The Morning After The Rebirth

Veyra's POV

I take one last look at myself in the mirror and allow myself a small smile.

Today is not just the day I am Veyra Solenne, daughter of my parents. Today is the day I become Veyra Solenne, CEO.

The graduation ceremony held in the morning already seems like something from another lifetime. I can still hear the voice of the dean calling out my name and the feeling of the certificate in my hands. But the handing over ceremony held in the afternoon marks the end of it all.

The scene of my uncle Cassian and I standing in front of the board of directors is clear in my mind.

"For the past six years, it has been my privilege to protect the legacy of what my brother built," he said with ease. "But today, I give this back to its rightful owner. My niece has demonstrated that she is more than qualified to continue this company's legacy."

Then, he turns to me, his expression warm and almost proud.

"Veyra, your parents would be proud of the woman you've become."

I can still feel how my throat clenched hearing those words. "Thank you, Uncle Cassian. Thank you for everything. I wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for you."

He smiled at me and handed me the ceremonial pen so that I could sign the transfer papers. The board started clapping. Some people opened a bottle of champagne. I remember that my dad would have been proud, that my mom would have shed happy tears.

I didn't know that that day marked the end of when I trusted him.

Now, several hours later, I'm sitting at my vanity as my stylist pins down the last piece of hair. My wedding gown is hanging on my door, the ivory silk shimmering in the light of late afternoon sun.

Someone knocks, and I turn around to see Cassian come into the room.

"You look beautiful," he says, staring at me in the mirror.

"Thank you," I reply although the tone of my voice is softer than I would have liked.

He notices immediately, as always. "You look a bit nervous."

I pause before answering. "I don't know. I just think I'm a little nervous."

"Nervous about Evren?"

"No, just everything. It's been a year and I still feel like I don't know anything about him."

Cassian crosses the room and takes his seat on the edge of the chaise next to my vanity. "A year should be enough time to get a read on a man's nature, Veyra. Just look at the way he treats you, looks at you."

"But it comes with time," he adds softly. "You didn't choose this alliance without reason. We've built it together, haven't we? Evren's family will help us out. The family of Evren adds credibility to our name. They honor you more than you know."

I nod slowly, hoping that I'll believe him again as I always did before.

"Everything has already been arranged for your future," Cassian goes on speaking. "Your family company, this marriage, your position as the leader of everything. I would never let you marry someone who wouldn't suit you."

His words help me relax as they always used to do.

"You're right," I say, trying to make a small smile appear on my face. "I'm just being emotional. This is an important day."

"The most important one," Cassian says, standing up. "I could never feel prouder walking you down the aisle."

He plants a kiss on my forehead before leaving, and I am back in front of the mirror, telling myself that it is just nervousness tightening my stomach.

Later in the day, we are through with the legal process. Evren and I are standing in front of the registrar in the marriage court signing our names, becoming legally bound as husband and wife. He looks stunning in his black suit, as cool as ever, giving me an elegant smile when the registrar declares us officially married.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Daciel," says the registrar.

Evren takes my hand. "Are you ready?"

"I am ready," I reply, though that word seems alien to me now.

Everyone from our family and staff is already outside, and all we have to do is leave right away and head to the airport to catch our flight. I get in the car with Evren, waving to the crowds that have come to see us off.

The car drives away, and everything is fine for a while. Evren was busy on his phone. I watch the streetlights flash by outside the window.

Until I realize that we have taken the wrong route.

"That is not the way to the airport," I say, sitting up straight.

Evren looks out of his window and frowns. "You are right. Driver, where are you driving us?"

The driver does not respond.

"Driver!" Evren repeats, more insistently. "Do you hear me? I am asking you a question!"

There is no response. I feel myself getting nervous.

"Stop the car!" I yell. "Stop the car now!"

The car does not stop. It accelerates.

Evren tries to open the door but finds that it is locked. He tugs on the handle helplessly. "What is going on here? Who approved this route?"

"I do not know," I scream. "Evren, there is something wrong."

He reaches for his phone again, but before he even has time to call anyone, the car turns abruptly through a winding street, causing his phone to fall from his hands.

We didn't say a word after that; we just sat silently watching the city recede into the distance as we approached dark silhouettes of warehouses and vacant land.

The car eventually comes to a halt in front of an abandoned, isolated factory with rusty metal walls. The doors unlock, and strangers pull them open from the outside.

"You better get out," one of them says.

"I want to know who the hell you are!" I insist, standing where I am. "And what the hell is going on here?"

My arms are grabbed, and I'm forced out of the car against my will, while Evren yells something behind me.

"Leave me alone!" I shout, squirming in their grip. "Do you know who I am? Leave me alone!"

They do not answer, dragging me into a big metal door leading into the warehouse, my high heels grinding into the concrete floor in vain.

The place is dark, with just a few lights hanging from the ceiling. Standing there, with his hands calmly resting behind his back, is my uncle.

A wave of relief rushes through me almost making my knees buckle.

"Oh, Uncle Cassian!" I exclaim, breaking free from the men dragging me and running up to him. "Thank God. Please help me. I have no idea what's going on, these men-"

"Veyra." The sound of his voice holds me back, a few feet away from him. Calm and unhurried.

"Uncle," I say, gasping for breath. "Please, we should call the police. Evren is in here somewhere, we should-"

"Sit down, Veyra."

There is something in the way he says it that makes my legs freeze up. "What?"

"I said sit down," he repeats, waving at one of the chairs another man drags over. "There are some things we need to talk about."

"Talk about what?" My voice is shaky and barely above a whisper. "Cassian, Uncle Cassian, you're frightening me. What's happening?"

He looks at me thoughtfully for a while and then, for the first time in my entire life, I notice something that isn't affection in his gaze. It is satisfaction.

"I never cared about you, Veyra," he says. "I never loved you. Raising you, protecting you-everything that I did-it was necessary. And nothing else."

The ground seems to shift under my feet. "What do you mean by that?"

"Your parents," he replies. "Do you want to know the truth about their death?"

"They died in an accident," I say. "You told me that-"

"They were killed because they found out some... information about me," he continues. "They threatened to oust me from the company. And I could not allow that."

"They were very particular about their will," he continues, ignoring me. "In case of your death before receiving control of the company, everything would be liquidated and donated to charity. That was why I needed you alive until you became CEO. That is the only reason for which I brought you up. That is the only reason for all of this."

My vision blurs with tears. "Uncle Cassian, please, don't do this-"

"Now that you have signed the transfer papers," he tells me, "your usefulness is over. Your death can be made to appear to be an accident. A tragedy. A private plane, a newly married couple, a sad loss."

"Evren," I choke out. "What have you done to Evren?"

Cassian doesn't even blink an eye. "He was a witness. You can't leave loose ends hanging around."

"No-please, Uncle, he doesn't even know anything about this-"

Then there is the sound of one shot fired somewhere within the warehouse.

"Evren!" I scream, shaking from head to toe. "Evren!"

There's no response.

With tears pouring down my face, I turn around to look at Cassian, my hands shaking as I hold out a hand to him. "Please. Please, Uncle. I have never asked you for anything in my life. I trusted you with my life. Don't do this to me."

"I raised you well, Veyra," he says in a low voice, walking towards me. "Be proud of that, at least."

"Please," I beg, "Please don't."

He shows no remorse.

The very last thing I see is his calm expression before everything fades to black.

Veyra's POV

"Uncle!"

I start awake, my hand instantly covering my chest where there is no wound, where there is no blood.

The ceiling above me is gold-tinged in the sunlight of the morning.

I sit up slowly, my heartbeat loud enough that I can actually hear it in my ears. I search the room quickly, my stomach churning at all the things I see.

My graduation gown sits pressed and waiting on my closet door. My wedding dress waits next to it, safely tucked into its own wrapping of silk. The vanity table holds the exact same jewelry as before-the jewelry that I wore just hours before my death.

"No," I whisper. "It can't be."

I place my palms on my eyelids to even out my breathing. I'm dead. I know that I have died. I remember Cassian's expression and how calm and ruthless he was. I remember the coldness of the warehouse floor under my body, and the utter despair in me when Evren's name tore through my throat after the shot rang out.

But I remember everything.

Why am I here, then?

I remove the covers from myself and approach the vanity, steadying myself on it while staring at my own reflection. There is no wound on my face, no mark on my skin. I look exactly like I did in the morning of my graduation-innocent, optimistic, completely unaware of what awaited me later that day.

"It must be a dream," I whisper. "Some kind of hallucination. Or something."

I pinch the skin of my wrist so painfully that I wince at the sharp sensation.

A knock on the door, and in walks Sable, my maid, with a smile.

"Good morning, Miss Veyra. The graduation ceremony begins in two hours. Do you want me to send your breakfast upstairs, or do you want to have it in the dining hall?"

I stare blankly at her, my brain working overtime. "Sable... what day is it?"

She tilts her head, perplexed by my question. "Fourteenth, Miss. The day of your graduation."

My throat constricts. "But in the evening?"

"In the evening is your wedding, of course," she laughs, "are you feeling alright? You look a bit pale."

"I am alright," I reply swiftly, "just a nervous wreck, I suppose."

She nods and exits to get me breakfast, and I collapse onto the bed. Everything she had said fit perfectly into what I remembered. Same day. Same schedule. Same wedding that ends with my death in an abandoned warehouse.

"What's going on?" I whisper to myself.

Before I have time to ponder about it more, my vision gets blurred, as if something was getting in the way. My surroundings turn into nothing but mist, making me feel like I'm floating in the air.

Once my vision clears, I find myself somewhere other than my bedroom.

I am in an unfamiliar place – it feels like the soft light surrounds me, there are no walls or any floor visible, only warmth. In front of me, stands a woman whom I thought I would never see again.

"Mom," I say to myself, barely able to speak. "Mom?"

Maelis Solenne looked exactly the same as the last time I saw her – warm brown eyes, gentle smile which used to make every storm I had back in childhood go away.

"My dear daughter," she said, holding her arms wide open towards me.

I ran to her and put my hands on her face, afraid that she will evaporate once I touch her. "How is it possible? You are gone for years."

"I know," she whispers. "But you're here now, and that's all that matters."

"Am I dead?" I ask. "Did I just die again? Is this the afterlife?"

"No," she says, shaking her head. "This is no dream, Veyra. This is not death. You've been granted a rare gift. A second chance."

"A second chance." The words echo in my head, but I cannot comprehend their meaning. "What do you mean?"

"You have been given another life," she continues. "Reborn, sent back to the beginning of that day with everything you have been through fresh in your memory. You know what your uncle did. You know what he plans to do tonight."

Tears sting my eyes. "He killed you," I say softly. "He killed you and Dad. He told me so himself before he –"

"I know," she answers, her voice strong in spite of the pain in her eyes. "I know what he has done to us, Veyra. And what he did to you."

"What can I do?" I ask, my voice shaky. "How can I stop any of this from happening again?"

She grasps my hands with her own and for a brief second, I feel the warmth that I once used to feel when I was a child.

"You already know all you have to know," she says. "What happened to you was not in vain. Use it. Learn the truth. Hold those who are responsible accountable. Take revenge on behalf of your father and me, Veyra. Take revenge on yourself."

She raises her hand and I see a crumpled sheet of paper lying in her palm.

"Take this," she says. "Remember everything when you wake up. Remember this moment. It will be a reminder of what you should do."

I stretch out my hand to grasp the piece of paper-

-and I wake up.

I rise up so quickly that I feel dizzy as I take uneven gasps of air. I simply stare at the ceiling, hoping that the dizziness will pass away so that I can think about whether the experience that I just had was another dream within a dream.

Then I feel something that is hard in my hand.

I slowly lift up my hand and unfold it.

It is real paper.

My breath gets stuck in my throat. I stare at it and wonder how my eyes can possibly see what they are seeing; but there it is, real, tangible, and warm from my very palm.

"It is real," I whisper to myself. "It is really real."

I hold the piece of paper against my chest, tears falling from my eyes as everything becomes clear. My mother had been speaking the truth; she had given me a second chance. I am back in the past, having complete information about everything that Cassian had done-how he had killed my parents, how he had deceived me with the love that he had shown me, and how I had died in his hands on my wedding night.

I wipe my eyes and try to breathe evenly.

It won't be happening again.

I get out of bed and go to the window, looking at the dawn light that pours into the courtyard where in less than a day's time, my wedding with Evren would start. Where Cassian would smile at me and congratulate me, only to later kill me without any hesitation.

Not this time.

Now I know what his plans are. Now I know the path the driver will follow, the building in which he will wait, and the destiny he will give Evren and to me if I don't marry Evren. I will not allow myself just not to marry him because then he will become suspicious of me, and he is much too dangerous for that. I need to ruin his plans in some unexpected way.

To do that, I need someone very powerful, who will be able to stand against Cassian. Someone whom he fears and who Cassian will never expect me to turn to.

I know exactly who I am going to ask.

I walk to my desk, grab my phone and call the number of the wedding coordinator. She responds almost immediately.

"Good morning, Miss Solenne! Everything is on schedule for tonight. Is there something you need?"

I take a steadying breath.

"Yes," I say. "We need to make a change to the guest list."

Veyra's POV

It feels exactly like the last graduation ceremony I was at – rows upon rows of golden chairs, banners with the university's emblem, even the same dean pronouncing the same names with the same intonation.

"Veyra Solenne, Master of Business Administration."

I step on the podium, receive my degree, shake the same hands – everything is exactly the same, including the claps I remember hearing during what was only going to happen a long time ago. Funny how I'm capable of remembering two versions of one day at once.

When I arrive at the company for the handover ceremony, my shaking hands stop trembling but there's something much colder now sitting there.

There's Cassian standing exactly as he was before, his silver-black hair neat, his suit spotless. He addresses the board with the same warm smile I once thought was genuine.

"For six years, I have been privileged enough to guard what my brother had built. Today, I'll be returning it into the right hands."

"He looks at me. 'Veyra, your parents would be proud of the woman that you have turned out to be.'"

"Thank you, Uncle Cassian," I say, holding my breath. "For everything."

The ceremonial pen is pressed into my hands, and I sign without delay. There is applause from the board. Champagne is poured. I smile in all the right places, because I have to convince him that absolutely nothing has happened.

Absolutely everything has happened.

Then, as we head for our cars, Cassian looks at me. "Why don't I take you to the marriage court? We can talk on the way."

"In fact," I say, "I'd prefer to go alone. I need some time before everything starts."

Cassian looks at me in silence for just an instant, and I feel my heart racing, fearing that he might somehow be able to read me already.

"Of course," he says. "Enjoy yourself. I'll meet you there."

"Thanks." I climb into my car and shut the door before he has time to change his mind.

As soon as the door is closed behind me, I take out my phone and dial a number I haven't dialed since I was sixteen in either of my lives.

It rings twice before a short, terse voice answers. "Rhydian Vael."

"Yes, Mr. Vael," I say. "Veyra Solenne here."

A pause. "Solenne? The niece of Cassian Veyrek?"

"That's right."

"I was unaware that we had any matters to discuss."

"We don't," I say. "Not yet. But I have a business proposal for you that you need to hear before saying no."

"Well, then?"

"Not on the phone. I need you to come to the marriage court in the next hour."

There is a long pause, so long I think he may have hung up. "Marriage court," he says. "That's where you're going to get married, isn't it? I saw it in the business news."

"Yes."

"But then I really don't see the point in our being here."

I inhale sharply. "I would ask you to marry me, rather."

The silence that follows is much more intense. "Miss Solenne, I don't know whether this is some sort of sick joke or not, but I have a business to look after and I don't have time for-"

"It's not a joke," I hasten to say. "I know that this must sound like crazy talk. I know that we have never exchanged any words until now. But I need you to trust me, and I will explain all in due time."

"Trust you," he repeats coldly. "And just like that, I'm supposed to give up my entire afternoon, go to your wedding ceremony, and marry you in place of the groom who was going to marry you, based solely on your word."

"Yes."

"No," he replies. "Certainly not. Whatever game you're trying to play, find another fool to do it with you."

"Not so fast," I interrupt before he can hang up. "Just listen. Rhydian... can I call you Rhydian?"

"You can not."

"Rhydian," I continue nonetheless, "I know that you've been trying to get Alden Cross on board as an investor for well over a year. I know that you've been rejected by him twice."

The silence becomes different. It no longer carries the tone of dismissal.

"How do you know all that," he asks slowly, "since it's not a public knowledge?"

"That is not relevant at this point in time," I reply. "All that is relevant now is that I am offering you a meeting with him. A real one. He owes my family a favor that he cannot return and I can collect it from him for you, in exchange for your helping me."

"You think that I will take you at your word about getting me a meeting with Alden Cross."

"I think that you will put me to the test," I answer. "Marry me, and you will meet Alden Cross within the week. Should I be lying, then you have nothing to lose since you would be able to dissolve the marriage and embarrass me for having wasted your time."

"You realize how this looks," he says. "Cassian Veyrek's niece marrying his biggest rival, out of nowhere, on her wedding day."

"I know," I tell him. "Which is exactly why it has to be you."

I listen to him breathe. It's an exhale that sounds somewhere between anger and intrigue. "This either is the most insane thing I've ever heard, or the most fascinating." He said at last.

"Does that mean you'll be there?"

"I'll be there," he tells me. "If this ends up being nothing more than a colossal waste of my time, Miss Solenne, you will live to regret it."

"Understood," I reply. "Thank you."

He hangs up.

By the time my vehicle reaches the marriage court, my heart is thudding so loud, I can feel it in my throat. Cassian is waiting there by Evren, both of them immaculately dressed and entirely oblivious to the fact that I have just set out to wreck their plans.

And then Rhydian's vehicle arrives behind mine.

I see Cassian's face change when Rhydian exits his vehicle. The confusion, the alertness that follows.

"Veyra." Cassian makes his way over to me immediately. "Why does Rhydian Vael appear to be here?"

"I asked him to come," I tell him.

"Why would you bring him to your wedding?" Cassian's eyes dart to Rhydian, standing several meters away and looking our way with an unfathomable expression on his face. "That man tried to sabotage this company for years now. This day of all days-"

"Uncle," I say lightly, "do not make a scene. We have company."

Cassian looks around at the small group of people gathered here-our staff and family members-and I know that he's suppressing his rage. "We'll talk about this later," he mutters.

"Of course," I say.

Evren approaches, looking worried. "Veyra? What's wrong? Why is he here?"

"There's nothing to be concerned about," I say, knowing that Rhydian's eyes are on me from across the yard, sharp and judging.

We're shown inside, and the registrar starts the same procedure I've been through many times before, when my life and death were tied to the table, papers, and pen in front of me.

Evren steps up, as if expecting me to join him there.

But I don't budge.

"Veyra?" he asks, puzzled.

I bypass him altogether and head towards Rhydian, whose narrowed eyes follow my approach.

"What the hell are you up to?" he whispers.

"Trust me," I whisper back. "Just for now."

The registrar clears his throat. "Miss Solenne, have things changed from our previous agreement?"

"There have been changes," I reply, even as everything around me seems to be spiraling out of control-Evren's stunned silence, Cassian's angry gaze, the hushed whispers of the small group of witnesses.

The registrar pauses for only a second before sliding the papers toward us.

I take the pen into my hand.

I sign my name.

Rhydian looks at me, and then, without another word, takes the pen out of my hand and signs his own name below mine.

"I hereby pronounce you man and wife."