REBORN TO RULE THEIR ASHES

It was a stormy night.

"Screech!!!"

Zinnia tumbled heavily out of the car, her head hitting the asphalt with a dizzying thud! The gravel dug into her skin, blood flowing freely!

Wasn't she in the ICU, tortured to death? Why did it still hurt so much?

"Zinnia."

A cold voice came from above her, and she looked up in a daze, meeting the handsome yet indifferent face of River.Her heart clenched!

Her husband, River. At seventeen, he had saved her from the sea, stayed with her through the days of family tragedy, pulling her out of a hell of pain. He cherished her, almost with his life, promising to always be by her side, to make her the happiest girl in the world.

Now, he looked at her with cold eyes, filled with hatred. "If Celia loses a single hair, you'll pay with your life!"

Cecilia, River's beloved, his untouchable treasure.

"I never hurt Celia...!" Zinnia cried out,enduring the pain, trying desperately to speak.

But River didn't listen, raising the car window with indifference. "Drive."

The assistant hesitated, asking River, "Sir, it's pouring outside, and she just donated so much blood to Miss Celia. Are you really going to leave her on the street like this?"

In the rearview mirror, Zinnia's face was as pale as paper, blood streaming from her forehead, so weak she seemed ready to crumble.

River remained unmoved, scoffinglightly. "She’s tough. She won't die."

The Bentley sped away, leaving Zinnia discarded like trash in the pouring rain.

River always had the cruelest ways to hurt her the deepest, the most painfully!

This familiar scene, the same piercing words, just like two years ago, when she was forced to donate blood to Celia. On the way back, the hospital called River, saying Celia was poisoned after the transfusion.

In his rage, River had thrown her into the stormy street!So... she had been reborn!

Clutching her wildly beating heart, tears mixed with rain blurred her vision as memories flashed before her eyes...

Eight years ago, she and her parents were caught in a shipwreck. Just as she was about to be swallowed by the sea, a boy in white tightly grasped her hand.

When she opened her eyes again, the first face she saw was River.

He grew up with her, the only light in her otherwise hopeless life.enduring the pain, trying desperately to speak.Later, when the Shaw family fell into decline, burdened with debt and nowhere to turn, she, out of gratitude, offered her family's secret recipe, turning the tide.

The Shaw family rose to become a prestigious household in Bridgewater City, and Grandma Shaw personally arranged their engagement.

They were just waiting for her to graduate college to announce it to the city and give her a grand wedding.

She eagerly anticipated this wedding, dreaming of becoming the happiest woman in the world!But on the eve of graduation, River disappeared.

He returned just before the wedding, bringing with him a pregnant Cecilia.

He carefully supported Cecilia as if she were the most precious thing in the world, his gaze towards her filled with tenderness.

To Zinnia, he offered no explanation.

Her heart felt like it was being torn apart!

That night, Cecilia privately approached her, gently caressing her belly, pitifully pleading, "Zinnia, I'mcarrying River's child. Please, let us be together."

In that moment, her world collapsed.

But the child was innocent, and with her heart bleeding, Zinnia went to Grandma Shaw to call off the engagement.

"Cecilia is lying. River hasn't wronged you. The wedding must go on!" Grandma Shaw firmly refused. The Shaw family, now a Bridgewater City elite, couldn't afford a scandal of a mistress forcing a broken engagement.

"Zinni, love needs nurturing. Can yoreally give up on River? On all those years together?"

She couldn't bear to.

River was the only light in her life. Without that light, how could she live?

She couldn't believe that five years of shared days and nights could be so fragile. Her River couldn't be so cruel.

Cecilia disappeared, and the wedding proceeded as planned.

She donned her wedding dress and walked down the aisle, only to later realize it was the beginning of a lifelong nightmare.On their wedding night, River, with a cold expression, gripped her throat, his eyes burning with hatred, wishing she would die right then and there.

"You coerced Grandma into forcing me to marry, and you made Celia kneel in the storm all day!"

"My child is gone! My only child!"

"Mrs. Shaw, is this the wedding you wanted?!"

"I didn't! I never forced anyone!" Zinnia protested.

Not even an apology, and I was willing to make things right for you! Sheretorted.

"You didn't?" River looked at her with a mocking gaze, his eyes cold and filled with distrust.

Zinnia ripped off her veil, her body trembling with heartbreak. "I'll divorce you right now and give you back to Cecilia!"

River Shaw pushed her away with disdain, his expression icy. "The Shaw family heir has never had a divorce scandal. You want to ruin me? You're truly vicious!"

"I'm not, River, please listen to me.Zinnia pleaded.

River Shaw cut her off coldly, leaving her with only his indifferent back. "If you don't want to ruin me, then be a good Mrs. Shaw."

She compromised. After the wedding, River claimed he was busy with work and never came home. In truth, hespent every day at the hospital, tirelessly caring for Cecilia. Zinnia knew but continued to forgive him, loving him despite everything.

Even when Cecilia needed blood due to complications from a miscarriage, Zinnia agreed to donate. She thought her tolerance and patience would eventually warm his heart.

One day, she was kidnapped, her clothes torn by the thugs. Just as she was about to lose hope, River burst in, appearing before her. Zinnia thought her River had finally returned to her.

Instead, he frowned, looking at her as ifshe were something filthy, and coldly discussed terms. "Zinnia, I saved you, now you owe me. Cecilia's condition has worsened; she needs an organ transplant."

Her heart froze. Fine, I'll repay you. Cecilia needed her blood, her liver, her kidney, and Zinnia gave them all. But in return, all she received was River's relentless demands. He wanted her life as payment.

So... I'll give you my life.

Finally, after one last organ removal surgery, she developed cancer and was admitted to the ICU, with little timeleft. She called River repeatedly, hoping to see him one last time.

She had no other desires, just wanted to say goodbye and clear up their misunderstandings before she died. But he refused.

Eventually, she couldn't even reach him by phone. Desperate, she called River's assistant. "Please, let River take my call. I only need a minute!"

"Today, Miss Cecilia..."

"Discharged, the CEO is busy," River Shaw didn't want to spare even a minute for her. In those final daysCecilia, wearing her wedding ring, looked down at her with disdain.

Cecilia smirked, "I was never pregnant. It was just a trick to get River to marry me. But that old hag Shaw saw through it, and you ended up as Mrs. Shaw."

Zinnia's eyes widened in shock. "You weren't pregnant?! Then what about your illness..."

Cecilia's smile turned cruel. "Of course, I wasn't sick. I just wanted to play with you, torment you, watch you foolishly give your life to your enemy. Your organs? I fed them to the dogs!""You!" Zinnia's eyes burned with anger as she clenched her fists, but she couldn't even lift them.

"Want to hit me? You can barely breathe," Cecilia taunted, leaning closer to mock her. "Fool, River never loved you. Your sacrifices were just a joke to him."

"Oh, and to make sure you'd donate your kidney willingly, that kidnapping was his idea. He hates you more than I do. He sent me here today to anger you to death, so you'd die with regrets!"

Zinnia's heart felt pierced, cold winds seeping into her from all directions.Her unconditional love had been River's tool to manipulate and torture her.

"You'll pay for this!" she cried.

"Payback?" Cecilia laughed, even more brazenly. "Once you're dead, River will just be a widower, no divorce scandal. We'll inherit your formulas, your life's work, and wealth. I'll give River children, and we'll be happy forever. While you... you’ll rot here, die silently with a reputation as a shrew."

Zinnia's heart ached to numbness. From the start, River Shaw wanted her dead. On her 25th birthday, River andCecilia held a grand wedding, while she died alone in the hospital room, filled with hatred.

Memories haunted her, but she woke up. "Ha..."

Zinnia's lips curled into a bitter smile as she shakily stood up, her figure frail yet upright in the storm. She tilted her head back, letting the rain wash away the grime, revealing a face cold and pure, her clear eyes now burning with the fire of vengeance.

"River Shaw, I've repaid everything I owed you. From now on, I want blood for blood."Suddenly, the roar of an engine pierced through the storm! Blinding lights stabbed into her eyes as a Cullinan sped towards her!

Zinnia wanted to run, but her weakened body felt as if it were filled with lead. She couldn't move at all! Was she really going to be silenced just after being reborn?

Screech!!!

The tires splashed up a mist of rain, piercing the night with a low howl as the car came to a halt just an inch from her.Instinctively, she raised her hand to shield her face and peered through her fingers at the man in the driver's seat. Her heart skipped a beat.

He had a face that was breathtakingly handsome—sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a well-defined jawline, and a strong, noble nose. His features were striking and dignified.

His eyes, a mesmerizing shade of glassy blue, looked at her like the moonlight illuminating a valley—brilliant yet gentle, providing her with light without burning her.

For reasons she couldn't understand,the storm of hatred within her calmed down.

In the next moment, he closed his eyes in pain and collapsed onto the steering wheel. Why was he here?

In her previous life, this accident never happened. Could it be that her rebirth was changing everything?

With a complex expression, Zinnia pressed her lips together and finally walked toward the man...

(thanks for reading this chapter and for your support) episode 2 loading good night everyone

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