CHAPTER 1: THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BURNED
The gunshot echoed louder than the accusations.
Elara Vale tasted blood before she felt the pain.
Cameras exploded in white flashes. Reporters shouted over one another. Security surged forward too late.
Moments ago, she had been standing at the podium of Knox Global's headquarters — accused of corporate fraud, embezzlement, and orchestrating a hostile takeover that nearly destroyed her own family's legacy.
Traitor.
Manipulator.
Corporate parasite.
The headlines had already been drafted before she walked into the room.
Her gaze cut through the chaos.
It found him instantly.
Adrian Knox stood at the center of the storm, black suit immaculate, posture straight, expression controlled to perfection. CEO of Knox Global. The youngest executive to triple market value in under three years.
Her fiancé.
The man who once told her they would build an empire together.
He had presented the evidence.
Signed the emergency board resolution.
Authorized the investigation.
Every document that condemned her carried his approval.
Their eyes locked.
She expected indifference.
Expected cold satisfaction.
Instead—
Restraint.
A tightness beneath his composure that didn't belong to victory.
"Miss Vale, did you falsify the merger agreement?"
"Was your engagement a strategic move to infiltrate Knox Global?"
"Did you manipulate insider data?"
The accusations hit harder than the bullet.
Her knees trembled, but she refused to collapse.
She would not give them that.
She looked at Adrian again.
Why aren't you saying anything?
Why aren't you stopping this?
He moved.
The crowd instinctively parted for him.
Power followed him like gravity.
"Elara."
Her name, low. Controlled.
She swallowed blood.
"Why?" she breathed.
He didn't answer directly.
Instead, he stepped closer — too close for the cameras to capture clearly.
"Look at me."
The command was quiet.
She almost refused.
But she did.
And in his eyes, she saw something that didn't match the narrative being broadcast to millions.
There was no triumph there.
No hatred.
No relief.
There was urgency.
And something else—
Fear.
The realization struck too late.
This wasn't just a scandal.
It was execution.
Someone broke through the barricade.
Another gunshot.
The impact tore through her chest.
Air disappeared.
The world tilted violently.
As she fell, she saw it—
Adrian's composure cracked.
Just for a second.
Too late.
Darkness swallowed her whole.
—
Elara bolted upright.
Air burned in her lungs.
Silence.
No cameras.
No shouting.
No blood.
Her bedroom.
She clutched her chest.
Whole.
Alive.
Her phone vibrated on the nightstand.
Hands shaking, she grabbed it.
Date: One year earlier.
The night Knox Global and Vale Industries announced their engagement merger.
Her heart slowed.
One year before the scandal.
One year before betrayal.
One year before death.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city glowed peacefully.
Unaware of what was coming.
Her reflection stared back at her in the dark glass.
No public disgrace.
No bullet wound.
No ruin.
Just Elara Vale — heiress, strategist, fiancée to the most powerful CEO in the city.
Her mind replayed everything.
The anonymous evidence leak.
The board members who switched sides overnight.
The forensic audit that concluded too quickly.
The media narrative that moved too perfectly.
It had been coordinated.
Planned.
Engineered.
But by who?
And why had Adrian looked like that?
"Look at me."
If he had truly destroyed her, why did he look like he was trying to warn her?
Her jaw tightened.
Emotion had been her weakness.
Love had been her blindfold.
This time, she would not be naïve.
Her phone vibrated again.
Incoming Call: Adrian Knox.
The name glowed on the screen.
Her pulse didn't spike.
It steadied.
Calculated.
The man who had signed her downfall.
The man whose eyes didn't match his actions.
The call continued ringing.
In her first life, she would have answered with trust.
With softness.
With love.
Now—
She answered with clarity.
"Hello, Adrian."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Then his voice.
Calm.
Measured.
"Elara," he said, "we need to talk about tonight."
Her lips curved slightly.
Yes.
They absolutely did.
"This time," she thought,
"I'll be the one asking questions."