Second Life, Scorched Earth

Ashley wakes on the rooftop with her three-month-old daughter in her arms, her mother-in-law's voice still ringing in her ears. In her first life, she endured postpartum depression, a husband named Jake who was lazy and a mama's boy, and the discovery that he had secretly bought a house for another pregnant woman. She jumped, leaving behind parents she had failed.

Now she is seven months pregnant again, back in the same room, listening to Jake and his mother ask for $25,000 from the $30,000 her parents gave her as a wedding gift. She knows the money will not go into any business. It will become a down payment on a house for the other woman. This time, she agrees to transfer the money, but she has no intention of making it easy for them.

When her mother-in-law pushes and Jake nearly raises a hand to her, Ashley uses the money as leverage and walks out, determined to teach the mother and son exactly what they deserve.