Chapter 1 The Night I died

I used to think betrayal came with warning signs.

A cold glance.

A whispered secret.

A shift in the air you could sense if you were paying attention.

But the truth is betrayal feels like nothing.

Until it feels like everything.

The night I died, it wasn't the poison in the wine that hurt the most.

It was the smile on my husband's face as he watched me choke on it.

Richard Hale the man I gave my youth, my loyalty, my heart to stood over me with a glass of champagne in his hand, his eyes colder than I'd ever seen.

"I told you, Elena," he said as my fingers clawed desperately at the edge of the dinner table, knocking over candles and silverware. "You should never have trusted me."

My throat burned, my chest heaved, and my lungs screamed for air. I wanted to scream back at him, to ask why?

Why ruin me? Why destroy everything we built?

But all that came out was a strangled gasp.

The grand dining hall blurred. The chandelier above split into shards of light, spinning and warping as my vision failed. My hand reached out for him not for love anymore, but for the sheer disbelief that the man I had chosen, defended, and worshipped was watching me die.

And then... everything went black.

---

I don't know how long the darkness lasted.

It could have been seconds or centuries.

Time meant nothing in that void.

When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in the afterlife. No white light. No fire. Just a faint hum of something familiar.

I was staring at a ceiling I hadn't seen in years.

My childhood bedroom.

The cream paint with its faint hairline cracks, the faded floral curtains swaying gently with the morning breeze, the faint scent of lavender from the sachets my mother used to hang by the window.

I blinked, disoriented. For a long moment, I simply lay there, listening to the tick of the clock on my nightstand. My throat still felt raw, as though the ghost of poison clung to it.

Slowly, I sat up, heart pounding. My hands flew to my neck.

No pain. No burns. Just warm, living skin.

My gaze swept across the room everything was exactly as it had been a decade ago. The vanity cluttered with cheap cosmetics. The bookshelf stacked with well-thumbed romance novels. The rose-shaped alarm clock that never quite ticked on beat.

It couldn't be real.

I stumbled toward the mirror, every step unsteady, as if gravity itself wasn't sure what to do with me.

The reflection staring back made my knees buckle.

A young woman. Smooth skin. Bright eyes. No trace of the weary lines heartbreak and deceit had carved into my face in my first life.

I was... twenty again.

A strangled laugh broke from my lips. Or maybe it was a sob. I touched my cheeks, my hair, my trembling lips, as though confirming I hadn't lost my mind.

Everything came rushing back at once the wedding, the vows, the nights I believed in his love, the mornings I ignored the cracks in his smile. And the last moment, when he stood over me with poison on his tongue and satisfaction in his gaze.

And yet here I was.

Back at the beginning.

Back before I said yes.

Before I tied myself to the man who would kill me.

Fate or something darker had given me a second chance.

And this time, I wasn't going to waste it.

---

The door creaked softly, startling me. My heart leapt to my throat. I turned just as my mother peeked in.

"Elena?" she said, her voice gentle, curious. "You're awake early. Did something happen?"

For a moment, I couldn't move. I simply stared at her the same soft brown eyes, the faint laugh lines around her mouth, the warmth radiating from her presence.

My throat tightened as I crossed the room and threw my arms around her.

"Mother," I whispered, my voice breaking. "You're here."

She laughed lightly, patting my back. "Of course I'm here, silly child. Where else would I be?"

I squeezed her tighter, afraid that if I let go, she'd vanish like smoke.

In my first life, I had been too busy chasing Richard's dreams to notice how quickly her health declined. Too blind to see how much she sacrificed to keep me safe and loved.

Not this time.

This time, I'd protect her.

I'd protect everything.

When she finally pulled back, concern flickered across her face. "You look pale, sweetheart. Did you have another nightmare?"

You could say that.

You could say I dreamed of my own death.

But I forced a smile. "I'm fine, Mama. Just... a strange dream."

Her hand brushed my hair from my face. "Well, wash up and come downstairs. I made your favorite cinnamon pancakes."

Cinnamon. The same scent I'd once taken for granted, the same breakfast I'd brushed off in my hurry to meet Richard for coffee that fateful morning.

This time, I wouldn't run from it.

This time, I sat across from my mother, ate every bite, and listened to her hum softly as she poured tea.

It felt like reclaiming something I didn't know I'd lost.

---

Over the next few days, I tested my reality.

Every detail matched my memories perfectly the calendar, the radio programs, the local headlines. It was as if time itself had folded, handing me the life I'd already ruined and daring me to live it differently.

Memories came flooding back, sharp and vivid.

The betrayals, the humiliations, the empty mansion filled with servants but no warmth.

The way Richard had cut me off from my friends, my parents, and even my career dreams until I existed only in his shadow.

I wouldn't make that mistake again.

So when Richard Hale came calling, all charm and smiles, I was ready.

---

It happened on a Saturday.

The little café downtown smelled of coffee and rain. I sat by the window, hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea, pretending to read while my mind replayed every step that had led to my death.

I remembered this day.

In my first life, I had been nervous, excited.

Richard was a rising businessman, suave and magnetic, the kind of man women whispered about. I had believed him when he said I was different. Special. Chosen.

Now, I knew better.

"Elena," a smooth voice said from behind me.

I looked up and there he was. Richard Hale.

Impeccably dressed, dark hair slicked back, blue eyes gleaming with the same deceptive warmth that had once melted me.

For a split second, my chest tightened, my body remembering what my mind refused to. The way his gaze could draw you in, make you forget to think.

But the memory of his laughter as I died smothered any trace of weakness.

He slid into the booth across from me, his smile practiced perfection. "You look even lovelier than the last time I saw you."

In my first life, I'd blushed at that.

Now, I forced a small, polite smile and leaned back, crossing my legs. "Richard. What a surprise."

He reached across the table, covering my hand with his. The same gesture, the same smooth confidence. "I've been thinking about you a lot lately."

"I'm sure you have," I said lightly, pulling my hand back.

He chuckled, as if I'd flirted. "You know, I believe you and I are meant to be."

The words hit me like déjà vu, cruel and cold. Meant to be?

Meant to destroy me, perhaps.

I stirred my tea slowly, letting the silence stretch. "That's quite the declaration."

He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "I mean it. I can see something in you, Elena. You have grace. Intelligence. Fire. I think we could do great things together."

Great things.

Like him using my family's company connections to climb higher, while I withered in his shadow.

Like turning my life into a gilded cage.

I smiled sweetly. "You think so?"

"I do." He smiled that wolfish smile that once made me dizzy. "In fact, I was hoping we could talk about a future together."

My pulse steadied. I knew this moment.

This was when he'd lean closer, when his charm would turn magnetic, when I'd let my heart outrun my common sense.

But not this time.

I looked him straight in the eye. "A future, Richard? You don't even know what I want yet."

He blinked, momentarily thrown.

I had never said that before.

"I'm sure we can figure that out together," he said smoothly, recovering his tone. "You and me it just feels right."

"Does it?" I asked softly, tilting my head. "Or does it feel convenient?"

His smile faltered. Barely. But I saw it.

A crack in the perfection.

For the first time, I realized how satisfying it was to be the one who saw through him.

I finished my tea, setting the cup down carefully. "You should be careful making promises, Richard. Some of them are hard to keep."

He chuckled, but there was something colder in his eyes now. "You always were a challenge, Elena. That's what I like about you."

That's what he'd said before, too right before he'd proposed, trapping me in a lifetime of manipulation.

He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small velvet box.

"Elena Dawson," he said, voice dropping into that same husky whisper that once made me tremble, "marry me."

---

For a heartbeat, the world tilted the clatter of dishes, the murmur of conversations, the soft jazz music all fading into nothing but the echo of his words.

Marry me.

In my first life, I had said yes.

Tears in my eyes. Love in my heart. Blind trust in a monster.

Now, I saw it for what it was a trap disguised as a fairytale.

I stared at him, at the man who had ended my life, now sitting across from me, offering to start it again.

My fingers brushed the edge of the teacup. My reflection rippled in the liquid young, naive, reborn.

I smiled.

But it wasn't the smile he remembered.

This time, it was sharper. Colder.

A promise of its own.

"Richard," I whispered, meeting his gaze. "I think you'll find I'm not the same girl you once knew."

His eyes narrowed, curiosity flickering beneath the charm. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I leaned closer, lowering my voice until only he could hear.

"It means," I said, lips curving, "that this time, I'm the one who's going to ruin you."

And the look in his eyes just for a moment wasn't amusement.

It was fear.

---

Elena accepts the proposal but only to destroy him from within.

The hunter has returned to the game. But this time, the prey remembers everything.