Eva's POV
I'm breaking into a dead woman's phone.
My hands shake as I try password after password on Celeste's phone. Lily sleeps peacefully in her cot, but I can't rest. Not after Dominic left. Not after those texts about my real body still being alive somewhere.
The fifth password works: 0-8-1-5. I'm in.
My heart pounds as I look through Celeste's apps. I need to understand who this woman was. Whose body I'm living in. Whose life I've stolen.
The first thing I find is her picture gallery. Hundreds of shots. But something's wrong. They're all posed. Perfect. Every single one looks like a magazine picture shoot. Celeste at charity events. Celeste at fashion shows. Celeste stands next to Dominic at their wedding, both of them looking like beautiful ice sculptures.
There's not a single real smile in any of them.
I keep scrolling. Then I find a secret folder buried deep in her photos. It's password protected too, but I try 0-8-1-5 again.
It opens.
My blood goes cold.
The first picture is of me. The real me. Eva Hart with brown hair and a bright smile. But someone has drawn red X's over my face. Angry cuts covering my eyes and mouth.
There are dozens of them. Photos of me and Dominic from three years ago. Pictures she must have found online or stolen from somewhere. And every single one has been marked up. Destroyed. Like she hated me.
But why? I didn't even know Celeste existed three years ago. How did she know about me?
I keep scrolling through the secret folder. Then I find something that makes my stomach drop.
Text messages. Deleted from her main inbox but saved here. Between Celeste and someone named "M."
Celeste: "I can't do this anymore. The baby is coming and I can't lie."
M: "You'll do exactly what we agreed. You married him. You got pregnant. Now you finish the job."
Celeste: "But I don't love him. I never did. This whole thing was a mistake."
M: "Love? You think this is about love? This is about MONEY. About POWER. You play your part, I play mine. After the baby comes, we'll have everything we need."
My hands shake faster. Celeste was planning something. Something involving the baby. Involving Dominic.
I scroll further. The texts get worse.
M: "The old man's cancer is progressing wonderfully. Six months, maybe less. Once he's gone, Dominic gets everything. And once you have the baby, you'll have legal claim to half of it."
Celeste: "And then?"
M: "Then we disappear. You, me, and fifty million dollars. Dominic can keep his perfect little business and his precious memories of Eva Hart. We'll be in the Maldives living like kings."
I feel sick. Celeste wasn't just in a loveless marriage. She was actively planning to rob Dominic. To use their baby as leverage for money and then leave her.
But who is "M"? And what did they mean about Marcus's cancer "progressing perfectly"?
I keep reading. The next message makes my heart stop.
M: "I took care of the Eva trouble three months ago. Made it look like an accident. Dominic will never know."
Celeste: "You killed her? You actually killed her?"
M: "Relax. It's not like she mattered. She left him years ago. But he never stopped loving her. Never stopped looking for her. He needed peace. So I gave it to him. Now he can finally move on."
Celeste: "This is getting out of hand. Murder? I signed up for scam, not murder."
M: "Too late for cold feet now, sweetheart. You're in this with me. All the way."
I can't breathe. Someone killed me. Deliberately. Made it look like a car crash. Someone wanted me dead so Dominic would "move on."
But if they killed me three months ago, how am I here now? How did my soul end up in Celeste's body?
My phone buzzes. Celeste's phone. A new message from an unknown number.
"Glad to see you're awake, Eva. Or should I call you Celeste? I've been watching you. Watching your little meeting with Dominic. Very sweet. But you're not meant to be here, are you? You're supposed to be DEAD."
My heart races. I look around the hospital room. Where's the camera? Where are they watching from?
Another message: "Did you really think Marcus Thornfield planned this out of the goodness of his heart? Did you think he brought you back because he wanted his son to be happy? Oh, Eva. You're so stupid."
"Marcus didn't bring you back. I did."
My hands shake so badly I almost drop the phone.
"Three months ago, I killed you. But I also made sure your body was kept living. Hidden. Waiting. Because I knew Celeste would need to die during childbirth. I knew her body would need a new life. YOUR soul."
"I put you in her body, Eva. I gave you this second chance. And now you owe me."
I want to scream. Want to throw the phone across the room. But I force myself to keep reading.
"Here's what's going to happen. Dominic is on his way to Pier 17 right now. He thinks he's meeting someone who can give him answers. But what he's really getting into is a trap. A trap that will kill him. Unless you do exactly what I say."
No. No no no. " You have one hour to get to Pier 17 yourself. Come alone. Don't tell the nurse. Don't call the cops. Don't warn Dominic. If you do, I'll detonate the bomb I placed in his car. He'll die before he even knows what's happening."
"You get one chance to save him, Eva. One chance to show you deserve this second chance at life. Come to Pier 17. Save Dominic. Or watch the man you love die. Again."
"Oh, and Eva? Bring the baby. Lily is the final piece of this puzzle. Without her, none of this works. Without her, everyone dies."
The letter ends with a photo. It's Dominic's car in the hospital parking lot. And connected to the underside is a small black box with a blinking red light.
A bomb.
Someone put a bomb in Dominic's car. And they're demanding I bring my newborn baby to meet them at midnight.
I look at Lily sleeping peacefully in her cot. So small. So innocent. So totally unaware that someone wants to use her as a pawn in whatever sick game this is.
Another word appears: "Tick tock, Eva. 57 minutes until Dominic's car explodes. Better start moving."
Then a final message that makes my blood freeze: "And just so we're clear? If you try to remove the bomb, it detonates instantly. If you call the cops, it detonates. If you warn Dominic, it detonates. Your only chance is to come to me. Bring Lily. Save Dominic. Or lose everything. Again."
"See you soon. - M"
M. The same person from Celeste's texts. The guy who killed me. The person who put me in this body.
And now they want Lily.
I look at my sleeping daughter—because she IS my daughter now, in every way that matters—and I know what I have to do.
I have to go to Pier 17. I have to bring Lily into trouble. I have to save Dominic from a bomb I can't disarm.
And I have less than an hour to do it.
I scoop Lily gently from her cot. She makes a small sound but doesn't wake. I wrap her in blankets and grab Celeste's bag.
Jenny is at the nurses' station down the hall. I can't tell her. Can't risk it.
I slip out of the room and head for the lift.
My phone buzzes one last time as the elevator doors close.
It's a movie. Security video from three months ago. The night of my car crash in Barcelona.
But in the movie, I see something that changes everything.
My car didn't crash because of weather or bad driving.
Someone cut my brake lines.
And that someone is standing in the parking garage, watching. Waiting. Making sure I died.
The video zooms in on their face.
And I know them.