Rain crashed violently against the windshield as the black car sped down the empty highway.

Inside, Evelyn Carter gripped the steering wheel with trembling hands. Blood slowly dripped from the cut near her temple, staining the sleeve of her white dress.

Behind her, police sirens screamed through the storm.

“Pull over immediately!”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

Pull over?

For what?

For crimes she never committed?

Her vision blurred as memories replayed mercilessly inside her mind.

Only a few hours ago, she attended a glamorous charity banquet beside her husband, Damien Blackwood—the cold, powerful CEO admired by the entire city.

Now she was being hunted like a criminal.

Fraud. Murder. Embezzlement.

Every accusation had her name attached to it.

Every piece of evidence pointed directly at her.

And the person who handed that evidence to the police—

Was Damien himself.

Her fingers tightened painfully around the steering wheel.

“I trusted you…” she whispered brokenly.

The image of the courtroom flashed before her eyes.

Damien stands tall in his black suit. His expression is emotionless. His voice was calm and sharp enough to destroy her completely.

“Evelyn Carter is guilty.”

Not once had he defended her.

Not once had he looked at her with love.

And her best friend, Sophia Hayes…

Evelyn’s eyes darkened with hatred.

Sophia had cried fake tears in court while testifying against her.

“She confessed everything to me,” Sophia had sobbed dramatically.

What a perfect performance.

Evelyn finally understood it was too late.

The affair. The stolen company shares. The forged signatures. The poison was planted inside her office.

Everything had been planned carefully from the beginning.

And she walked straight into the trap.

Thunder exploded across the sky.

Suddenly—

Bright headlights appeared ahead.

A truck.

Too close.

Evelyn gasped and jerked the steering wheel violently.

The tires screeched.

The car spun across the wet road before crashing into the guardrail with a deafening sound.

Glass shattered everywhere.

Pain tore through her body.

Then came fire.

Orange flames swallowed the front of the car instantly.

Smoke filled the air as Evelyn struggled weakly against the crushed seatbelt.

Her breathing became shallow.

This is how it ends…

Tears slid silently down her cheeks.

The heat burned her skin, but somehow the pain inside her heart hurt more.

She remembered being nineteen years old again.

Damien standing beneath golden autumn leaves outside university grounds.

“You’ll always be safe with me,” he had promised softly while holding her hand.

Back then, his eyes had been warm.

Back then, she believed him.

“What a beautiful lie…” Evelyn whispered painfully.

The fire spread rapidly around her.

The sirens outside faded.

Everything grew distant.

Then suddenly—

A blinding white light flashed before her eyes.

Warm. Strange. Endless.

Evelyn’s body felt weightless.

Was this death?

Her eyelids slowly closed.

But instead of darkness—

She heard birds singing.

Soft wind brushed against her skin.

And somewhere nearby, a familiar voice called nervously:

“Miss Carter? Wake up—you’ll be late for the engagement party!”

Evelyn’s eyes snapped open.

She sat upright sharply, gasping for air.

Sunlight streamed through massive bedroom windows.

Fresh roses decorated the room.

No smoke. No fire. No blood.

Her breathing stopped.

Slowly, she turned toward the mirror beside the bed.

A younger version of herself stared back.

Smooth skin. Bright eyes. No scars.

Her hands trembled violently.

“This… can’t be possible…”

Then her gaze landed on the calendar beside the lamp.

October 7th.

Six years earlier.

The day before her engagement to Damien Blackwood.

A cold chill ran down her spine.

She was alive.

No—

She had been reborn.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door.

“Miss Carter?” the maid asked carefully. “Mr. Blackwood has arrived.”

Damien.

The man who betrayed her.

The man she once loved enough to die for.

Hatred slowly burned inside her chest.

But this time…

Things would be different.

Evelyn rose from the bed slowly and looked at herself in the mirror again.

A cold smile appeared on her lips.

“In this life,” she whispered softly, “I’ll make all of you pay.”

The grand ballroom of the Carter mansion glittered beneath crystal chandeliers.

Soft piano music floated through the air while wealthy guests laughed elegantly over champagne glasses and business deals.

But to Evelyn Carter, the entire night felt like a nightmare she had already lived once before.

Because she had.

Tonight was the night of her engagement party with Damien Blackwood.

The night she once believed marked the beginning of a fairytale.

In reality, it had been the beginning of her destruction.

Evelyn stood at the top of the staircase in a silver satin gown, her fingers tightening around the railing.

Below, the guests admired her beauty openly.

“She looks stunning.”

“They’re the perfect couple.”

“Mr. Blackwood must truly love her.”

Love?

The word almost made her laugh.

Taking a slow breath, Evelyn descended the staircase gracefully, hiding the storm inside her eyes.

Then she saw him.

Damien stood near the champagne table in a perfectly tailored black suit. Tall, calm, untouchable.

Just like before.

But the moment his gaze lifted toward her—

Evelyn froze.

Those eyes…

They weren’t the eyes of the young Damien she remembered from this point in time.

They were colder. Darker. Filled with something heavy and familiar.

Exactly like the Damien who had watched her die in court.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

The noise of the ballroom seemed to disappear entirely.

Then Damien slowly picked up a wine glass.

“This wine,” he said quietly, “tastes exactly the same.”

Evelyn’s heartbeat stopped.

His voice remained calm.

“But this time, no one poisoned it.”

Shock crashed through her chest.

Her fingers trembled slightly around her clutch bag.

Impossible.

There was only one reason he would say that.

He remembered.

Damien tilted his head slightly, studying her pale expression carefully.

“Surprised, Evelyn?”

The air between them became suffocating.

Around them, the guests continued laughing, completely unaware of the war silently beginning.

Evelyn forced herself to stay calm.

Slowly, she walked toward him and picked up another wine glass from the table.

“You remember everything,” she said softly.

Damien didn’t deny it.

Instead, he gave a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“So do you.”

A bitter laugh escaped Evelyn’s lips.

“How interesting,” she murmured. “Fate must enjoy cruel jokes.”

She raised the glass slightly.

“In my previous life, you personally destroyed me.”

For the first time, Damien’s expression cracked slightly.

Guilt flickered across his face before disappearing again.

“I know.”

Evelyn stared at him coldly.

The memories returned sharply.

Him standing in court. Him refusing to meet her eyes. Him sentencing her to ruin with a single sentence.

Hatred twisted painfully inside her chest.

“This time,” she whispered, “I won’t trust anyone again.”

Damien stepped closer.

Close enough for her to smell his familiar cologne.

“You shouldn’t,” he replied quietly.

His answer startled her.

Before she could speak again, another voice interrupted them sweetly.

“Evelyn!”

Sophia Hayes approached with a bright smile, her white dress flowing elegantly behind her.

The sight of her nearly made Evelyn’s blood boil.

Sophia wrapped an arm around her affectionately.

“You disappeared the moment you arrived,” she teased. “And Damien keeps staring at you like he’s obsessed.”

Evelyn looked into Sophia’s innocent-looking eyes and felt only disgust.

This woman had betrayed her most cruelly in her previous life.

Yet tonight, she smiled as if nothing had happened.

Evelyn suddenly smiled back sweetly.

“Sophia,” she said gently, “tell me something.”

Sophia blinked innocently.

“What is it?”

Evelyn’s eyes darkened slightly.

“What kind of punishment do you think betrayers deserve?”

For the briefest moment—

Sophia’s smile stiffened.

Then she laughed awkwardly.

“You’re being dramatic again.”

Maybe.

But this time, Evelyn could finally see the fear hiding behind Sophia’s perfect mask.

And across the ballroom, Damien silently watched everything unfold.

As if waiting for the game to begin properly.

The engagement party ended near midnight.

One by one, the guests left the mansion beneath the glow of golden lights, their laughter fading into the cold autumn night.

But inside the Carter mansion, tension still lingered heavily in the air.

Evelyn Carter stood alone on the balcony outside the ballroom, staring silently at the city skyline.

The chilly wind brushed against her bare shoulders.

She should have felt relieved.

Instead, her mind was in chaos.

Damien remembered.

That single truth changed everything.

In her previous life, she believed fate had punished her alone.

But now, somehow, Damien Blackwood had returned too.

Why?

And more importantly—

Could she trust anything he said?

The balcony door slid open quietly behind her.

“You always come here when you’re upset.”

Evelyn’s expression hardened instantly.

She didn’t need to turn around to know it was Damien.

“I’m surprised you still remember that,” she replied coldly.

Damien stepped beside her, hands in his pockets.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The silence between them felt strangely familiar.

Painfully familiar.

Finally, Damien spoke quietly.

“You’re planning revenge already.”

It wasn’t a question.

Evelyn laughed softly.

“Shouldn’t I?”

Her eyes remained fixed on the distant city lights.

“In my last life, I lost everything.”

Her voice trembled slightly despite herself.

“My reputation. My family. My freedom.”

Then slowly, she turned toward him.

“And you helped destroy all of it.”

Damien’s jaw tightened.

“I know.”

The calmness of his answer only angered her more.

“You know?” Evelyn repeated bitterly. “That’s all you have to say?”

For the first time that night, emotion flickered clearly across Damien’s face.

Regret.

Real regret.

“In the previous life,” he said quietly, “I thought I was protecting the company.”

Evelyn stared at him in disbelief.

“You chose the company over me.”

“No.” Damien’s voice lowered dangerously. “I chose the wrong people over you.”

The words hit harder than she expected.

Memories flashed painfully through her mind.

Sophia crying fake tears. Forged evidence appearing one after another. Damien growing colder each day until she no longer recognized him.

Evelyn clenched her fists tightly.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she whispered.

Because she had died.

Because he had let her die.

Damien looked at her silently for several seconds before speaking again.

“Sophia wasn’t acting alone.”

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed instantly.

“What do you mean?”

“There were others involved,” Damien said carefully. “People inside both our families. People after your father’s shares.”

A cold chill ran through Evelyn’s body.

In her previous life, her father had suddenly fallen ill only months before the accusations began.

At the time, she thought it was stress.

But now…

“You think they poisoned him?” she asked quietly.

Damien didn’t answer immediately.

Which was answer enough.

Evelyn felt sick.

The betrayal had gone deeper than she imagined.

She looked away sharply, trying to steady her breathing.

After a long silence, Damien suddenly spoke again.

“This life can change.”

Evelyn laughed bitterly.

“You expect me to believe you?”

“No.”

His honesty surprised her.

“But whether you trust me or not…” his gaze darkened slightly, “you’ll still need me.”

Evelyn hated that he was right.

The enemies hiding around them were powerful.

And this time, she refused to die helplessly again.

Slowly, she crossed her arms.

“So what exactly are you suggesting?”

Damien stepped closer.

Close enough that she could hear the unevenness in his breathing.

“A partnership.”

Evelyn stared at him silently.

“You help me uncover the people behind everything,” he continued quietly, “and I help you destroy them before they destroy us.”

The city wind howled softly around them.

A dangerous offer.

A dangerous man.

But perhaps revenge itself was dangerous.

Evelyn studied Damien carefully.

Then finally—

A cold smile curved her lips.

“If you betray me again,” she whispered, “I won’t wait for fate to punish you this time.”

Something unreadable flickered in Damien’s eyes.

“Fair enough.”

Inside the dark ballroom, hidden behind the curtains—

Sophia Hayes silently lowered her phone after recording everything.

And slowly smiled.