For the longest time, she had dismissed them.
It was easier that way.
Easier to call them nightmares. Easier to blame exhaustion. Easier to turn over in bed and pretend the ache in her chest was just anxiety.
But now that she had stopped running from them, the truth felt painfully clear.
They were not haunting her.
She had been avoiding them.
It was not fate that dragged her toward destruction in that life. It was not destiny that pushed her into choices she later regretted.
It was her.
Her pride.
Her greed for control.
Her obsession with winning even when the cost was love.
She had ignored every warning sign. Every moment that could have been salvaged. She had chosen ambition over connection and power over humility.
And when everything collapsed, she had acted surprised.
Now, standing here in this life, with clearer eyes and a softer heart, she understood something she had never allowed herself to admit before.
It had not been the world against her.
