“Mom… please… don’t leave me. Not again. I can’t… I’m so sorry… I’m so, so sorry…” I clawed through the wet soil, hands shredded and bleeding. My nails were cracked and caked with dirt. My dress clung to me, soaked and heavy with mud and ash. I didn’t care.

Even Darian’s men looked away, unable to stomach the scene. But Darian? He just stood there, motionless, eyes fixed on me as I sank into the grave alongside her.

The rain didn’t let up. And neither did I. Because when the last person who truly loved you is gone… there’s nothing left to come back to. You rot with them.

---

I don’t even remember how they got me back to the estate. One moment I was screaming in the downpour, digging through the wet ashes, and the next, the world had gone black. My body was wrecked—fevered, bruised, broken. My mind stopped even trying to fight. I collapsed the moment we reached the gates and never stood again.

Days passed. Maybe a week. Perhaps more. Time blurred. Everything around me was silent, distant, unreal. The only human presence came in small, quiet gestures. The housekeeper—soft-spoken, discreet—helped me clean, changed my clothes, guided me to swallow my pills without prying.

Then someone else appeared.

Enzo. My little brother.

“Lyra,” he whispered, voice barely audible. “You’re hurting again.”

I blinked through the darkness, throat raw and sore.

“Why… why are you always hurting?” he murmured. “I want… I want us to leave. Far away. Trees, open skies… just us. I don’t like this place.”

I turned enough to hold him, weakly, but still holding. His small hand wiped at his nose on my sleeve, and he tried to offer me a smile.

“I’ll save… I’ll save enough money,” he continued. “We’ll run away. Just you and me. Like… magic.”

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to promise him freedom, soon. But all that left my lips was a whispered, “I’m trying, Z. I promise I’m trying.”

He nodded, nuzzling into me, and finally fell asleep in my arms—the last fragment of safety I still had.

And Darian? Gone. Somewhere, far away, wrapped around Vivienne—the woman who faked her death, returned, and acted like the universe owed her every stolen second.

Photos of them surfaced everywhere. Laughing beside the Seine. Clinging to each other in Paris. Frozen together in some icy blue cavern in Antarctica.

The world’s most feared heir with his first love back from the dead.

I stared until the sharp pain in my chest dulled into something icy, lifeless. And then I began stripping away the memories, piece by piece—the way he held me when I cried, the man he killed at a party for touching my arm, the private island he closed off just to make me smile on my birthday. All of it—erased.

---

Then, one morning, they returned.

No warning. No hint.

Darian walked into the living room like the months hadn’t killed me slowly from the inside out. Tie loosened, posture casual.

“Vivienne says the only thing she regrets is not marrying me,” he said, voice flat. “So I’m fixing that. We’ll get a divorce now, and I’ll finally give her the wedding she wanted.”

Not a glance in my direction. Just the words, cold as a business transaction.

I looked at him—the same man who once whispered he’d bury the world for me, called me his religion in a world of lies—now sizing me up like background noise.

I wanted to ask, “Do you love her?” But the answer had been clear since the moment she came back.

I almost asked, “Did you ever love me?”

But before I could, Vivienne called his name. Soft. Sweet. Calculated.

His face softened instantly. Eyes lit up. Years of absence in his gaze, and suddenly I was invisible.

I held my breath. Then forced a smile, bitter and cracked.

“Congratulations,” I said quietly. “I hope you’re happy together.”

He cocked his head. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” I whispered, still smiling. “Just wishing you luck.”

He lingered, hand on the doorframe, as if weighing something, then Vivienne’s voice called again. And just like that, he turned, following her, leaving me behind.

---

The following days blurred in preparation for their wedding. Vivienne orchestrated every call, every photo shoot. Darian stayed beside her, sharp in tailored suits, cold eyes, practiced grin.

He planned every detail like a campaign. Guest list reviewed. Flowers measured. Timelines calculated. Not once had he put such effort into our wedding.

Then, a few days before the ceremony, Vivienne appeared before me, that same plastic smile she had when she handed me our mother’s locket.

“Lyra,” she said, warm, sugary, “I realized we don’t have a ring bearer. Wouldn’t it be perfect if Enzo did it? He’s practically family.”

I didn’t respond at first. I just stared.

Then I rose, voice low, deliberate.

“There are thousands of children you could have chosen. But you picked him. Why?”

She blinked, offended, rehearsed. “I just wanted it to be meaningful. Someone familiar. Safe. Someone we both know.”

“No,” I said, locking eyes with her.

Tears welled, still theatrical. She turned to Darian, clinging to his arm.

“Honey… I didn’t mean anything. Lyra misunderstood. I just want someone safe, someone we know.”

Darian smirked, pinching her nose like a mischievous child.

“You’re such a headache,” he said. “Fine. You win. Enzo it is.”

Then he looked at me. No trace of amusement. Just sharp, cold eyes cutting through me.

I didn’t argue. Didn’t flinch. I already knew the pattern.

I turned away, fists clenched so tightly my nails dug into my palms. Everything I had planned was in ruins. My escape was supposed to happen before the wedding. All the pieces were in place: fake identities, offshore accounts, routes mapped for a clean exit.

But I couldn’t abandon Enzo. Not now. Not when Vivienne wanted him paraded in that ceremony. Not when Darian’s eyes followed her like she was the foundation of some future he’d built with the woman who destroyed me.

So that night, I retrieved the burner phone I had stashed beneath the loose floorboard.

I dialed the number. One ring. Click.

“It’s me,” I whispered, voice tight. “The exit plan has to change. I’m not leaving alone.”

“Understood, ma’am,” came the response. “Everything will be adjusted.”

This time, I wasn’t fleeing.

This time, I was taking back what belonged to me.

“The plan’s updated,” I murmured into the small phone, low and controlled. “Enzo is the ring bearer. I can’t leave him behind.”

A pause, my fingers trembling slightly against the device.

“And there’s one more thing,” I added, voice tighter. “Eight years ago, after I faked my death… Darian had a tracker implanted in me. He never said where—just that it’s somewhere unreachable. He knew I’d try to run again.”

A long pause followed. Then:

“No problem, ma’am. We’ll handle everything on our end. But that tracker has to come out. Otherwise, this won’t work.”

I exhaled, relief just barely seeping in. “Alright. I’ll wait for your signal—”

“Lyra.”

The voice hit me like a gunshot. I spun. Darian stood by the door, still, eyes sharp, expression unreadable.

I snapped the phone shut and tucked it behind me. My heart thudded violently.

He advanced, gaze piercing, a predator zeroing in.

“Who the hell are you waiting for?” he asked, voice low but edged with warning.

Before I could answer, his hand shot out to grip my throat. Not enough to choke, but enough to remind me I wasn’t in control.

“You trying to run again?” he muttered, close enough that I could feel his breath. “Another man? Or are you gonna fake your death again and think I’ll let it slide twice?”

I gasped, “I wasn’t—I’m waiting for Enzo. He doesn’t know the ceremony location. He’s just a child!”

His hold loosened slightly, but his eyes remained cold, unyielding.

Without another word, he dragged me closer. His lips crushed mine, rough, harsh—no tenderness, no care.

His hands shoved me to the floor. My skirt tore as he forced me down. Hard. Ruthless. Unrelenting. I bit my lip to suppress a sound. I wouldn’t give him satisfaction.

When it was over, I lay on the cold marble, breathing shallow and quiet.

He bent over, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face, pressing a casual kiss to my temple as if nothing had happened.

“Lyra,” he murmured, calm now, “don’t betray me again. That tracker’s still inside you. Don’t forget it.”

His thumb brushed the ring on my finger—the one he gave me when he promised forever.

“The Eternal Bond collection,” he said, mockingly. “Vivienne wants it on the wedding day. Hand it over.”

My vision blurred. My throat burned.

“That ring… it was ours,” I said. “It meant something.”

He smiled as if I were being dramatic. “It’s a piece of metal. I could replace it ten times over if you want. Stop acting like a child.”

Of course. Just a ring. Just another lie.

I removed it slowly, fingers trembling, hiding nothing. Dropped it into his hand. He didn’t even glance at it.

Once he left, I finally let myself breathe. Then I moved. The tracker, the money, the plan—everything. I had to stay ahead.

I had already started liquidating everything he had given me: jewelry, cars, even the yacht. All converted to clean money in offshore accounts, under new identities.

Enzo was the only reason I hadn’t razed this place entirely.

---

That night, I dragged a steel barrel into the estate’s backyard. Inside went photos, gifts, the leather jackets stitched with our initials, hundreds of love notes.

And then—the black journal.

His obsession in ink.

He documented every detail: the hour I woke, the tea I drank, how I tied my hair when stressed, the music that soothed me after nightmares. He knew every corner of me.

He had loved me like a blueprint. A project. Not a person.

I dropped the journal in the barrel and struck a match.

Flames licked the papers, the fabric, the memories. His twisted version of love was devoured. Smoke curled into the night, heat brushing my face.

One tear fell. Just one. Landing in the ashes.

I didn’t cry again.

The fire died quickly. No trace remained. Only smoke. Only silence.

I stared at the sky and whispered, “Goodbye, Darian.”

And this time… I meant it.

The wedding still pushed through. No delays. No doubts. No shame. Every big name in the Carrington underworld showed up like it was the damn coronation of a king. Mafia dons, arms dealers, cartel heirs, senators with bloody hands. All dressed to the nines and smiling for cameras like they weren’t sitting on piles of bodies.

And me? I was tucked away in the back corner of the ballroom. Wearing a muted lilac sheath dress that used to be Darian’s favorite. Subtle. Vintage. Clean. Just like he liked his wife to look. But I wasn’t his wife anymore. Not really. Now I was just a shadow in the room. Watching him stand there, in front of everyone, marrying Vivienne Sinclair.

The woman he swore was dead. The woman he used to cry over in his sleep. The woman he once buried, then pulled back from the grave like she was some cursed jewel he couldn’t stop chasing. And he was smiling. That same damn smile he gave me the day he asked me to marry him. Like the whole world was right in front of him. It burned.

I heard the whispers start before the ceremony even began.

“That’s Darian’s old wife, right?”

“She actually came? Shit. If that were me, I’d have set this whole place on fire.”

“You think she’s got the balls? She used to beg him just to eat dinner with her after Vivienne came back. She's a trained dog now.”

“Didn’t he strap her brother to a crane once? Just to scare her into dropping a lawsuit?”

“Yeah. Loyalty’s not optional in Darian’s circle. It's survival.”

Every word sliced deeper than the last. I sat there like stone. No reaction. Not even a blink. I’d learned how to survive under Darian’s gaze. I knew how to act like it didn’t hurt. But it did.

The officiant’s voice cut through the room, clear and loud.

“Do you, Darian Lyon Carrington, take Vivienne Elaine Sinclair as your lawful wife?”

I held my breath. Darian looked at Vivienne like she hung the goddamn moon. He brushed her hair behind her ear, smiled soft and low, and said, “I do.”

And just like that, whatever was left in me snapped. But I couldn't stand it. Didn’t scream. I stayed in my chair and watched my nightmare get sealed with a kiss.

Then came the next part.

“And now, the ring bearer will bring the rings.”

Enzo walked out, tiny feet slow against the polished floor, wearing that rose-colored suit that Vivienne had picked. My baby brother. Tears lined in his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall. I saw Darian glare at him from the altar and he immediately looked down. He handed over the ring.

The one he made for me. The one that used to sit on my finger. "The Eternal Bond," he’d called it. Custom-made. Blood diamond. Worth enough to buy a small island. Now it was sliding onto Vivienne’s hand.

The crowd clapped. And Darian kissed his bride like she was the final piece of his empire. But even with his lips on Vivienne, his eyes searched for me. He wanted to see me crack. Wanted me to be broken. Humiliated. Still his. But I looked back. And I smiled. That was the last thing he saw.

Because right then, the ceiling above the ballroom blew open.

BOOM.

Glass shook. Chandeliers trembled. A wave of gasps tore through the room as photos started raining from the rafters like a goddamn blizzard. Black and white. Full color. Explicit. Private. All of Vivienne. Her in bed. Not with Darian. But with others. Politicians. Rivals. Enemies. Women. Men. Some of them married. Some of them dead. One photo showed her laughing, blood on her hands. Another showed her whispering into the ear of a known traitor. And another—my favorite—showed her handing off a brown envelope to one of the same men who tried to assassinate Darian’s father.

Gasps turned into screams. Someone shouted, “Is this real?!” Cameras flashed. Phones were already uploading the images live to every underworld server.

And in the chaos, smoke bombs rolled in. Thick. Blinding. Black and hot with chemical stench. The orchestra dropped their instruments. Guests stampeded for the exits. Security lost their damn minds.

And in the middle of it all, a figure darted up the aisle, snatched Enzo by the waist, and vanished into the smoke. Right on time.

I grabbed my clutch, kicked off my heels, and ran. Straight into the women’s bathroom. Locked the door. Dropped the bag on the counter. My hand was already shaking when I pulled the scalpel out. Deep breath.

I sliced just beneath the skin of my upper arm. The pain was sharp. Steady. Blood ran down in long rivulets, soaking the sink. But I didn’t stop until I felt it. A hard little speck lodged in my flesh. I dug it out with the tip of the blade. My vision blurred but I held steady. Finally, it popped free. Tiny. Metallic. Still blinking red. Darian’s tracker.

I wrapped it in tissue, opened the window, and pressed it into the gloved hand waiting outside. The man didn’t say a word. Just disappeared into the night. I stared after him. Then whispered, “Goodbye, Darian.” I kicked off the rest of my dress, pulled on the black pants and hoodie I’d stuffed inside the stall earlier, climbed out the bathroom window—

And ran. I didn’t look back.

Inside the ballroom, the smoke was starting to clear when Vivienne let out a piercing cry. Everyone turned. She staggered toward the altar, hand clutching her chest, eyes wild. Then, right in front of the crowd, she collapsed. Darian caught her just before she hit the floor.

“Vivienne?” he called, panic lacing his voice for the first time that night. “Vivienne!”

Her eyes fluttered. Her lips trembled. He roared for a medic. Security scrambled. Guests stared. And somewhere through the noise, someone whispered:

“She did this.”

“Lyra.”

That was all it took. Darian turned, fire in his eyes, and shouted my name like a death sentence.

“Lyra!”

His voice shook the walls. But I was already gone.

And this time? I wasn’t coming back.