Chapter 1

One lace bralette destroyed my reputation.

The Championship Ice Hockey Game. Sebastian's team won.

During the post-game interview on the ice, he unzipped his gear bag to grab a towel.

A lace bralette fell out.

The crowd gasped.

Olivia shrieked: "Natalie! Isn't that yours?"

Sebastian's face flushed red as he stared at me.

"Natalie, I just wanted to keep you close to me. I carried it with me. I didn't mean for anyone to find out."

I tried to explain it wasn't mine, but no one listened. I became the slut on everyone's lips.

Sebastian's words—"We couldn't help ourselves. Things got physical between us."—sent me straight to hell.

Lady Catherine declared I'd "corrupted the student body" and brought "shame to elite society."

My family—drowning in humiliation—sent me to a brutal reform school in the middle of nowhere, where I was abused until I died.

When they wrapped my body in a tarp and dumped it behind the facility, Olivia's wedding procession was rolling up to Sebastian's estate gates.

On the seventh day after my death, Sebastian burned that bralette at my memorial.

"Natalie, the bralette thing—that was my bad. But when it happened, I panicked. I needed a scapegoat. Guess you just had shitty luck."

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the Ice Hockey Game.

......

I stared at Sebastian on the ice. In fifteen minutes, the game would end. That peach-pink bralette would fall out.

The nightmare from my past life would replay.

Mia, my life assistant, looked at me with concern. "Miss, are you okay?"

Olivia, sitting beside me, glanced over too. "Natalie, you look pale. What's wrong?"

I stood, pulling Mia with me. "I don't feel well. Need to use the restroom. Excuse me, Olivia."

I dragged Mia to a private corner and whispered instructions. Her face turned serious. She nodded and took off immediately.

When I returned to the VIP box, I watched as the final buzzer sounded. Sebastian's team won.

Cameras swarmed him for the interview. He unzipped his gear bag to grab a towel. A flimsy peach-pink bralette fell out onto the ice.

Under everyone's eyes, it dropped onto the ice.

That bright splash of pink sparked a wave of gasps from the stands.

"Oh my God, did a bralette just fall out of Sebastian's bag?"

"I thought Sebastian was supposed to be Mr. Perfect. How does he have girls' underwear on him?"

"Guess the golden boy's not so innocent after all. Bet some random hookup gave it to him."

Sebastian hadn't expected the bralette to fall out in public.

His face cycled between pale and red as he stood frozen on the ice, clutching the bralette he'd picked up.

Olivia gasped in mock disbelief. "Natalie! Isn't that your bralette?"

Her shriek made everyone turn to stare at me.

The second Olivia screamed, she covered her mouth like she'd made a mistake, looking at me apologetically.

I said nothing.

Sebastian's eyes found mine, soft and pleading.

His face flushed as he stammered: "Natalie, I just wanted to feel close to you. That's why I kept it. I didn't mean for people to know."

Then he turned to the crowd, rushing to explain. "We just—we couldn't help ourselves. Things got physical between us."

Just like in my past life. One sentence. And I was nailed to the cross.

Everyone's eyes shifted, full of implications.

The heiress to the Hale family. Her lingerie in a boy's bag. The meaning was obvious.

Whispers spread like wildfire:

"Holy shit. Who knew the Hale heiress was such a slut?"