I froze. Something in her voice, the desperation, the conviction, sliced through the adrenaline surging in me. I pressed closer, straining to catch every word.
“Lila…?” Asher’s voice was sharp, icy. “You’re sure it was her?”
Clara’s sobs broke the words into shards. “Yes… she forced my Lila… she drove her… to end it! You must—make her pay!”
And just like that, everything clicked. My chest tightened, my stomach dropped. The puzzle pieces of the past life, the confusion, the torment—it all made a horrific sense now. He hadn’t loved me. He hadn’t. He had blamed me for someone else’s death, for Lila Carter’s death, and had married me only to punish me.
My own heart threatened to shatter, but the anger, oh—the anger surged higher.
I turned, letting the crowd thin behind me, and walked swiftly back toward the townhouse. I needed to think. I needed to plan.
Back at home, Mia, my older sister, appeared in the living room as I burst through the door. She was mid-sip of her green tea, papers strewn across the glass coffee table, her laptop open.
“Stella? What—what happened?” Her eyes widened as she took in my flushed face, my wild hair. “You look—did he—what?”
I swallowed hard, keeping my voice low, dangerous. “He proposed. Again. And I—refused. Right there, in front of a crowd. And then… I overheard something. Clara, the housekeeper… she told him that I drove her daughter, Lila, to kill herself.”
Mia’s face paled. “Wait… Lila Carter? But she was… she was the housekeeper’s daughter. And you… you didn’t even—?”
“I never met her. I never even spoke to her at length. The only time I saw her, she asked me for directions outside campus. That’s it. And somehow… Clara twisted it. She made Asher believe it was my fault.”
Mia’s lips pressed into a thin line, her jaw tight with fury. “So that’s why he—he tortured you. All that time. And you—he—he married you to hurt you?”
I nodded, gripping the edge of the marble counter so hard my knuckles whitened. “Exactly. He blamed me for a death I didn’t cause. He… loved someone else who was gone and took it out on me. And last life, I believed him. I—”
Mia reached over, grabbing my hands in both of hers, fierce and grounding. “No. Not this time. This life, Stella? You do not let him touch you. You do not let him ruin you. We figure out the truth, we set things right. And I swear… I am not letting anyone hurt you again.”
The surge of relief, the warmth of her unwavering loyalty, made my chest ache. She had always been the stronger one between us, the one who could fight the world if she had to. And now… she was my shield.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. The roses were still in my mind, the memory of Asher’s gaze like ice against my skin. I thought about the hours, the days, the months that would come—the careful maneuvering, the waiting, the plotting. I had to protect myself. I had to uncover the truth of what happened to Lila. And I had to be ready for Asher—because he wouldn’t give up. He never did.
I moved to the window, looking down at the Manhattan skyline ablaze with lights, the city humming its endless pulse. This is mine. I whispered the words to myself, letting them sink in, letting them strengthen the fire that had begun to burn within. This life, Stella Moore decides. Not him. Not anyone. I am no one’s victim.
As I traced the outlines of buildings that once felt like a cage, I imagined the first moves I would make. The cameras to catch him, the steps to uncover Lila’s hidden truth, the friends I would trust, the enemies I would expose. Every detail from my past life became a weapon, sharpened by memory, honed by pain.
And just like that, the girl who had died at twenty-one, cold and broken, ceased to exist. In her place was something new: a Stella who was calm, calculating, fearless. A Stella who would not be crushed beneath anyone’s obsession or misplaced rage.
As the city lights shimmered below, I whispered again, more firmly this time: “Asher Reed, you won’t control me. Not this time. Not ever.”
And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, I believed it.
The war had just begun—and I was already winning.