Death was not painful.
That was the first lie Liana Cross realized as her consciousness sank into the cold, drowning darkness.Pain wasn't the worst part—betrayal was.
She felt her blood pool beneath her; warm at first, then chilling against the concrete floor of the abandoned warehouse.Evan's face hovered above her, twisted with disgust.Mira's laughter rang beside him, sweet and sharp like a poisoned blade.
"Did you really think you were special, sister?" Mira whispered, stepping over her body.Evan scoffed. "She was useful. Nothing more."
Their silhouettes blurred.Her heartbeat faded.Her world dimmed.
And Liana died with her eyes open.
A gasp ripped from her lungs.
Liana shot upright, hand flying to her chest.Her heart crashed wildly against her ribs, as if trying to escape her body.Her breath shook.Her fingers trembled.
White ceiling.Soft bedding.Warm air.No blood.No warehouse.No betrayal.
This… was her bedroom.
Her bedroom in Evan Hale's house.
Her eyes widened.The familiar chandelier above her head—the one she had bought six years ago.The silk sheets she slept in before the marriage rotted into a grave.The faint cologne lingering on the other side of the bed…
She stared around, cold sweat sliding down her spine.
"No… impossible…"
She stumbled from the bed and rushed to the vanity mirror.
And froze.
The woman staring back at her was… her.But not the broken, bruised version she remembered before death.
Her face was younger.Her skin smoother.Her eyes clearer.
This was her… five years ago.Before the betrayals.Before the humiliation.Before the death.
A soft click sounded from the door.
Liana snapped around instantly.
The doorknob turned, and a maid pushed the door open, bowing lightly.
"Madam, breakfast is ready."
The maid looked unbothered. Calm.Exactly how the staff behaved before they learned Elena was disposable.
Liana swallowed, her pulse thundering.
"W-What… what year is this?"
The maid blinked in confusion. "Madam? It's 20XX, of course. Are you feeling unwell?"
Liana's hand tightened on the dresser.
Five years before her death.She was truly reborn.
Her vision sharpened.The fear melted.
Underneath it… something darker awakened.Cold. Controlled.A quiet fire burning behind her eyes.
She turned toward the window, watching the bright morning sun spread across the city.
"This time…" she whispered, her voice low, steady, dangerous."I will not die quietly."
Blood had taken her life.
Silence would protect her rebirth.
And this time, those who destroyed her…would drown in their own.