Darkness stretched endlessly, heavy and suffocating. Then—pain. A sharp, blinding pain split her skull.
When Bai Xia opened her eyes again, sunlight filtered through the cracks of a wooden roof. The familiar scent of earth and age filled the air.
She gasped. This place…
It was her grandmother's old house. The countryside room she had lived in as a girl.
Her trembling hands reached out to touch the floorboards, the quilt, the soft sunlight painting patterns on her skin. Her pulse raced as she realized—she was alive.
Her reflection in a cracked mirror stunned her. The face staring back was smooth, unmarked, impossibly young.
Her heart pounded. Could this be… rebirth?
"If I've been given a second life," she whispered, voice trembling, "I will not waste it. I will love fiercely. I will rise. And I will make them pay."
Memories surged like a storm—her business, her choices, her blind trust. She remembered how she had asked James to be her company's fake owner, thinking it would protect her family from harm. But that decision had sealed her doom.
Her lips trembled into a bitter smile. "Not this time."