Chapter 5

Astrid’s POV

Darkness was supposed to be peaceful.

Instead, it felt endless.

Heavy.

Suffocating.

My body lay cold against the marble steps, but I couldn’t feel the ground anymore. The pain in my stomach was fading, replaced by a strange numbness spreading through my limbs.

I knew what that meant.

I was dying.

It came with unbearable clarity.

The sky above me was vast and quiet, scattered with stars that seemed indifferent to my suffering. The mansion lights glowed behind me, warm and golden — but that warmth felt like it belonged to another life.

Another version of me.

Adam and Miley’s voices floated in the air, distant and distorted.

“She’s finally quiet,” Miley said.

Adam’s voice followed calmly. “Great.”

There was no urgency. No remorse. No fear.

Just satisfaction.

My vision blurred at the edges.

I tried to move my fingers.

They responded weakly.

Good.

I was still conscious.

For now.

My thoughts turned inward.

Dad.

The word echoed inside my chest like a wound reopening.

My father was in the hospital tonight because of me.

Because I had chosen Adam over him once.

Because I had argued with him.

Because I had refused to listen.

Tears slid silently from the corners of my eyes.

Dad had warned me.

He had never fully trusted Adam.

He had tried to protect me in his own quiet way.

And I had been stubborn.

I had believed love was enough.

I had believed I knew better.

Now he was lying in a hospital bed.

Poisoned.

And I was lying on the steps of my home.

Stabbed.

Pregnant.

Dying.

A broken laugh escaped my lips, though it came out as a weak exhale.

How cruel.

My hand trembled as it moved slowly toward my stomach.

The blood was warm beneath my fingers.

My baby.

The thought pierced deeper than the knife ever could.

I hadn’t even gotten to tell anyone yet.

I hadn’t felt the baby move.

Hadn’t imagined their face.

Hadn’t chosen a name.

My throat tightened.

I remembered the moment at the hospital.

The doctor smiling.

Miley squeezing my hand.

How excited I had felt.

So full of hope.

So innocent.

Now that innocence felt like a distant memory.

Adam’s shadow blocked the moonlight for a moment as he stepped closer.

“Make sure she’s gone,” he said casually.

Miley nodded.

I wanted to scream at them.

To curse them.

To fight back.

But my body wouldn’t obey me anymore.

The world was slipping.

I could feel it.

Like sand falling through my fingers.

Dad…

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry.

My chest felt tight with grief.

Not just for myself.

For him.

For the life we had built together.

For the way I had hurt him when I chose Adam.

For the nights he must have stayed awake worrying about me.

For the love I had taken for granted.

If I could see him one more time…

Just once…

The thought made my tears fall faster.

I tried to speak.

My lips trembled.

“Dad…” I whispered.

The word barely formed.

I imagined him in the hospital room.

Alone.

Maybe unconscious.

Maybe fighting to survive.

And I wasn’t there.

I had left him tonight.

To tell him about the baby.

To celebrate.

Instead, I was dying before I could even reach him.

Guilt wrapped around my heart like chains.

I had failed him.

I had failed my child.

My breathing became shallow.

The pain was nearly gone now.

Everything felt distant.

Cold.

Strangely quiet.

Adam and Miley were no longer in my immediate sight.

They must have moved away.

Or maybe I simply couldn’t see clearly anymore.

The stars above me shimmered.

Beautiful.

Unbothered.

A thought crossed my mind.

Was this what death felt like?

This quiet drifting?

This fading away?

If so…

It wasn’t terrifying.

It was heartbreaking.

Because I wasn’t ready.

I wasn’t ready to leave my father.

I wasn’t ready to leave this world.

Not like this.

Not after everything.

Not without fixing my mistakes.

My vision darkened further.

My heartbeat felt slower now.

Each beat weaker than the last.

I focused on one thing.

My regret.

If I had one more chance…

Just one.

I wouldn’t argue with Dad.

I wouldn’t fight him.

I would hug him.

Every day.

I would protect him from Adam.

I would expose Miley immediately.

I would never trust them again.

And my baby…

My baby would grow up loved.

Safe.

Protected.

Not murdered before they had a chance to live.

Tears continued to fall.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered again.

The night air felt colder.

Or maybe my body just couldn’t hold warmth anymore.

Everything was fading.

Then suddenly

A strange sensation spread through my chest.

Not pain.

Not cold.

Something different.

Light.

A soft glow seemed to bloom inside the darkness surrounding me.

At first, I thought it was just my imagination.

But the glow grew stronger.

Brighter.

It wrapped around my consciousness like a gentle embrace.

I felt… weightless.

My body no longer felt heavy against the ground.

It felt distant.

As if I were floating above it.

Is this… the end?

A calm voice echoed somewhere deep in the darkness.

It wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t dramatic.

It felt almost like a whisper inside my own mind.

“Do you wish to return?”

My breath caught — though I wasn’t sure if I still needed to breathe.

Return?

The glow intensified.

Images flashed before me.

My father smiling at me when I was young.

The wedding.

The betrayal.

The knife.

Adam’s hands around my throat.

Miley’s cruel smile.

My unborn child.

All of it passed through my mind in rapid sequence.

“Yes…” I thought desperately.

“I want to return.”

The glow responded warmly.

“Why?”

Because I wasn’t done.

Because my father deserved better.

Because my child deserved life.

Because those two monsters needed to pay.

Because I refused to let my story end like this.

Because I deserved justice.

Because I deserved to live.

“I won’t forgive them,” I thought firmly.

The glow pulsed brighter.

“Then you shall have another chance.”

The darkness began to shift.

It felt like I was being pulled backward through space.

The sound of wind filled my ears.

My heart — or whatever remained of it — began beating again.

Faster.

Louder.

Pain returned suddenly.

Sharp.

Intense.

But this pain was different.

It wasn’t from the knife.

It was from awakening.

From being pulled back into my body.

I gasped violently.

Air flooded my lungs.

My eyes snapped open.

Light blinded me.

For a moment, I couldn’t see anything.

Just white.

Pure white.

My chest rose and fell rapidly as I struggled to understand what was happening.

My hands trembled.

They were clean.

No blood.

No wound.

My stomach felt normal.

No pain.

No injury.

My heart pounded wildly.

Where was I?

Slowly, my vision cleared.

I was lying in my bedroom.

Not outside.

Not on marble steps.

The room was quiet.

Bright.

Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains.

I turned my head slightly.

The clock on the wall caught my attention.

My breath stopped.

The date.

The time.

My pulse raced.

No.

No, this wasn’t possible.

My eyes widened in disbelief.

This wasn’t the night of my death.

This was…

The day before.

The morning before my wedding.

My wedding to Adam.

My body began shaking uncontrollably.

I slowly lifted my hands in front of my face.

They were steady.

Alive.

Warm.

I pressed them to my stomach.

Flat.

No pregnancy.

No wound.

No blood.

Tears filled my eyes instantly.

This wasn’t heaven.

This wasn’t a dream.

This wasn’t imagination.

This was real.

I had come back.

My heart thundered in my chest.

The memories of death felt vivid.

Too real.

The betrayal.

The pain.

The regret.

It was all still there.

But now…

So was something else.

Determination.

I slowly sat up on the bed.

My legs felt weak, but they held me.

I looked around my room.

Everything was exactly as it had been before.

Perfectly arranged.

Untouched.

Outside my door, I could hear distant movement.

Staff preparing.

Voices downstairs.

Wedding preparations.

My wedding day was coming.

But not this time.

Not anymore.

A slow, steady realization settled over me.

I had been given a second chance.

A real one.

And this time…

I would not waste it.

My eyes hardened.

The tears dried.

My heart, though still aching from memory, grew cold with focus.

Adam Pierce.

Miley Perez.

You killed me once.

You poisoned my father.

You took my child.

But now…

Now I remember everything.

And this time…

I will not die quietly.

I will not trust blindly.

I will not love foolishly.

I will protect my father.

I will expose you.

And I will make sure you regret the day you ever decided to cross me.

Slowly, I stood from the bed.

My reflection in the mirror looked the same.

Beautiful.

Young.

But something inside my eyes had changed.

The innocence was gone.

In its place stood something far more dangerous.

I stepped toward the door.

Outside, the world was moving forward.

But inside me…

Time had turned back.

And I had returned with a mission.

Revenge.