REBIRTH: THE BILLIONAIRE'S DEAD WIFE

The rain came down without mercy. It slammed the windshield until the road dissolved into silver and black, and the wipers couldn’t keep up. Every few seconds another set of headlights would break through the downpour, it was too bright, too close, and then vanish again.

Ava’s hands were locked around the steering wheel. On the passenger seat her phone vibrated. Once. Twice. Three times. She didn’t have to look. She already knew who it was. A dry, humorless laugh escaped her. The phone buzzed again. Ava told herself it didn’t matter, but curiosity won over pride. She glanced down. The screen lit up with a photo and cold shot through her fingers.

It was Lila. Her younger sister. Smiling straight into the camera, her head resting against Adrian’s shoulder. His arm was around her waist in a way that looked easy, like it belonged there. Not a sister and a brother-in-law. Ava stared. Her chest tightened until it hurt. Then her gaze drifted to Adrian. He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t even looking at the camera. His expression was distant, like his mind was already somewhere else.

For one reckless second, hope tried to rise. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe there was an explanation. But the thought died before it finished. Because his arm was still around Lila. And he still hadn’t answered any of Ava’s calls in three weeks.

A horn tore through the storm, sharp and sudden. Ava’s head snapped up. Headlights filled the windshield, it was too close and coming too fast.

"Oh God."  

She wrenched the wheel. The tires screamed against wet asphalt. The car spun once, twice, and then the world turned to noise. Metal screamed. Glass shattered. Pain tore through her, white-hot and endless. And then there was nothing but quiet. For a long time, Ava couldn’t feel her hands. The rain kept falling, tapping softly against crumpled metal. Somewhere nearby, smoke curled into the air. Everything sounded muffled and distant, like she was underwater and the surface was too far to reach. She tried to move, but her body didn’t answer. Something warm slid down her forehead. Blood.

Her breath came in shallow pieces.  

I’m dying.

It was strange. She wasn’t thinking about the crash. She wasn’t thinking about the pain. She was thinking about the black coffee. The way he remembered it without asking. She was thinking about ten o’clock at night and takeout on the passenger seat because he knew she forgot to eat. She was thinking about the man who had started looking at her in their own house like she was a stranger. A bitter smile touched her mouth. Three years of marriage. And this was how it ended. Alone, in the rain.

Footsteps splashed through the water.  

Someone was running. A shadow moved beyond the broken windshield, and then she saw him. Her heart betrayed her before her head could stop it. He was here. And then the hurt came rushing back. Why now? Why when it was too late?

Adrian reached the car, and the look on his face stole her breath. He was terrified. Adrian Laurent, the man who never lost control, was shaking as he tore at the door.

"Ava!" His voice cracked on her name.

The door finally gave out. He dropped to his knees in the rain, his coat soaked through, dirt streaked across the fabric. His hands trembled when they touched her face.

"Ava…"  

Ava had imagined this a thousand times. Him chasing her. Him realizing what he’d lost. But never like this. Never with that look in his eyes, like the ground had fallen out from under him.

"Why..." she whispered.  

He leaned in close. "What? Tell me." His hands were desperate on her, like if he stopped touching her she would disappear.

The questions burned in her throat. Why do you look like you’re losing everything? Why are you crying? But she couldn’t get them out. A tear slipped down her cheek. Adrian caught her hand in both of his and held it to his forehead.

Ava stared at him. Adrian didn’t cry. Not when his father died. Not when his company almost collapsed. He never cried. But his eyes were wet now.

"Ava, look at me," he said, and his voice broke. "No. Don’t. Don’t close your eyes."

The darkness was creeping in at the edges. Her body felt weightless. Too light. The numbness broke, and fear cut through her, sharp and sudden.

"Please..." Adrian pressed his forehead to her hand. The rain poured down around them. "Please don’t leave me. Please."

Ava stopped breathing. That wasn’t the cold, distant husband she knew. That was a man coming apart in the rain.  

Adrian..

She wanted to ask what he meant. She wanted to know why he sounded like he was the one dying. But the dark was already swallowing her. The last thing she saw was Adrian holding her hand like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

                    *.  *.   *

Ava woke with a gasp. She shot upright, heart hammering. Her hand flew to her chest. There was no pain. No blood. No broken ribs. She looked around slowly. Cream walls, silk curtains, and a crystal chandelier caught the light above her. Her bedroom. Ava’s breath caught. This was impossible. Her eyes moved to the calendar on the bedside table. One year earlier.

"No."  

The word came out as barely a whisper.

She stumbled to the mirror. The woman staring back was wrong. She looked younger, unmarked and alive. She was twenty-seven instead of twenty-eight.  

Her fingers trembled as she touched her face, and then the truth hit her. This was the day. The day Lila moved into the Laurent estate. The day Adrian said it would only be temporary. The day everything started to go wrong.

Ava lowered her hand. She’d been given a second chance. And she wouldn’t waste it chasing answers from people who had lied to her. She would find the truth herself.

Because she couldn’t forget his face in the rain. The fear in his eyes. The way he had broken. If Adrian had never loved her, then why had he looked at her like losing her would destroy him?

A knock sounded at the door. Ava froze.  

"Ava?" Adrian’s voice cut through the wood as the doorknob turned.  

A year ago, she had spent months wondering why her husband stopped choosing her. A year later, she had died believing she meant nothing to him.  

Now he was standing on the other side of the door. And Ava had no idea if she was about to save her marriage... or find out who had wanted her dead.