After that nightmare, Linh Nguyet could no longer look at Luc Trac the same way.
Not because she feared him.
But because she felt ashamed.
Her memories had returned — piece by piece, cutting like knives beneath her skin. She remembered everything: his eyes in the fire, his outstretched hand in desperation, and how she… had turned away.
The next morning, she went to the mansion's old library — where generations of the Luc family had stored their documents, letters, and records.
Among the dusty leather-bound files, she found a worn folder with a torn spine, its label faded but still legible:
"Nguyet Linh – Personal Letters (Year 19xx)"
She opened it.
The first letter was handwritten by herself — or rather, by her former self in a past life. The cursive script was delicate, strangely familiar:
"I've agreed to marry Luc Trac. He suspects nothing. Don't worry — when this is over, we'll leave together…"
At the bottom, it was signed with a single rushed initial:
"D."
D?
She dug through her memories, trying to recall if anyone in the dream had such a name. Nothing came.
But something about that letter ached in her chest, like a thread pulling at a wound that had never truly healed.
That evening, as she passed the antique mirror on the second-floor hallway, she caught sight of a reflection that wasn't hers.
It wasn't Luc Trac, either.
It was a man in a charcoal-gray suit, standing at the end of the hallway, staring straight at her with hollow eyes.
He smiled.
"Do you remember me now, Nguyet?"
That voice.
The voice from her nightmares. The one who led her to betray Luc Trac.
She ran toward him — but when she reached the end of the hall, no one was there.
Only a single wet footprint remained on the wooden floor.
She began searching through the guest registries, the records of people who had visited the Luc estate before the wedding all those years ago.
And then, one name appeared:
Duong Khai Minh
Merchant representative from the north.
Young, intelligent — and once the closest friend of Luc Trac.
Linh Nguyet's breath caught.
The man she had loved in her past life — was Luc Trac's best friend.
And he… was the one who killed him.
That night, she walked to the old well behind the house — long since dried, long since abandoned.
It was said that dry wells see the past most clearly.
She leaned over the edge and looked down into the murky blackness.
A face appeared in the puddled water.
Duong Khai Minh.
He whispered:
"Don't forget… you were mine once.
And if you won't return to me in this life…
…then I'll destroy everything."
A gust of wind tore through the trees. The garden lights flickered… then went out.
Linh Nguyet stumbled back, her heart racing.
And behind her, a cold hand rested on her shoulder.
Luc Trac.
He stared into her eyes. His voice was low, grating with warning:
"He's returned.
And he means to take you… again."