The metallic scent of blood hung heavy in the grand hall.
Ariella Stone lay sprawled on the icy marble floor, her once snow-white gown now drenched in her blood . Each shallow breath scraped her lungs like broken glass. Her fingers twitched weakly, reaching toward the man she had loved for nearly a decade.
Her fiancé. Her heartbeat ,Her everything.
"Ethan…" Her voice cracked like a fragile glass about to shatter.
But Ethan did not move to help her. His tall, broad frame loomed above her, his shadow stretching long and merciless beneath the glittering chandelier. His once gentle eyes, eyes that had once gazed at her as if she were his world, now glinted with scorn.
"Why?" she whispered, her lips trembling as blood seeped into her throat. "Why… are you doing this to me?"
Ethan chuckled, a deep, cruel sound that mocked her agony. He crouched slightly, just enough so she could see the sneer on his lips.
"Why?" he echoed coldly. "Because you were always a fool, Ariella. You loved blindly, trusted recklessly, and handed me everything I wanted on a silver platter. Your heart. Your father's company. Your future. Did you really believe I ever loved you?"
Her world tilted, the air turning colder.
His words cut deeper than the wound in her chest.
Her trembling lips parted. "But… I gave you everything… I sacrificed"
"Exactly." His tone was sharp, merciless. "And you were useful until now. But pawns that outlive their purpose?" He leaned closer, his whisper brushing against her ear. "They're discarded."
Her vision blurred. Her heart screamed in denial, yet a greater horror awaited her.
Click. Click. Click.
The rhythm of heels against marble filled the suffocating silence.
Ariella forced her heavy head to turn, her gaze falling upon the figure emerging from the shadows.
Selena Hayes.
Selena knelt beside her, brushing a strand of hair from Ariella's blood-stained face. Her touch was gentle, but her words sliced deeper than any knife.
Ariella's pupils widened. Selena…?
Her body shook as despair crushed her final hope. The two people she loved and trusted most had orchestrated her downfall.
Her vision blurred, darkness creeping at the edges, but rage burned hotter than her fear.
Her best friend. Her confidant. Her sister in everything but blood.
The woman who had once laughed with her under the stars, cried with her during heartbreaks, and swore to protect her no matter what.
Ariella's lips trembled. Relief fluttered in her chest for a fleeting moment. Selena… she'll help me… she'll save me…
But that fragile hope shattered as soon as she saw it.
The smile.
That delicate, serene smile Ariella had always trusted. But now, beneath its sweetness, lay venom.
Selena's emerald eyes gleamed with triumph as she approached. She knelt beside Ariella, her manicured fingers brushing away the blood-stained strands of hair stuck to her face.
"My poor Ariella," Selena cooed softly, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "Always so kind… so naïve."
"Selena…" Ariella's voice broke, her heart twisting violently. "Why…?"
Selena's lips curved into a smile as sharp as a blade.
"Because you were never meant to shine brighter than me." Her tone shifted, dark and venomous. "All my life, I stood in your shadow ,watching everyone adore you, envy you, cherish you. Do you know what it feels like to be invisible beside you? To be second best every single time?"
Ariella's eyes widened in disbelief.
No. No… this couldn't be real.
The woman who had held her hand when her mother died. The woman who swore to stand by her through every storm. The woman she trusted more than herself…
Selena leaned closer, her whisper like ice in Ariella's ear.
"You should have stayed in the shadows, where you belonged. But you didn't. You wanted to have it all, the love, the power, the admiration. And now, you'll lose everything."
Tears spilled from Ariella's eyes, hot and bitter. Betrayal cut deeper than the wound in her chest.
Her body shook violently. The pain in her chest spread like wildfire, stealing her breath, but something darker stirred within her heart.
Rage.
Hatred.
If this was death, she would not go quietly.
Blood bubbled at her lips as she forced her trembling voice out:
"If… if I had another chance… another life… I would destroy you. Both of you. I would make you pay for every lie… every betrayal… every drop of blood you've spilled!"
Her cry echoed in the grand hall, trembling with despair yet blazing with fury.
Her vision darkened. Her body grew colder.
The last thing she saw was Ethan's smirk of victory… and Selena's deceptively gentle smile.
Then, silence.
Everything vanished.
No pain. No sound. No light.
Only darkness.
But just as her soul drifted into the void, a searing heat ignited in her chest.
Her body jolted violently, as though dragged from the abyss.
Her eyes flew open.
Gone was the grand hall. Gone was the blood, the betrayal, the suffocating despair.
Instead…
Her familiar childhood bedroom surrounded her. The soft ivory curtains. The old oak dresser. The faint smell of lavender soap her maid always used.
Her gaze caught the mirror on the vanity.
Her breath hitched.
She was back to five years ago, before loving him , before foolishly giving everything to him , truthing the wrong people.
The thought of it, made her realize how truly foolish she was then.
The reflection staring back at her wasn't the broken woman who had just died.
It was her. Five years younger. Bright eyes. Untouched skin. The face she had lost to time and tragedy.
Her heart thundered in her chest.
"No… This can't be…" Ariella whispered, trembling as her fingers brushed her smooth, unscarred face.
But reality was undeniable.
She had been reborn.
This time…
Her lips curved into a cold smile, her tear-streaked eyes blazing with fury.
"This time, I won't die as a fool."
She swore she would make them pay a heavy price. A lesson they will never forget in this lifetime and most certainly next the next.