The night was too quiet.
Even the wind seemed afraid to move as I stood outside Clara's office building.
I'd been here before, not in this life, but in the flashes that haunted my dreams.
Back then, this place had been called Blackwood Holdings, my company.
Now, it carried Clara's name.
I pressed my hand against the glass door. Cold. Locked.
"Alright," I whispered, sliding a hairpin from my pocket. "Let's see if my old self still remembers a few tricks."
The lock clicked open after a few tense seconds.
I slipped inside.
The air smelled faintly of perfume and paper. Clara's office was just as I remembered white walls, silver furniture, and a portrait of her smiling like she owned the world.
I walked to the painting slowly. Liam's words echoed in my mind.
"It's hidden behind the portrait."
My heart raced as I touched the edge of the frame. It moved slightly. I pulled it awayand there it was.
A small black box.
My fingers shook as I opened it. Inside was an old, folded letter sealed with wax.
The initials burned on the seal made my breath catch.
E.B.
Emma Blackwood.
It was mine.
For a long moment, I couldn't move.
How could something I'd written before my death still exist here?
I broke the seal with trembling hands and began to read.
"If you are reading this, it means you came back."
"You don't know how, and you don't have to. But remember, you died because you trusted the wrong people."
My chest tightened. The handwriting was mine, every curve and line.
"The man you love will save you once… and destroy you twice."
Tears blurred my vision.
I wanted to stop reading, but I couldn't.
"Don't believe what he tells you about the fire. It was never an accident. Find the woman with the silver lockets who knows everything. And when the time comes… forgive yourself before you forgive him."
The paper slipped from my hand.
The woman with the silver locket.
Who was she? Clara? Or someone else entirely?
The door creaked behind me.
"Looking for something, darling?"
My heart froze.
Clara stepped out of the shadows, wearing a calm, knowing smile.
"I was wondering when you'd come," she said, crossing her arms. "Curiosity was always your weakness."
I tried to hide the letter behind my back, but she noticed.
Her eyes glinted. "Ah… so you found it."
"What do you want from me, Clara?" I asked, voice trembling.
"The same thing you wanted," she said softly. "Truth."
She stepped closer, her heels clicking on the marble floor.
"Do you know why you were reborn, Emma?"
I stared at her. "You make it sound like you know."
"Oh, I know everything," she whispered. "Because I'm the one who made it happen."
I froze. "You're lying."
She smiled faintly. "Am I? Or did you forget who begged for another chance before she burned?"
My heart pounded. "What are you talking about?"
Clara leaned closer, her breath cold against my ear.
"You didn't just come back by chance, Emma. You came back because you made a deal."
The lights flickered. My pulse raced.
"What deal?" I demanded.
But she only smiled, turning away. "Find the woman with the silver locket," she said. "You'll remember the rest soon enough."
Then she walked past me, her perfume lingering in the air like smoke.
I looked down at the letter again, my hands shaking.
The words seemed to blur and change before my eyes.
At the bottom, in faint ink, a line had appeared that wasn't there before.
"The one you fear is not your enemy. The one you trust is."
The lights went out.
A single whisper filled the dark roomsoft, distant, familiar.
"Emma… It's time to remember."
I turned around, but no one was there.
Only the open door, and the sound of my own heartbeat echoing in the silence.