CHAPTER SIX — THE TERMS OF HER NEW LIFE

CHAPTER SIX — THE TERMS OF HER NEW LIFE

Adrian Jin’s penthouse sat above the city like a throne glass walls, black marble, and a silence so cold it felt curated. Liana’s keycard still worked. Of course it did. In her first life, she made sure of everything… except herself.

The lock clicked.

The elevator opened onto the private floor.

And the first sound greeting her was a voice dripping fake honey.

“Oh? Look who decided to appear.”

Her aunt Aunt Helena stood in the living room wearing a silk robe and entitlement. She had always treated Adrian’s penthouse as her private vacation home whenever Liana “failed” to live up to family expectations.

In her past life, Liana would’ve apologized for existing.

This life?

She stepped inside without acknowledging her.

Aunt Helena’s smile tightened. “You’re awfully bold today. Shouldn’t you be at the hospital? Or did your husband finally realize how useless you”

Liana shut the door behind her with a soft, decisive click.

Helena blinked.

Liana didn’t shout. She didn’t glare. She simply walked past her, surveying the penthouse with the clinical detachment of someone taking inventory of a crime scene.

“Who let you in?” Liana asked coolly.

Helena huffed. “Please, child. Adrian prefers having family around”

“This isn’t your family’s property,” Liana said. “It’s mine and Adrian’s residence.”

“And Adrian likes me more than he likes you,” Helena snapped. “You’re just a convenient”

“Thief,” Liana interrupted.

Helena froze. “...What?”

Liana opened a drawer. Empty.

Then another.

Empty.

The third contained jewelry boxes boxes she had bought with personal savings but the most expensive pieces were missing.

Her voice lowered, soft but glacial. “I’m asking because every time you ‘visit,’ something disappears.”

Aunt Helena’s face went blotchy. “Are you accusing me?!”

“Not accusing,” Liana said. “Confirming.”

Helena’s mouth opened and closed like a suffocating fish.

“How dare you after everything our family has done for you!”

Liana turned fully, and her stare was a blade.

“Your family took my mother’s inheritance.

You took my accounts.

You took my reputation.

You even took over Adrian’s home whenever I was too exhausted to fight.”

She stepped closer.

Helena retreated.

“You mistook my silence for weakness,” Liana said. “It won’t happen again.”

Helena scoffed shakily. “Please. Adrian would never let you talk to me like”

Her phone buzzed.

A message lit up the screen.

ADRIAN JIN:

Where are you?

Helena saw the name. Her confidence cracked.

The second message arrived instantly.

ADRIAN JIN:

You didn’t tell me you were leaving.

Liana didn’t hide the screen. She let Helena see it. Let her see exactly how the world was changing.

Aunt Helena’s voice wavered. “He he’s texting you?”

“He’s concerned I’m not at the hospital,” Liana replied.

The shock on Helena’s face was delicious.

Liana slid the phone into her pocket.

“Leave,” she said quietly.

Helena bristled. “This is my nephew’s home”

“It’s his wife’s home,” Liana corrected.

“And you’re not welcome here.”

Helena lifted her chin. “You wouldn’t dare throw me out.”

Liana walked to the door, opened it, and held it with a serene smile.

“Helena,” she said gently.

“Try me.”

For a long, trembling moment, her aunt said nothing.

Then, fury and humiliation painting her face, Helena gathered her robe and swept out of the penthouse.

Liana shut the door behind her.

No apology.

No second chances.

Only silence cleaner now.

**

She walked into the master bedroom.

Her clothes hung neatly in the wardrobe.

Her books stacked as she’d last arranged them.

She brushed her fingers along the dresser.

This place wasn’t home.

But it was the battlefield she chose.

Her phone buzzed again.

ADRIAN JIN:

I’m being discharged.

Liana sighed softly.

LIANA:

Your doctor said you need rest.

ADRIAN JIN:

I’ll rest when you’re here.

Her pulse didn’t quicken.

Her heart didn’t soften.

But something inside her shifted.

He wasn’t pleading.

He wasn’t manipulating.

He wasn’t remembering their marriage or their ruin.

He was simply gravitating toward her like instinct.

Like hunger.

Like fate remembering what it shouldn’t.

The phone rang.

Dr. Lima again.

She answered.

“Mrs. Jin,” the doctor said, breathless, “Mr. Jin is trying to leave the hospital. We need you to”

In the background, she heard chaos:

“Mr. Jin, please lie down!” “You can’t walk on that leg!” “The IV—don’t pull that!”

And then Adrian’s voice, low and sharp:

“Bring me my wife. Or I’m going to her.”

Liana closed her eyes.

“…Understood,” she murmured. “I’ll come now.”

She hung up.

Straightened her blouse.

Left the penthouse.

As she walked into the elevator, her reflection in the mirrored walls stared back calm, composed, quietly dangerous.

In her past life, she chased him.

This time, he would chase her.

This time, she would decide everything.

The elevator doors slid shut with a soft, metallic sigh.

And Liana whispered

“This life… I write the terms.”