The moment Raina Whitfield opened her eyes, she saw those eyes again—the ones that made fear crawl straight out of her bones.
"Ah—!"
The scream tore out of her throat before she could stop it.
Her pale fingers clutched the blanket beneath her so hard her knuckles turned white.
Why was that pain back again?
Was this hell?
She had already died once. So why—why was she back at this devil’s side all over again?
Her whole body reacted before her mind could catch up. She shrank back, shaking, and shouted, "Don’t come near me! Stay away from me!"
That one sentence seemed to hit some switch in the man. His face darkened in an instant, terrifying enough to make her blood run cold. Then his thin lips came down on her with brutal force, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.
The pain blew her mind blank. Raina could only tremble and whisper over and over, "Why... Maxwell Thornton... why does it have to be me..."
"It can only be you." His voice was low, heavy, leaving no room to breathe.
The exact same answer as in her last life.
Raina’s vision went black, and she fainted on the spot.
...
When she woke again, morning had already come.
A faint floral scent lingered in the room. Sunlight spilled through the window, warm and soft, making everything look almost peaceful.
Almost.
Because in the very next second, Raina’s whole body went rigid.
The man beside her was awake.
Just that alone was enough to make the air in the room turn heavy, like someone had dropped a stone on her chest.
Then the arm around her waist tightened without warning. She was dragged into his embrace like a rag doll, completely trapped.
"Still thinking about running?"
His voice brushed past her ear, and her scalp instantly went numb.
Pure survival instinct kicked in. Raina hurriedly shook her head.
She had no idea whether the man had bought it or not. He kept staring at her for a long moment, and that look in his eyes never lost its edge. It was dangerous, cold, the kind that made her scalp go numb.
Raina Whitfield was like prey locked in by a predator. She didn’t even dare twitch.
Only after what felt like forever did he finally let her go. In the pale morning light, Maxwell Thornton’s figure looked even taller, sharper. The hard lines of his lean, powerful body flashed past her sight for just a second.
Not long after, he got dressed with clean, practiced movements. His long fingers buttoned his shirt all the way to the top, one button after another, precise to the point of obsession, elegant in a way that almost felt fake, like he was covering up something ugly.
Just moments ago, he had been like a beast gone off the rails. Now he was back to that icy, untouchable version of himself, like someone had hit a switch and changed him into a completely different person.
It wasn’t until the door shut with a crisp "click" that the string pulled tight inside Raina finally loosened a little.
At last, she had space to think about what the hell was going on.
Her gaze moved slowly across the room, over the familiar setup, until it stopped at the mirror on the vanity across from her. The face reflected there was both familiar and strange. Her smudged smoky makeup had been ruined by tears and sweat, a complete mess, and her skin was covered in those harsh, terrifying tattoo patterns.
Those ugly tattoos had all been done on purpose.
She had gotten every single one of them just to stay away from Maxwell Thornton.
And in that moment, she truly knew.
She really had gone back.
Back to that night—the night furious Maxwell Thornton had punished her.
Despair crashed over her, heavy and suffocating. Why would fate mess with her like this? Why drag her all the way back to seven years ago?
Rather than live through this nightmare again, she’d rather die. She did not want to return to this man’s side. Not ever.
She had lost too much in those years—the person she loved most, the lives of her family, her dignity, even herself. Everything had been crushed until there was nothing left.
Did that mean she had to suffer through all of it one more time?
