The next afternoon, the Iyke Mansion welcomed guests. A black limousine rolled up the long driveway, its polished surface reflecting the sunlight. Isabella stood by the window, her lips curling into a bitter smile.
She knew exactly who had come.
The butler announced with ceremony, "Miss Clarissa Monroe and Young Master Adrian Cole have arrived."
At the sound of their names, Isabella's chest tightened with a storm of emotions. Clarissa—the girl she once trusted like a sister. Adrian—the fiancé she once believed would cherish her. Both of them had been daggers hidden behind smiles, daggers that cut deepest in her last life.
But now… now she was no longer blind.
"Isabella!" Clarissa swept into the hall with the easy grace of a socialite, her laughter tinkling like silver bells. She wore a pale lavender gown, her curls perfectly styled, her hand clutching an expensive handbag. "It's been too long. Did you miss me?"
Isabella smiled faintly, masking the disgust in her chest. "Clarissa."
Behind her, Adrian followed—tall, handsome, with the kind of presence that once made her heart race. He gave her that familiar smile, warm and practiced. "Isabella. You look lovely."
Lovely? In her past life, she would have blushed. Now, she could only hear the venom behind his smooth words. Adrian Cole, heir to the Cole Corporation. The man who had whispered promises of forever, only to shatter them the moment Clarissa offered him something better.
"How thoughtful of you both to visit," Isabella said evenly, her tone polite, almost distant. "Come, let's sit."
Clarissa's eyes glittered with subtle satisfaction. She had always thrived on being the center of attention, twisting others around her finger. "Oh, you must tell us everything! The city has been so dull without you."
Adrian chuckled lightly, his gaze lingering on Isabella a moment too long. "Indeed. I was just telling Clarissa how quiet it's been without your lively presence."
Inwardly, Isabella laughed. Quiet? You mean convenient. Convenient for their betrayal, convenient for their ambitions.
As she guided them into the drawing room, her mind sharpened with resolve. In her first life, she had loved them blindly. In this life, she would play their game—but on her terms.
They thought her naïve? They thought her weak?
Let them believe it.
For soon, she would turn their own masks into their downfall.