A Door to Betrayal

I stared at the lock and felt my heart sink a little further.

"Jayden, why are you doing this? Julian is your brother. I'm your sister-in-law."

I tried to stall, my mind racing to find a way out.

"Brother?" Jayden laughed until he doubled over. "When did he ever treat me like one? Growing up, all the good things were his—our parents' love, the name-brand schools, everything. And now even a beautiful wife like you belongs to him."

His voice snapped, his face twisting.

"What gives him the right? What am I missing that he has it all?"

"So, you decided to kill me?" I shouted. "You think murdering me will get you those things?"

"You're right. Killing you won't give me those things," Jayden explained, a cruel edge in his smile. "But he'll lose everything. He'll be smeared as a wife-killer, ruined, left with nothing. And I'll take his life and enjoy what's left of it."

Sudden clarity hit me.

This wasn't mere revenge. He wanted to replace Julian. Destroy him, then live as him.

"You're a lunatic," I spat.

"You think I'm crazy? You'll be crazy with me soon enough," he said, then lunged.

I screamed and dodged, circling the living room couch to keep some distance, but I was heavily pregnant, I had no stamina.

He was stronger. He cornered me against the sliding glass doors until there was nowhere left to back up.

He closed in, and the familiar knife appeared in his hand.

The same knife.

"Elena, stop fighting it. Just be good and take the final road."

I stared at him, and, strangely, my mind sharpened at that moment. I could not die—not like this, not shrouded in this confusion.

"Wait!" I yelled. "Do you really think killing me will make it easy for you to take his place? Julian's company is in deep trouble. Their cash flow's collapsed and they're about to go bankrupt. If you replace him now, you'll be inheriting a mess and tens of millions in debt!"

I was gambling on the fact that he didn't know about Julian's problems.

He hesitated, looking at me with sudden doubt. "Are you lying to me?" he asked.

"You can check for yourself," I replied, keeping my voice steady. "He's been a wreck—pacing, taking calls in the study at all hours. Do you think he was calling to chat?"

I laid out my case calmly, trying to plant a seed of doubt.

Jayden's expression wavered. I knew my gamble was paying off.

Just when I thought I could buy a little more time, his phone suddenly rang.

He pulled it out, glanced at it, answered, and put it on speaker.

A voice I knew all too well came through.

"Jayden, how's it going? Is she dead yet?"

My head buzzed as if something had exploded.

Time froze.

I stared at the name on Jayden's phone screen: Julian.

Julian's voice was impatient over the speaker.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Have you done it? Don't forget what we agreed to. Once she's dead, that ten-million insurance payout is ours. Half for you, half for me. That'll cover the company's shortfall."

Jayden hung up and forced a mocking smile. "Elena, you hear that? Your perfect husband sent you to the grave for money.

"Not only did he know I was going to kill you, but this whole plan was his idea from the start."

Something inside me shattered.

It wasn't brothers at odds or a twisted desire to take over.

It was the man I loved and trusted most—my husband—conspiring with his own brother for money, plotting to kill me and the child I carried.

The news alert had been true.

The killer was Julian, but he had used someone else's hand.

No wonder Jayden always managed to show up right on time in every rebirth.

No wonder he had a key and could slip into the house without the slightest effort.

It was Julian who had paved the way for him all along.

The Fifth Time

The sting of such a huge betrayal swallowed me whole.

Tears fell without my control, and I trembled so badly I could barely stand. "Why?" I whispered.

"Why?" Jayden's face went soft with pity and hard with cruelty. "Because he loves you, Elena. He loved you so much he couldn't bring himself to do it. That's why he let me do it for him so you could be freed."

He stepped closer, the blade in his hand flashing cold light.

"Now you can leave in peace. Your death will save the husband you love. You should be happy about that, shouldn't you?"

I looked at him. The tears in my eyes dried up, and my heart turned to ice.

To hell with love.

Even if I had to claw my way back from hell itself, I would. I would personally drag those two demons down.

It was the fifth time I'd been reborn.

I didn't cry or make a scene. I lay in bed and waited quietly for that familiar blade.

My enemy was no longer just Jayden. It was both of them, Jayden and Julian.

I was outnumbered. Trying to fight them head-on would be a death sentence.

I needed a perfect plan—one that would make them turn on each other.

Jayden arrived on schedule, and I didn't bother pretending anymore. "Do it," I said.

He paused for a heartbeat, surprised I'd seen through him, but his hand on the knife never wavered.

The sixth time.

The seventh time.

The eighth time.

I needed time to replay everything in my head, to examine every detail.

Julian's greed and paranoia. Jayden's temper and low self-worth.

Their weaknesses were the only weapon I had.

By the ninth time I was reborn, the plan had mostly taken shape in my mind. I wasn't going to lie down and die.

Before Jayden came through the door, I used my phone to send an anonymous email to Julian's private account.

The message was simple, just one line: 'Be careful of your brother. He wants the money all to himself.'

Then, I deleted the sent message.

The whole move was smooth like water.

I started the phone's recorder and waited for Jayden to come in.

He'd barely stepped through the door before I spoke. "You're not Julian. I know you're Jayden."

He blinked in surprise, then recovered. He sneered at me. "So what if you know? You know I—"

"I know you and your brother plotted to kill me for that ten-million payout," I said.

Panic hit him. He lunged forward, trying to strangle me, but before he reached me, I waved my phone so he could see I was recording.

Jayden went pale.

He lunged, ripped the phone from my hand, and crushed it under his boot.

"That won't help," I said. "I already set the recording to send on a timer. If I don't cancel it within three hours, that audio will automatically go to my best friend's email, then she'll take it to the police.

"Which of you do you think can avoid being summoned by them? I know you wanted to replace your brother, to pin this on him, but guess what I might have said at the start of the recording, or what I might have sent Julian. Once he knows you had selfish plans, do you think he'll still keep you?"

I let out a small, bitter laugh. "I doubt your fate will be much better than mine."

Jayden's breath caught. He stared at me, and for the first time, there was something else in his eyes—fear.

He wasn't afraid of the police; he was afraid of Julian.

"You—" He trembled with rage and raised the knife.

"Then, kill me," I said, closing my eyes. "Kill me. Let it all blow apart. Neither of you will get away."

The knife hovered above my head and did not fall.