If I Had a Choice

If I could choose, I'd pick Amber to be my sister-in-law.

My boyfriend's sister, Brianna, shot me a defiant look as she said it, topping it off with a dramatic eye-roll.

Everyone tensed, expecting fireworks. They were all waiting for the legendary showdown between the future sisters-in-law.

But instead, I smiled and voiced my agreement. Then, I announced our breakup on the spot.

My boyfriend, Brandon, told me I was being ridiculous.

But when I packed my bag and left the campsite in the middle of the night, he saw me. He didn't try to stop me.

Instead, he turned to comfort that girl, Amber. "I'm so sorry," he said to her. "That must have been so awkward for you. I apologize on Zoe's behalf."

I wasn't sad. Not at all. In fact, my heart was soaring with anticipation.

This time, in the car crash on the way back, I wouldn't be there to lose the use of my right arm saving Brianna, only to be despised by her entire family for it.

Without me to save her, would Brianna even survive?

I was eager to find out.

01

In my last life, Brianna had humiliated me in the exact same way.

My response then had been to throw a full glass of beer in her face.

The fight that followed was spectacular. A real glimpse into our future sisterly bond. Brandon, my boyfriend, had immediately taken her side, shielding both his sister and her best friend, Amber.

I might have won the physical fightyanking out a fistful of Brianna's hair and landing a solid kick on the perpetually smirking Amberbut I had lost all face.

Even so, I didn't leave that night.

Because Brandon wasn't just my boyfriend; he was also my boss. I was afraid that if I pushed things too far, I'd lose my job along with my relationship. I was just another transplant in the sprawling city of Havenport, a girl from a smaller town with a replaceable job as an executive assistant.

With my liberal arts degree from a good-but-not-great state school, finding another job in Havenport's brutal market would be a nightmare. And my parents, who had poured all their hopes into me, would never accept me moving back to my hometown of Maple Creek.

As they always said, Maple Creek was a town where you needed connections to get by, and their small, struggling tailor shop gave them none. They told me that if I couldn't make it in Havenport after getting my degree there, it would be a source of shame for them, a reason for the neighbors to laugh.

In my last life, I spent that whole night huddled in a dark corner of the campsite, miserable and alone. Brandon never came to find me.

The next morning, after the sunrise, I swallowed my pride, reappeared, and successfully fought off Amber to reclaim the front passenger seat. My plan was simple and brutal: until I found a new job, I had to cling to my status as Brandon's girlfriend.

On the drive back, our car swerved to avoid a truck and flipped.

Brianna and I were both on the right side of the car. We were both flung out, left dangling over the edge of a cliff. She had managed to grab a small, flimsy branch, while I was clinging to the main trunk of a tree.

When her branch started to splinter, I pushed aside all our past grievances and, without a second thought, used my right arm to grab her, holding on for dear life.

Brandon and Amber were still in the car, but Brandon was too busy fussing over a tiny scratch on Amber's head to even notice we were about to die.

I held on, my arm screaming in protest, until other drivers stopped and worked together to pull us up.

In the end, Brianna was completely unharmed. But my right arm, starved of blood for so long, was permanently damaged.

The media praised my heroic act. Brandons company was in a critical pre-IPO stage, so to save face, the family had him marry me.

Brianna was not grateful. Instead, she accused me of using my "heroism" to trap her brother, ruining his bright future. She and Amber even moved into our home, claiming it was closer to their university. It was clear she wouldn't rest until Amber was in Brandon's bed.

We had another fight.

I only had one good arm, but Brandon didn't help me. He just called me petty and intolerant for not getting along with his own sister. Then he turned to Amber, his voice dripping with gentle concern. "I'm so sorry you had to see that. This is my house. You and my sister can stay as long as you like. Don't listen to anyone else."

When my in-laws heard, they rushed over to support their darling daughter.

My father-in-law slammed his fist on the table. "This house belongs to the White family! My daughter can live here if she wants to! What right do you, an outsider, have to say anything?"

My mother-in-law rolled her eyes. "We already allowed Brandon to marry you. What more do you want? Don't think you can boss us around for the rest of your life just because you saved our daughter once. You don't run this house!"

Brianna twisted the knife. "Mom, Dad, you're too kind! That arm of hers was probably useless before she even 'saved' me. She just found the perfect opportunity to blame it on our family."

I laughed, a bitter, broken sound. "So, you're angry that I saved you?"

Brianna puffed out her chest, oozing confidence. "Of course! If you hadn't grabbed me, I would have swung over and grabbed the main trunk myself." She paused, then pushed Amber forward. "Besides, if you had just given the front seat to Amber, who gets carsick, she would have been able to grab me. Neither of us would have fallen out in the first place."

Finally, she delivered her verdict. "Amber is way smarter than you. She's the one who should be my sister-in-law!"

I turned to Brandon, who had been silent the whole time. "Is that what you think, too?"

He didn't answer directly, just rubbed his temples in frustration. "Zoe, that's enough! My sister brought a friend to stay, is it really that big of a deal? When are you going to stop this drama? If you can't handle it, then get a divorce and get out!"

The last sliver of hope I had for a shred of comfort from him turned to ice.

As if on cue, Brianna clapped her hands. "Yes, divorce! Get a divorce right now! I'm so glad you've finally come to your senses, brother!" She shoved Amber into his arms. "You two are perfect for each other! Maybe you can even give me a nephew tonight!"

Brandon didn't pull away. Amber burrowed into his chest and offered me a saccharine apology. "Zoe, I'm so sorry. Brianna is just joking."

For a second, I thought that despite her scheming, she had a shred of decency left.

Then her tone shifted. "But, Zoe, let's be real. You need to stop holding this 'I saved her life' thing over everyone's heads. You already got the man. You should be focused on making him happy, not turning his home into a warzone. It's heartbreaking to see him looking so drained all the time. You can only cash in on a debt of gratitude once. You can't hold him hostage with it forever, can you?"

Mr. and Mrs. White nodded vigorously, agreeing that I was an ungrateful troublemaker. With my crippled arm, I couldn't even find a job, yet I refused to obediently serve my husband. Their son was the unluckiest man alive to have married me.

It was five mouths against one.

Finally, I lost control. I charged into the kitchen and came back with a butcher knife...

My mind was a chaotic blur. All I remember now, after being reborn, is that in the end, I was the only one left standing.

02

The first words I heard in my new life were Brianna's: she wished Amber was her sister-in-law.

The righteous fury from my past life was gone.

In its place was a genuine desire to grant her wish.

I clapped my hands with a smile. "I second that!"

To show my sincerity, I stood up. "Effective immediately, Brandon White and I are no longer in a relationship. For the rest of our lives, our paths will not crossnot for weddings, not for funerals, not for anything."

Brianna's eyes lit up. "Let's see you stick to that!"

I nodded solemnly and raised three fingers. "If I don't, may I be struck by lightning, hit by a car, and choke to death on a glass of water."

Brandon frowned, hissing at me under his breath. "Zoe, stop being ridiculous. Don't sink to her level."

He was speaking to me, but his eyes were darting toward Amber, gauging her reaction.

Amber just smiled and pinched Brianna's arm. "Alright, Brianna, look what you did. You've cornered Zoe and left her with no way out."

"What way out does she need?" Brianna scoffed. "She's just some country bumpkin. She doesn't deserve our respect."

I was desperate to escape these toxic people, but I wasn't going to crawl away with my tail between my legs.

So, just like last time, I threw a glass of beer in Brianna's face.

Except this time, I didn't just stand there waiting for her to retaliate. I moved first, grabbing a fistful of her hair from behind and yanking her head back, immobilizing her.

Amber must have thought I was still the same impulsive but ultimately submissive Zoe from before. She rushed forward to help her friend, but a swift kick sent her sprawling to the ground. In my past life, I could take down a group of people with a knife in one hand. Now, with two perfectly good arms and legs, dealing with a two-faced schemer who wasn't even fighting back seriously was child's play.

Brandon started to move toward me, but I stopped him with a sharp threat. "You'd better not move. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what might slip out of my mouth."

Brandon had a secret. To secure funding for his company, he'd been drugged by a male investor. It never went all the way, but there was a video. I was the one who got him out of that situation; it was how we met. He pursued me, claiming he was grateful for my kindness, but I knew the real reason was to keep me quiet. Of course, my looks were a major factor too. If I weren't so hung up on him, his financial status at the time wouldn't have even qualified him to be my boyfriend.

That video was his deepest, darkest secret, something he would rather die than have exposed. He suspected I had a copy, so my words froze him in his tracks.

His friends, who lived by the rule of not getting involved, had already backed away. Amber, who had been so smug just moments before, was now cowering behind Brandon like a frightened quail. As long as I wasn't afraid to die, everyone else was. My entire demeanor was a world away from the last time.

Brianna's scalp was on fire, and she was wailing in pain. I kicked the back of her knees, forcing her to kneel before me.

"I'm just curious," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "A person who barely scored a combined 150 on her college entrance examsdo you even know how to spell the word 'country'?"