbroken, I felt an indescribable sense of relief.

In my previous life, I bought this mansion as an engagement gift for my fiancé. That house ended up destroying everything I had.

My fiancé had an affair with my best friend. After spending the night drinking with her, they drove recklessly and hit a family on the road. Then they fled the scene, abandoned the getaway car in the mansion’s garage, and spent the rest of the night together inside the house.

The next morning, they erased every trace of their crimes and made me the perfect scapegoat.

With all the evidence pointing to me, I had no way to defend myself. I was sent to prison.

My reputation was ruined overnight. My company went bankrupt. My parents fell ill. In the end, debt collectors cornered me at home and beat me to death.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the night before they committed their crimes.

This time, I wouldn’t give them any chance to fabricate evidence against me.

The comments on the livestream flew across the screen.

I carried the gasoline I had taken from the garage and splashed it without hesitation over the front door, the couch, and the curtains.

“Is she insane? Is she really livestreaming herself burning down a house?”

“That house has to be worth at least fifteen million dollars! And she’s just setting it on fire?”

“I don’t think she’ll actually burn it. She’s probably putting on a show for followers.”

“I know this woman. Isn’t she the billionaire heiress who got engaged a while ago?”

I said nothing. I dropped the gas can and calmly pulled a lighter from my pocket.

While the viewers were still arguing over whether I would really set the house on fire, the flames exploded to life with a thunderous roar.

The fire shot into the sky and lit up the entire street.

Everyone went silent.

“No way. She’s actually doing it? Is she out of her mind?”

“That’s over a million dollars!”

“Is this how rich people burn money? That’s terrifying.”

I stood in the middle of the street and watched the mansion burn. I didn’t feel even the slightest bit of regret.

Compared to being betrayed and framed by my fiancé and my best friend in my previous life—then being made to take the blame while my entire family was destroyed—this house wasn’t worth mourning.

I held up my phone and livestreamed the fire from every angle.

Since they had used this house to create perfect evidence against me, I would burn the house myself and create the perfect alibi.

I looked into the camera.

“The house is burning, and the garage next to it is burning too. Everyone, please be my witness. I, Harper Sinclair, am standing right here committing arson. I haven’t gone anywhere.”

I took my ID out of my pocket and held it up to the camera.

I wasn’t just livestreaming my arson.

I was doing it under my real name.

As thousands of viewers cursed and questioned me, the flames grew higher and higher.

Sirens tore through the night. Police officers and firefighters rushed toward me.

I curled my lips into a smile and calmly held out my hands.

“I started the fire. I’m mentally unstable. Arrest me immediately, or I’ll keep setting fires and burn down the entire street!”

The moment the officers heard that I wanted to burn down the whole street, their expressions darkened.

Cold handcuffs snapped around my wrists.

Inside the interrogation room, the officers looked grim.

“Harper Sinclair, this house belongs to you?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you burn it down?”

I raised my voice and deliberately emphasized every word.

“Because I’m mentally unstable. I wanted to start a fire. If you don’t arrest me tonight, I’ll burn down more buildings. I might even burn down this police station.”

My reckless attitude angered the officers. One of them slammed his hand against the table several times.

“Do you understand that this is a crime? You could go to prison!”

The moment he mentioned prison, memories of my previous life came rushing back.

By now, my fiancé and my best friend should have been celebrating at a bar, drinking themselves senseless over the mansion I had given them, right?

I had to stay at the station tonight and create an airtight alibi.

I deliberately acted indifferent and provoked them.

“So what if I go to prison? How many years could I get for starting one fire? My parents have money. Do you really think they can’t handle something like this?”

“You’re awfully confident! Let me tell you something. In front of the law, money means nothing!”

My parents arrived soon after.

They insisted on bailing me out immediately.

But I refused with everything I had and started acting hysterical right there in the station.

“I’m not leaving! The moment I get out, I’m going to find more gasoline! I’ll burn down the whole street! I’ll burn all of you!”

My mother burst into tears.

“Harper, what’s wrong with you? What are you saying?”

Seeing her crying in panic broke my heart.

But I didn’t have time to explain. No matter what, I refused to leave.

I threw myself onto the floor, screamed, and shouted threats about burning down the neighborhood.

The officers eventually lost patience. They handcuffed me again and locked me in a small holding room to calm down.

I looked at the room’s twenty-four-hour surveillance camera and slowly smiled.

I stopped crying and quietly sat down.

This time, with millions of viewers and the detention center’s surveillance footage as witnesses, I refused to believe I could still be accused of killing someone in a hit-and-run.