GIULIA

LIAM RYDER

This can’t be real…

No, it couldn’t be Camilla. That was impossible.

“She’s dead…”

I’d told myself that a thousand times. A million. I couldn't count how many times those words rang in my head... But still, here I was, staring at a woman who looked exactly like her—standing right in front of me.

My heart thudded like a warning drum.

How could she possibly be Lorenzo Vincent’s wife? It made no sense.

But no matter how surreal it felt, my eyes never left her.

The way she laughed, the way she spoke, everything... were all different.

The strangest part?

She never once looked my way.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket, yanking me back to the moment. I pulled it out and saw Karen’s name. I answered it almost immediately.

“Liam? Come down here now!” Her voice was sharp and urgent.

My stomach dropped.

“Is everything okay, babe?” I asked quietly, my heart already racing.

Her shaky breathing crackled through the line and that itself made me more terrified than seeing a ghost.

“Just… get down here,” she said, barely holding her words together. “I’m scared.”

I turned, ready to bolt—

But that’s when she stopped me.

Camilla… I mean... Giulia Vincent...

The sparkling light from the chandelier above the ceiling wall caught her eyes, making them glitter like shattered glass. I froze. For a moment, my brain couldn't function anymore. My pulse hammered in my ears.

And then… she smiled.

That familiar dimple.

“Mr. Ryder?” she spoke, her accent a perfect blend of Italian charm and English elegance.

That's not Camilla's...

She looked just like Camilla—but...it wasn't her.

Her aura was colder, more calculated. Camilla would’ve fallen apart just catching my gaze—she loved me that deeply. Her soul practically danced with mine.

This woman? She stood tall, composed… like a queen.

“Uh… y-yeah, I’m sorry…” I fumbled, completely thrown off guard.

What was I even supposed to say? My brain had abandoned me... It was completely empty.

“Are you alright, Mr. Ryder?” she asked, her brows knitting with concern.

“Yes—yes, I’m fine. I just need to excuse myself urgently, if you don’t mind, Mrs. Vincent,” I said, trying hard to pull myself together. But anyone watching could tell—I was failing.

She didn’t miss a beat.

“I'd like to take my leave now. I’ve done my part in the ceremony,” she said gracefully. “My husband sends his regards, by the way.”

D*mn!…

She looked breathtaking.

“Of course,” I nodded, barely hanging on. “I appreciate your presence… I mean, it was your ceremony, after all.”

She leaned in just slightly, her voice soft but direct.

“Perhaps you could spare me a minute... in private? This room’s a bit too crowded for what I need to say.”

I exhaled, my breath shaky. Then gave a small nod.

She turned and led the way.

And I followed quietly.

We stopped in the middle of the quiet hallway. She turned to face me—and something about her smile had changed.

Her eyes were no longer soft. They blazed with a familiar, unnerving intensity. Hardened. Dangerous.

“We’re here now,” I said, trying to remind her of the reason we’d come in the first place. As if she’d forgotten.

She leaned in slightly, her lips curling into a sly smile. “I heard you’re selling some shares under the M-Elites group... I’d like to buy in,” she said sweetly. “Of course, without my husband ever knowing.”

I coughed, startled. A cold jolt shot through me.

“That deal’s not public yet, Mrs. Vincent. I’m… honestly surprised you know anything about it.”

I tried to say... I thought I sounded cool when I said that but...

She let out a soft, delicate laugh, her fingers brushing her lips. “So... is that a yes or a no?”

My eyes washed on her... This woman—she wasn’t Camilla. At least, not the Camilla I remembered. There was something different about her. Something magnetic. Mysterious and dangerous.

“I need to—” My thoughts scattered like ashes in the wind.

... As she stepped closer. Her scent wrapped around me—subtle and intoxicating.

Her lips grazed the edge of my ear, her breath warm against my skin. I couldn’t move. My body refused to respond. Then her hand gently brushed my neck.

A jolt surged through me.

It was quick but I could swear my heart skipped a beat.

“There was an insect on your collar,” she whispered. “I got it.”

I blinked twice, disoriented. Before I could form a reply, her heel slipped—her dress tangling between her legs. She stumbled forward.

I caught her by the waist, instinctively, just as she was about to fall.

And then—

“Liam!”

Karen’s voice echoed through the hall—

sharp and shaking.

I turned swiftly. She was standing just a few feet away, her eyes wide, and she stood frozen.

I couldn’t tell what hit Karen harder—the sight of Giulia resting in my arms, or the fact that the woman was Camilla's mirror image.

Giulia stumbled slightly as I let go of her. Karen was already charging forward like a storm, her eyes wide, chest panting softly as she moved, every step screaming anger.

Then—Slam!.

Her hand lashed across Giulia’s face with a sickening slap.

Giulia reeled back, stunned. The echo of the slap bounced off the marble walls like a gunshot.

I moved. Fast, and grabbed Karen by the shoulders, shoving her back a step that made her stagger.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I snarled, my voice barely human.

Karen trembled in my grasp, tears streaking down her cheeks. Her chest hitched like she couldn’t catch her breath.

“You just—” I pointed at Giulia, who was holding her cheek, calm but shaken. “You just slapped Lorenzo Vincent’s wife. Do you know what that means?!”

Her voice cracked like glass. “I—I waited for you, Liam. Upstairs. You said you were coming. And then I see you here… with another woman... And you were holding her in your arms...”

“Jesus, Karen.” I shoved a hand through my hair. “You didn’t see me for ten minutes and decided I was cheating? What are we, in high school?”

Her eyes burned. “You don’t understand! I was so scared, I waited in the room forever for you to come to me. I thought I was going to lose my mind!”

“Then you should have called me! You don’t just hit people because you assumed things!”

Giulia’s voice cut through the tension like silk over steel.

“It’s alright, Mr. Ryder. I would have reacted the same... if I thought my husband was cheating.”

Karen turned to Giulia—and that’s when it really hit her.

She stared blankly... Really stared. The color drained from her face.

And then she screamed.

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! Why won’t you leave us alone, Camilla?! Why won’t you STAY DEAD?!”

I grabbed her just as she lunged at Giulia again, her hands clawing through the air like she wanted to tear the truth out of her.

“That’s NOT Camilla!” I snapped, yanking her back hard. “That is Mrs. Giulia Vincent. Do you hear me? It's Giulia!.”

That’s when the elevator doors slid open behind us, and walking in was a man built, tall, like a terror in a suit.

“Mrs. Vincent?” His voice was low but, dangerous. “Everything alright?”

Giulia didn’t flinch. Her poise was regal, untouched.

“I’m fine, Vincenzo. Just a misunderstanding.”

She turned to me and handed me a card with a smile. Smooth. Untouchable.

“I trust you’ll consider my offer, Mr. Ryder. Don’t make me wait too long.”

Then she walked away.

No hesitation. No fear. The heels of her shoes clacked against the tiled floor like gunshots in the silence.

I turned back to Karen, still gripping her arm, now, she was trembling with all the fears in the world.

“She’s back, Liam,” she whispered. “Camilla is back. I know it.”

I glared at her, exhausted. “No. She’s dead, Karen. What you just saw was a lookalike, a coincidence. You're losing control.”

She yanked something from her purse and shoved it into my hands.

It was a photo of Camilla drenched in red paint. Her eyes scratched out.

Four chilling words scrawled across the center—I AM BACK.

My blood ran cold. I stared at it as my jaw clenched but I quickly plastered a look of frustration on my face.

“This is a prank,” I said, though my voice was hollow. “It’s someone messing with your head. You know there are still a lot of people out there who still think you caused Camilla's death”

“You still don’t believe me?” Karen hissed, her voice shaking again.

I looked her dead in the eyes.

“Listen to me carefully. Camilla is gone. Giulia is not her. And if this little outburst cost me that contract, we’re done. Got it?”

I walked away without waiting for her answer, but the silence behind me was louder than any scream.

Inside, my thoughts were unraveling

Giulia isn’t Camilla.

She can’t be.

Right?