Chapter 1

My best friend, Chloe Sullivan, handed me a gorgeous silver mask at the Halloween ball.

"Wear this," she said, her voice sugary sweet. "You'll be the queen of the ball tonight."

But at the stroke of midnight, our identities swapped. She stole my face, my status as an heiress, and my fiancé.

Then, with a cruel flick of her wrist, she threw me into a mental asylum, leaving me to be tortured to death.

Reborn into this life, she stood before me again, offering that very same mask, her eyes burning with greed.

This time I smiled and took it. And then I turned to place it on the face of a female death-row inmate.

Sweetie, you want to be a queen?

Fine. I'm giving you the life of a condemned woman.

As that silver mask was offered to me, the acrid smell of electroshock therapy from the mental asylum suddenly flooded my nostrils.

The excruciating pain still lingered around my temples, making me shiver violently. My stomach twisted into knots.

"Skylar, what are you spacing out for? Try it on! This is my Halloween gift for you."

My best friend, Chloe Sullivan, held out the very mask that stole my life, smiling sweetly. Yet, in her eyes, I saw only greed and jealousy.

It was this mask.

This mask stole my entire life and dragged me into hell.

In my previous life, I fell for her "I'm doing this for your own good" act. I eagerly put it on, becoming the most dazzling star at the Halloween ball. Even Julian Vance, the scion of one of the city's most powerful families, was utterly captivated by me.

I thought it was the peak of my life.

Little did I know, it was the beginning of my descent into the abyss.

The clock struck midnight, a strange white light flashed, and everything changed.

Chloe Sullivan, my best friend, became me. She inherited everything I had-my family's fortune, my face, my fiancé.

And I? I was forcefully thrust into her body, becoming an ordinary "Chloe Sullivan."

I ran like a madwoman to my parents, screaming, "I'm Skylar! She's an imposter!"

But all they saw was Chloe's plain, ordinary face contorted in what they perceived as madness.

They called for doctors, had me injected with tranquilizers, and personally sent me to a mental asylum.

There, I was strapped to a bed, day after day, force-fed unknown drugs, and subjected to forced electroshock "therapy."

The searing pain of electricity coursing through my temples, and the hallucination of my bones being crushed inch by inch, became my only memories.

When I died, I was a skeleton of my former self. My soul floated in mid-air, watching Chloe, arm-in-arm with Julian, curl her lips in a sneer as she looked at my death report.

That face, which was once mine, displayed a malicious grin I'd never seen before.

"A fool like you deserves to rot in a mental asylum."

That hatred, so profound it chilled me to the bone, dragged me back from hell, back to this very moment before the ball began.

"Skylar, why are you zoning out? Don't you like it?"

Chloe's voice held a hint of urgency, a flicker of fear that I might refuse.

I pulled myself from those hellish memories, meeting her eyes-seemingly sincere, yet brimming with greed and jealousy.

I smiled.

"I love it. It's absolutely beautiful."

I reached out, taking the cold mask with a smile. The chill on my fingertips snapped me back to reality.

"You're so good to me, Chloe." I drew out the last syllable, my voice cloyingly sweet.

Chloe visibly relaxed, practically melting. She immediately hooked her arm through mine, as if we were still inseparable best friends.

"Of course! We're best friends, aren't we? Tonight, at the ball, I'm going to make sure you're the most dazzling queen there."

Yes, a queen.

In my last life, I was a queen for half a night, only to repay it with an eternity in hell.

I lowered my gaze, concealing the murderous intent swirling in my eyes.

"Chloe, why don't you go ahead to the ball? I want to prepare a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" Chloe's eyes lit up.

"You'll see," I said, winking mischievously. Then I leaned closer, whispering so only she could hear, "Go see if Julian has arrived for me. Keep a close eye on him, don't let some other vixen try to steal his attention."

At the mention of Julian, Chloe's breath hitched.

She had always been jealous of my engagement to Julian. In the last life, the first thing she did after stealing my identity was to sleep with him, cementing her status as "Julian's fiancée."

"Okay!" She agreed almost instantly. "I'll go grab us a good spot. Hurry up, my Queen."

She smiled, squeezed my cheek, and turned to leave, every step radiating impatience.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

"Frank, how are things coming along?"

A steady male voice answered, "Don't worry, Miss Maxwell. Everything is arranged. The female inmate has just been transferred from maximum-security prison. The route and time have all been confirmed."