Darkness always came before the screams.
Liana Vale sat quietly in the back of the black sedan, her hands folded neatly on her lap, as the car rolled through the tall iron gates of Vale Manor. The guards didn't look twice at her. They never did. To them, she wasn't the first daughter of the Vale household. She was the forgotten one. The one pushed behind expensive dresses, glamour, and perfect smiles that weren't hers.
Her stepmother Marisela made sure of that.
The mansion rose ahead like a cold monument carved from greed—gold-lined pillars, glass chandeliers glowing through tall windows, the crest of the Vale family glinting at the entrance. A symbol of pride for everyone except the one person who should have inherited it.
Liana.
Her long dark-brown hair was tied in a loose braid over one shoulder, hiding the bruising Marisela claimed came from Liana's "clumsiness." Beneath the makeup they forced her to wear, faint scars still lingered—reminders of a past life where she trusted the wrong people. Her chestnut-blue eyes, soft yet piercing, swept over the mansion as if seeing ghosts only she remembered.
Because she did.
She remembered the betrayal.
She remembered the poison.
She remembered dying.
And then waking up—to this moment again. Reborn, not for revenge alone, but to reclaim everything stolen from her.
The car door opened. The driver didn't offer a hand. They never did.
"Move," he muttered.
Liana stepped out, her thick, curvy frame steady and grounded despite the chill biting her skin. She wasn't fragile anymore. She wasn't confused. And she wasn't scared.
Not in this life.
As she walked inside, the air smelled of roses and money—Marisela's signature blend. The grand foyer sparkled with white marble and gold trim. On the stairs stood Seraphine Vale, Liana's stepsister, dressed in expensive silk, her glossy red lips curling in a sneer the moment she laid eyes on Liana.
"Oh. You're back," Seraphine said, her voice sugary and venomous. "Try not to embarrass the family this time."
In the past, Liana would have lowered her head. Stayed quiet. Accepted the insults.
Not anymore.
She simply blinked once, slowly, watching Seraphine's expression tighten under her calm gaze. "I'll try my best," Liana replied softly. "You should as well."
A small victory. But Seraphine's eye twitched.
Marisela appeared next, descending the stairs with the elegance of a queen who believed the world owed her its crown. Her emerald dress shimmered, her smile sharp enough to cut the air.
"Liana, darling," she cooed. "We have guests tonight. Please stay out of sight, yes? You know how people talk when they see... imperfections."
The dig slid toward Liana's hidden beauty—beauty Marisela feared more than anything.
Damian Vale, Liana's father, stepped into view moments later. Cold. Distant. A man who had once held her as a baby but now barely looked at her.
"Behave," he said without greeting her. "The Fords are coming. Cassian will be here."
Liana's breath stilled.
Cassian Ford.
Her fiancé.
Her betrayer.
And the man who chose Seraphine over her in the previous life.
Perfect. Let them all gather. Let them all believe she is still weak and blind. Liana lowered her gaze—only as an act.
You're all still playing checkers, she thought.
But I'm playing a new game now.
Tonight wasn't about Cassian.
Or the Fords.
Or this family.
Tonight was the beginning.
Of her slow, quiet, unstoppable rise.
And the fall of every single person who tried
to bury her.