CHAPTER ONE : FRIEND OR FOE???

The first thing Eliana Moore felt was the silk.

Cool. Familiar. Pressed against her skin like a whisper from a memory she thought she’d never touch again.

Then came the scent—roses and gardenias. Ivy’s favorite flowers.

Her lashes fluttered open, and the ornate canopy above her greeted her like a ghost. Cream-colored silk draped in delicate folds above the massive four-poster bed. Sunlight bled through sheer curtains, casting golden warmth on the mahogany floors.

Her heart began to race. She felt her body. Nothing.

“No,” she whispered, sitting up abruptly. “This isn’t real.”

She looked around expecting to see Ivy lurking around somewhere. She wasn't. She knew this room.

But.. It wasn't her marriage room. It wasn't Ethan's house. It was her room. Her house before she got married to Ethan.

But how?

'I'm going to kill your father, right after you die, your brothers are gone too. What you have is mine, Ellie" she flinched as she remembered the last words of ivy, right before she pushed her off the cliff that brought her to her death. She opened her eyes.

Was that memory all a dream? it was too real to be so.

She looked around the room, and her eyes caught sight of the wedding dress in a corner.

She knew this day. This dress. Her dress.

It was her wedding day. The wedding day. The day she had walked down the aisle with trembling hands and a fragile smile… blind to the betrayal that would one day kill her.

Her fingers clawed at the sheets, breath shallow, heart thundering in her chest. She looked at her hands—slender, unscathed. No wedding ring. No calluses from years of quiet suffering. Even the stab wound was no where to be found.

She flung the covers off and stumbled to the full-length mirror. Her reflection stared back: smooth skin, long brown waves cascading over her shoulders, soft lips parted in disbelief. No bags under her eyes. No bruises hidden beneath makeup. The place where ivy had burnt hot iron into her face could not be seen.

She was young? Had she been sleeping for eight years?

This couldn’t be happening.

And yet—every detail was exactly as she remembered it. Exactly as it was before she got married. She glanced at the wedding dress. she remembered that it had been picked out by Ethan's mother.

The lavender robe with the lace trim. The untouched bridal gown hanging behind her closet doors. Even the subtle pink nail polish Ivy insisted was “classy and minimal.”

Eliana touched her cheek.

“I died,” she murmured. “I know I did.”

She remembered it all. The cold look in Ethan’s eyes as Ivy tormented her day after day. Ivy’s voice dripping venom as she delivered her final blow.The fall. The pain. The blood. The silence.

And now… this.

Her chest tightened as realization settled in like lead. She wasn’t dreaming. She wasn’t hallucinating.

She had been brought back.

A second chance.

Eliana backed away from the mirror slowly, her mind racing. She had begged for time. For the chance to do it all differently. For the chance to rewrite her wrongs. Her brothers, her parents.

The door burst open. “Good morning, bride-to-be!”

Ivy.

That voice—sweet as honey and sharp as broken glass. Eliana turned, her expression composed in an instant, burying the shock behind a smile.It had held that sickening tone when she was pushed to her death.

Ivy Langston swept into the room like she owned it, already dressed in blush pink, a silk robe cinched perfectly around her waist. Her hair was in rollers, but her face was flawless. “You’re awake early,” she chirped, crossing the room to hug Eliana tightly. “Nervous?”

Eliana was still reeling from the shock, she hugged her back. Her body was trembling but Ivy didn’t notice.

“I brought you your favorite tea,” Ivy continued, setting a cup on the bedside table. “Chamomile and vanilla. It’ll help with the jitters.”

Eliana stared at her, every part of her screaming to confront her. To slap the smugness off her face. To confront her about the betrayal. But she couldn't. Not until she could understand this change.

She wouldn’t lash out in emotion. That’s what they expected. That’s what made it easy to call her fragile. Delusional. Overdramatic.

“I’m not nervous,” Eliana said smoothly, her voice low and steady. “Why would I be?"

Ivy blinked, momentarily thrown off. “Well, you’re marrying Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor today. Ethan Blake doesn’t just love anyone.”

Eliana tilted her head. “No,” she said softly. “He doesn’t.” he didn't love me either. I was blind to see that.

Ivy’s smile faltered. Just a flicker. But Eliana saw it.

“Well,” Ivy said, recovering quickly, “you’ll be the luckiest woman alive in a few hours. Don’t forget I’m your maid of honor. We need to start your hair and makeup in—” she glanced at her Cartier watch “—forty-five minutes.”

Eliana smiled.

The preparations blurred into white noise.

Stylists moved around her like clockwork. Brushes swept across her skin. Curlers clicked and steamed. Everyone called her beautiful. Radiant. Lucky.

Eliana said nothing.

She smiled when necessary. Nodded when expected. But inside, her mind was a storm of names, events, and choices she would never make again. People she would never trust again.

The first time, she had sat in this very chair thinking she was about to start a fairytale.

This time, she sat ,a changed person. They wouldn't know what hit them.

As the veil was placed gently atop her curls, her phone buzzed on the table.

Unknown number.

She froze.

The first time around, she’d ignored it—thinking it was a spam call.

Hours later, she learned it had been her lawyer. Calling to warn her that her prenup had been altered—at Ethan’s request.

She picked up the phone.

“Eliana Moore,” she said coolly.

A pause.

Then: “Ms. Moore, this is Jonathan Greer from Greer & Associates. I’ve just received a concerning update regarding your prenuptial agreement. Are you available to speak privately?”

Her lips curved.

“Yes, Mr. Greer,” she replied, rising to her feet. “I believe I am.”

Thirty minutes later, the wedding was in full motion.

Guests were arriving. Music played softly in the background. Photographers moved like shadows across the estate’s grand ballroom.

Ethan Blake stood at the altar, handsome in his tailored tuxedo, the image of perfection. The crowd buzzed with whispers. Everyone was watching him.

Everyone was waiting for her.

Behind the large oak doors, Eliana waited.

One hand on her bouquet. One breath away from everything she used to want.

She remembered standing here before—heart pounding, hands trembling, tears in her eyes because her father hadn’t come. Because Ivy had whispered, “You still have time to back out if you’re not enough for him.” She had smiled like a fool and entered into a marriage of doom.

The music swelled. The doors opened.

Gasps echoed through the hall. The crowd clapped in awe of her. It was to be expected, after all she was the beautiful daughter of the wealthy Moore family.

She stepped forward—each footfall deliberate, spine straight, eyes fixed on Ethan. Ivy stood off to the side in pale pink. How had she missed it? The both of them? They had fooled her so well, made a mess of her life and killed her after taking it all.

The ceremony began. Words were spoken.

Then came the exchange of vows.

"Do you Ethan Blake take, miss Eliana Moore to be your lovely wedded wife, to love and cherish, in sickness and in health till death do you both part? " he asked.

Ethan gripped her hands, smiling widely like today was the best day of his life. She nearly threw up. Barely three months after the wedding he had changed . He hadn't publicized his relationship with ivy immediately but he changed. The real change came after entering into a long partnership with her family. His real colors showed then.

"I do" he said. She scoffed inwardly, remembering how enamoured she had been with him. Foolish her.

"Do you Eliana Moore take this man, Ethan to be your husband, to love and cherish till death do you both part?"

Everyone was looking at her expectantly. Eliana sighed, what of it had been a bad dream and she was making assumptions based on it. Ethan was a sweet boy and had no reason to betray her.

she sighed. I will go on with this.

As she opened her mouth to concur, her eyes caught sight of a bracelet peeking out of his cuff links. Her eyes widened.

That was Ivy's!!

He was cheating!!!