The Hero Never Loved Me Chapter 1

I opened my eyes, my chest heaving as if I’d just clawed my way out of a grave.

The harsh fluorescent lights of the office blinded me for a second, but as my vision cleared, the terrifying realization set in. I was back. I had returned to that day—the exact afternoon my husband’s foster sister proposed taking the entire staff on a company-funded luxury retreat to Cabo San Lucas.

My pulse pounded against my eardrums. Deep in my company’s accounting software, a catastrophic error lurked: our corporate accounts were about to be frozen by the IRS for an overlooked payroll tax filing. Honestly, it wasn’t something that usually kept me up at night; it was a bureaucratic hiccup, easily fixed with a phone call and a wire transfer.

But her? His sweet, tragic foster sister? When she found out about the impending freeze in my past life, she had panicked like a rat on a sinking ship.

The memories of my past life crashed over me, suffocating and visceral. Under the guise of a "summer morale-boosting retreat," she had maxed out my corporate cards and drained every drop of liquid cash we had. Because of her, our supply chain shattered. We defaulted. I was left drowning in tens of millions of dollars in debt.

When I had confronted her, desperate and begging for the money back, she had simply leaned into my husband’s chest, a coy, dismissive smile on her lips.

“Come on, Tori. I only spent a couple million. How could a company this size go bankrupt over that? Stop trying to scare me.”

And my husband—the man I had abandoned my family for—had roared in my face. “The company’s money belongs to both of us, Tori! I gave Lara permission to use it. Who the hell do you think you are to micromanage her?”

I had tried to call the police. Instead, they drugged me. They sold me to a cartel black site across the border. My final memories were a blur of unimaginable agony, cold surgical steel, and the profound, echoing darkness of dying with my eyes wide open, stripped of my organs and my dignity.

The most chilling part? When the news of my disappearance leaked, my employees hadn't shed a single tear. They had applauded. They called me a greedy corporate overlord who finally got what she deserved.

* * *

"You guys have been killing yourselves with overtime lately! So, to celebrate the end of the quarter, Jonathan and I agreed—I'm taking everyone to Cabo! All expenses paid!"

The open-plan office erupted into deafening cheers.

Lara stood dead center, practically glowing beneath the adoration of the staff.

Through the glass walls of my private office, I stared at the scene. The thrumming of my own heartbeat confirmed it. I was really back. This was my second chance.

Before I could even steady my trembling hands, the door swung open. Jonathan walked in, trailing Lara, and wrapped a warm, familiar arm around my shoulders.

"Tori, babe, you look exhausted," he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. "Let's go on vacation, just us and the team. To reward everyone for their hard work, Lara is treating them. We were hoping to put the flights on your Amex Platinum so we can rack up the miles and get the corporate rate."

Looking at Jonathan’s handsome, hypocritical face, a wave of pure nausea hit me.

In the life before this, once Lara got her hands on my Amex, she had systematically siphoned our operating capital. When the cash flow stopped, our projects died overnight.

When I had demanded answers, she had shrunk into Jonathan’s arms like a frightened bird. “Tori, I barely spent a fraction of Jonathan's money. You're just trying to scare me!”

And Jonathan had looked at me with cold suspicion, accusing me of embezzling the funds myself. “It’s just a trip to Cabo, Tori. How much could it possibly cost? Did you blow the company’s money on a bad investment and decide to pin it on Lara?”

I wanted to call the cops. They locked me in the basement instead. Lara had even brought in a vagrant off the street to violate me, recording it on her phone with a giggling, manic delight before shipping me off to be butchered.

Remembering the profound humiliation of my past life, I wanted to tear them apart with my bare hands.

While I was frozen in the memory, Jonathan reached across my desk, sliding open my drawer to grab the heavy metal Amex card. He handed it toward Lara.

My instincts took over. I slammed my hand down on his wrist.

"Put the card down."

Jonathan blinked, his charming smile faltering. "Tori? What’s the problem? We need to book the flights now or we lose the group rate. Don’t ruin the vibe."

His eyes darkened subtly. Seeing the shift, Lara stepped forward, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.

"Everyone's been working so hard, Tori. We're just trying to take care of your team. You own this massive company, but you're refusing to shell out for a simple team-building trip? Honestly... it almost makes it look like you’re hiding assets."

Listening to them play off each other, a dark, hollow laugh escaped my lips. "That's funny. Through the glass just now, I heard you tell the entire floor that you were paying for everything. So why are you reaching for my company card?"

Lara’s lower lip trembled. Instantly, tears pooled in her wide, innocent eyes.

The sight of her crying shattered Jonathan’s composure. He shoved my hand away, wrapping both of his arms protectively around Lara’s shoulders.

"Lara has the biggest heart in this room. She’s the only one who actually cares that the staff is burning out," Jonathan snapped, his voice hard. "Don't push me, Tori. Half this company is mine. You don't get to act like a dictator."

I sat back in my leather chair, watching her play the victim. After what she did to me in the dark, the word 'heart' coming from her vicinity made me want to vomit.