Lyra's POV
I barely slept that night. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of the marriage certificate flashed through my mind, accompanied by so many memories I had promised to cherish all my life, but now, I could no longer withstand.
When dawn finally came, I felt as though I had aged overnight. It was as if the weight of the world rested on my shoulders.
I had tried my best not to cry, but when I touched my eyes that morning, they were wet, along with my cheeks. But the world didn't stop because of my problems.
I had contracts to review. Meetings to attend. Patients waiting for consultations at Valen Medical Center. Duty came before emotions. I owe it to my patients to show up, even if I was a wreck inside and out.
Besides, I also have to inform the family's legal team to help reroute all the properties in Adrian's control back to me. I'd instructed the deltas to keep him away from my room and from me. I wasn't surprised that he hadn't sneaked in to use his lies on me again.
The bed felt empty when I climbed down this morning, the pillow and duvet uncomforting. How I made it to the bathroom, I didn't know, but less than twenty minutes later, I was dressed and stepping out of the palace.
I turned just as Elias, my younger brother, jogged down the front steps toward me.
"You're actually going to work today?" he asked, frowning when he saw the exhaustion in my eyes.
"I don't have a choice," I replied, forcing calm into my voice. I hadn't told him about Adrian. I'd only told him I was sick and just emotionally down when he caught me crying yesterday.
But he was a smart boy. He must have already picked up that something was wrong between Adrian and me. He studied my face rather too carefully.
I was expecting him to bombard me with questions, but he just said, "You look like you didn't get much sleep last night."
Or I didn't get any. I avoided his gaze, and I wore a false smile. "It's nothing. Just had a bad night," I hurried down the terrace before more questions came.
We approached the driveway together, where the car usually waited. But instead of the familiar black sedan and the chauffeur standing beside it, the vehicle sat alone.
I frowned. "Where's Marcus?"
It was a rhetorical question, but Elias was moving towards the staff quarters to hunt for him.
I snatched his shoulder and pulled him back when my phone buzzed, and a message flashed on the screen with Marcus' name on it.
I glanced at the screen, reading. "Luna Valen, I'm terribly sorry. I've come down with a sudden fever this morning and won't be able to drive today."
I sighed quietly, following up with a helpless grunt. "Perfect timing,"
Elias peeked over my shoulder.
"He's sick?"
"So he says."
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well… I would drive, but—"
"You still haven't gotten your license yet," I said, trying not to rebuke him for not doing the one thing I have asked him to do for six months now.
He gave me an embarrassed smile. "I am sorry. I can--"
I was tired of excuses, his, everyone, I just ignored him and moved towards the car. "I'll drive then. Get in"
Elias hesitated, guilt dragging his steps, until he climbed into the passenger seat. I started the engine promptly, and for a moment, I allowed the quiet hum of the car to soothe my nerves as much as it could.
Then I drove through the palace gates and onto the city road.
Traffic was moderate now.
I tried to focus on the road, while my mind spiralled through the thoughts of the biggest betrayal in my life, and to memories I wished I could just bury.
My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. It didn't matter anymore. Two days. That was all he had left in my life. And I promised myself, I will pick up the pieces faster than he could leave.
Suddenly, the car jerked slightly.
I frowned, my gaze dropping to the dashboard.
Elias turned to me. "Did you feel that?" he asked.
"Yeah," I muttered.
I pressed down the brake pedal lightly.
But Nothing happened.
My heartbeat skipped, lurching against the thin walls of my chest.
My palm was sweaty as I gripped the steering wheel tighter and pressed down harder on the brake.
Still nothing.
"No…" I screamed, realizing something was wrong with the car. I slammed the brake again and again, my feet hurting like hell.
Yet, the car didn't slow.
Instead, the speed increased.
"What's wrong?" Elias asked, panic creeping into his voice.
"The brakes…" I tried not to sound panicked, but there wasn't much I could do, not when every moment came with the dark realization that something was wrong with our car. "They're not responding."
Elias turned pale, sharing his panic-stricken face between me, the dashboard, and the road. "What do you mean they're not responding?!"
I tried again. But the pedal just sank uselessly beneath my foot, the speedometer climbing higher.
"Lyra—!"
"I know!"
My mind raced, and I tried to calm myself, tried not to panic, though my heartbeat was already rising and my breath coming off in ragged bursts.
Think. Think. Think! I rambled beneath my breath. I tried shifting the gear.
Still, nothing changed. The engine only roared louder.
Cars ahead began honking, yelling for us to stop. The world around me was a disaster of noise, and inside of me was no better.
I thought back on everything: Marcus's illness excuse and the misbehaving car. My pulse pounded violently in my ears as realization hit me like a bucket of iced water. Someone had tampered with the car. Someone was trying to kill me. But who?
A cold thought crept into my mind... one I desperately didn't want to believe... Adrian?
But how could he even do this to me? My racing heart shrank tight from the weight of sorrow, crowding it. It hurts knowing that I had once loved him, once trusted him, and once given him all my life.
I tried my best to focus on the only thing that mattered--saving my brother and me.
"Listen to me," I said suddenly, and Elias turned to me.
"What?"
"You have to jump." His eyes widened in horror.
"What?!"
"I'm serious," I said, my voice sharp with urgency, struggling to stay steady. "When I open your door, you jump out."
"That's insane!" he screamed, panic eating deep into him. He looked as pale as a ghost.
"You'll survive."
"Lyra—!" he screamed again, tears filled his eyes. "I'm not leaving you!"
"You don't have a choice." I reminded him.
Horns blared wildly around us. I yanked the wheel, steering the car toward a less crowded lane.
"Ready?" I asked.
Elias shook his head violently.
"No!"
I reached across him, summoned all the strength I could, from myself and my wolf, and I slammed my fist against the door.
At first, it didn't budge. Then I leaned my feet up, and I slammed them against the door.
Wind roared in violently as the door swung open.
"Jump!"
"I can't!"
A truck's horn blasted somewhere behind us.
The sound vibrated through the air like thunder. I didn't hesitate, and I shoved him hard.
I barely glimpsed him tumbling onto the roadside pavement when the speed stole him away from view.
A deafening horn exploded behind me.
I looked up into the rearview mirror to find a massive cargo truck racing towards me.
My heartbeat tripled. It was too damn close, and moving too damn fast.
I swerved right to avoid it, but then the truck slammed into the back of the car.
The impact felt like the world exploding around me. Metal screamed with tears, glass shattering with jarring cries.
The force hurled the car forward like a toy.
I slammed my head against the steering wheel, with a force that had pain exploding through my body as the car spun violently across the road.
I was still dazed from the horror when the vehicle smashed into the front of a concrete building.
Then everything went silent, as if muted. Smoke filled the air. I slumped weakly against the seat, warm blood trickling down my temple.
So this… is how it ends… I thought. This is how I die. Killed by the man I loved and trusted.
I wanted to pray, scream, and wish it ended differently, but it was futile. I could already feel death's cold fingers pulling me deep into the heat of the afterlife.
My thoughts drifted back to Adrian, as everything blurred to nothing. To the lies, the betrayal, the memories.
My fingers curled weakly on the seat.
If I could get another life, then I would make him pay. But I tried not to think about it. It was as futile as prayer.
My vision blurred to nothing, my breathing grew shallow. And then, the world faded slowly into darkness.
It could have taken eternity, or perhaps just a second, or perhaps none at all. But one thing was sure. I died, I felt it as I once felt living. Yet, somehow, I gasped again, and my eyes flew open.
The strange air lingering around me was the first sign that I was conscious. It smelled faintly of unfamiliar incense.
My heart raced as I sat upright on something rather soft, too soft to be my car. I stared down to see a large king-size bed beneath me, and a duvet at my feet.
My eyes roamed wildly around the room. To the soft silk curtains fluttering gently around me.
I wasn't in the car. I checked around my body, my face, arms, neck... but I wasn't bleeding. I wasn't even in the city.
I looked around slowly. The room was enormous. Marble pillars. Golden chandeliers. Intricate tapestries lining the walls.
It looked like the bedroom of a royal palace.
"Where… am I?" I muttered to myself, but my voice sounded unfamiliar even to my ears.
I stared again at the unfamiliar hands trembling before me. They were not mine. I almost jumped out of my own skin as the terrifying realization washed over me.
Whose body am I in?