The warmth of sunlight brushed against Ariella's face, but it only made the icy chill in her bones more unbearable.
Her eyes flew open, her chest heaving as if she had been drowning and just broken through the surface of the water. For a moment, she lay frozen, terrified to even breathe.
Her last memory was of marble stained red with her blood. Ethan's voice dripping with cruelty. Selena's whisper slashing her soul in two.
Her heart thundered. She had died. She had died in the most brutal, unforgivable betrayal.
So why… Why was she breathing again?
Ariella pushed herself upright, her trembling hands clutching the silken sheets. Her gaze darted wildly around.
This room..
Her eyes widened.
Ivory wallpaper patterned with delicate roses. A familiar oak dresser by the wall. Shelves lined with old books, the kind she had loved before she abandoned them for Ethan's world. And the faint scent of lavender soap clung to the air, fresh and comforting.
Her chest tightened. This was her room. Not the room in the Lancaster estate where she had spent her last miserable years, but her childhood bedroom. The one she had lived in before everything went wrong.
"No…" she whispered, shaking her head. "This can't be real."
She stumbled to the vanity, her knees weak as if they could collapse at any moment. The polished mirror reflected a face she hadn't seen in years.
Her face.
But younger. Softer. Unscarred. Her skin glowed with youth, her eyes clear and untainted by sorrow. She reached up with trembling fingers, brushing her cheek. The reflection copied her movement exactly.
Her lips parted in disbelief.
"This… this is me. Five years ago."
Her hands clenched on the vanity table as memories swirled through her mind memories of laughter, blind trust, and the sweet lies Ethan whispered. She remembered how Selena stood by her, always smiling, always supportive, while weaving the very strings that tightened around her throat.
Her body trembled violently.
It was real.
She had been reborn.
A sob escaped her throat, but it wasn't sorrow it was rage, sharp and raw, tangled with the desperate ache of regret.
Her last words before death echoed like thunder:
If I had another chance, I would destroy you.
And now, fate has given her that chance.
Her lips curled into a smile cold, bitter, yet burning with fire.
"Selena… Ethan…" she whispered, her voice low but venomous. "This time, I'll make you wish you were never born."
Knock. Knock.
Her heart jolted.
"Miss Ariella? Are you awake?" A gentle voice came through the door.
Her breath hitched. Maria.
Her maid. Loyal, kind-hearted Maria, who had served her family for years.
In her first life, Ariella had barely noticed her. She had dismissed Maria's cautious warnings, brushed aside her concerns, and taken her loyalty for granted. And when Maria mysteriously disappeared when whispers said she had been silenced. Ariella had been too broken to care.
Now, guilt clawed at her chest.
She swallowed hard, forcing her voice steady. "Come in."
The door creaked open. Maria stepped inside, her arms carrying a silver tray with breakfast. Her kind eyes and soft wrinkles were exactly as Ariella remembered.
"Good morning, miss," Maria said with a warm smile. "You seemed restless last night. Did you sleep well?"
For a moment, Ariella couldn't speak. Her throat tightened, her vision blurring with unshed tears. She had lost this woman once. She would not lose her again.
"…Thank you, Maria," Ariella whispered, her voice trembling.
Maria blinked in surprise. It wasn't unusual for Ariella to be polite, but the weight in her tone was different. More raw. More sincere.
Ariella clenched her fists beneath the sheets. I will protect you too this time. No one loyal to me will suffer again.
Maria set down the tray with a gentle smile. "Eat well, miss. And don't forget, your fiancé is visiting later today."
The words pierced Ariella like ice.
Her fingers tightened until her nails dug into her palms.
Ethan Lancaster.
Her so-called fiancé.
Her so-called salvation.
In her first life, this very day had been the first thread of the web he spun around her. He had come with flowers, with sweet words, with that charming smile that melted her heart. She had fallen for every single lie.
But now, Ariella's eyes burned with cold fury.
This time, she would not be the prey.
This time, she would see through every false word, every fake touch.
This time, she would tear off his mask and crush the man behind it.
She rose from the bed, her back straight, her presence no longer soft or naïve but sharp and commanding. Standing before the mirror once more, she brushed her long dark hair with steady hands, her reflection no longer the image of innocence.
Steel burned in her eyes.
"Ethan Lancaster…" She spoke his name slowly, deliberately, like a curse. "Selena Hayes… I will bury you both. And I will reclaim everything you stole from me."
The morning sunlight streamed over her like a crown of fire.
This time, Ariella Stone had not been reborn to love.
She had been reborn to avenge.
"Ethan Lancaster… Selena Hayes…" She whispered their names like a curse, each syllable laced with venom. "Enjoy your little game while you can. Because this time, I'm the one holding the pieces."
Her heart no longer trembled with fear.
It pulsed with vengeance.
And as the sun climbed higher in the sky, Ariella Stone rose from her bed of rebirth with one truth burning in her chest:
This life belonged to her.
And she would make them both regret ever betraying her.
The thought of them made her almost throw up, but she has to act as though she knows nothing for now.
She was not that native girl from fine years ago. This time she will crush them , before they can do anything to her.
The game is in your two she said to her, but this time I am in control.