Chapter 1

Liam' s soul floated above the cold, wet asphalt. Below, his body lay naked and still. He was 30, a successful architect, but none of that mattered now. The streetlights cast a harsh, yellow glow on his pale skin, and the light rain did little to wash away the grime of the city street. No one had come to claim him.

Whispers drifted up from the small crowd that had gathered.

"That' s Liam, isn' t it? The architect?"

"Heard he threw his life away for that woman, Olivia."

"She never loved him, everyone knew it. She was always with Daniel."

"What a waste. To end up like this, on the street."

The words were just noise. Liam felt nothing, no anger, no sadness. It was just a fact, the final sentence in a story he no longer had to live. He had loved Olivia with an obsession that consumed him, and she had chosen Daniel. He had died for it.

Then, a figure cut through the crowd. She was tall and slender, moving with a quiet confidence. Liam didn't recognize her at first. She knelt beside his body, her face unreadable in the dim light. She pulled a colorful silk scarf from her bag and gently draped it over his exposed form.

"You were too stubborn," she murmured, her voice soft but clear. "I hope in your next life, you learn to let go."

Her name was Stella. He remembered her now, a fleeting acquaintance from a world away. He' d never paid her much attention.

Her words seemed to pull at him, a strange force tugging at his consciousness. The world dissolved into a swirling vortex of color and pain.

He woke up with a scream trapped in his throat.

The first thing he felt was excruciating pain in his left hand. He looked down and saw it wrapped in a bloody rag. A finger was gone, freshly severed. The coppery smell of blood filled the air.

He wasn't on the street. He was in a damp, concrete room, tied to a chair. Across from him, also tied up, was Daniel. His face was bruised, but his eyes held a familiar, arrogant spark.

And standing before them, holding a bloody knife, was Olivia.

Her expression was cold, impatient. She looked from Liam to Daniel, her gaze lingering on Daniel with a flicker of concern.

"Who will talk first?" she asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

Liam' s mind reeled. This wasn' t a dream. This was ten years ago. This was the moment his life began its downward spiral. The kidnapping, the torture, the moment Olivia had to choose. He remembered this day with perfect, horrifying clarity. He had begged her to save him, had sworn his undying loyalty.

And she had chosen Daniel. She had walked away with Daniel, leaving Liam to his fate, only for him to be rescued by his family' s connections later, broken and humiliated.

This time, seeing the scene replay exactly as it had before, something inside him snapped. The desperate love, the years of pining, it all turned to ash. He saw her look at Daniel, her choice already made in her eyes, just like before. He was nothing to her. He had always been nothing.