Adrian Blackwood stood in the middle of the living room.
He looked at the empty shelves.
The missing decorations.
The boxes that had disappeared.
For five years, this house had always been filled with my presence.
Flowers on the table.
Warm lights at night.
My favorite books beside the sofa.
Small things he never noticed.
Until they were gone.
“Lina.”
His voice was colder than usual.
“What exactly are you doing?”
I looked at him calmly.
“Leaving.”
His eyebrows tightened.
“Leaving?”
“Yes.”
“You think this will make me change my mind?”
I almost smiled.
In my previous life, I would have hoped for that.
I would have waited for him to panic.
I would have wanted him to realize my importance.
But after dying once…
I understood.
Love that needs someone to beg for it is already broken.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
That answer seemed to irritate him more.
“Then what is it about?”
“Myself.”
The room became silent.
Adrian stared at me.
Maybe he was waiting for anger.
For accusations.
For me to mention Clara.
But I didn’t.
Because I was tired.
Too tired to fight for a place in someone’s heart.
His phone suddenly rang.
The name on the screen appeared.
Clara Moon.
Just like before.
In my past life, this call would have destroyed me.
I would have watched his expression.
I would have wondered what she said.
I would have asked him not to leave.
This time…
I turned away.
“Answer it.”
Adrian looked surprised.
“You don’t care?”
I packed the last book into my suitcase.
“No.”
That single word made him freeze.
Because for five years, he had wanted freedom.
But he never expected that when I finally gave it to him…
I would truly let go.
The next morning, I went to grandfather’s study.
He looked at me for a long time.
“Are you really canceling the wedding?”
“Yes.”
His hand trembled slightly.
“Because of Adrian?”
I thought about it.
Then answered:
“No.”
“Because of me.”
Grandfather looked confused.
“I spent my whole life protecting the Reed family.”
“I thought if I arranged everything perfectly, you would be happy.”
His eyes became complicated.
“But I forgot to ask you what you wanted.”
I lowered my head.
In my previous life, I blamed everyone.
Grandfather.
Adrian.
Clara.
But the truth was…
I also made mistakes.
I used family obligation to force someone who didn’t love me.
I turned love into a battlefield.
And both Adrian and I suffered.
“I don’t hate him anymore.”
I whispered.
Grandfather looked at me.
“Lina.”
“Some people are not meant to be enemies.”
I smiled sadly.
“Sometimes they are just two people who met at the wrong time.”
Three days later, I boarded a plane.
My destination was another country.
A place where nobody knew my name.
Nobody knew I was Lina Reed.
Nobody knew about the marriage that never happened.
Before boarding, I received a message.
From Adrian.
Only one sentence.
“Where are you going?”
I looked at the screen.
In the past life, he would never have asked.
He would only have been relieved.
But now…
I didn’t know what had changed.
I didn’t answer.
Adrian stood outside my house that night.
The room was dark.
Empty.
Exactly like his heart suddenly felt.
He walked to the bookshelf.
There was a small envelope left behind.
His name was written on it.
Inside was only one thing.
A photo.
The two of us when we were young.
Before Clara returned.
Before resentment.
Before everything became complicated.
Behind the photo was a sentence.
“Adrian, thank you for saving me.”
His fingers tightened.
Because he knew.
I wasn’t talking about the accident.
I was talking about the snow.
That night when he protected me with his own body.
The night he proved that somewhere deep inside…
He still cared.
His phone rang.
His assistant.
“Mr. Blackwood.”
“Speak.”
“Miss Moon’s medical treatment has been arranged.”
Adrian remained silent.
Then:
“Cancel it.”
The assistant was shocked.
“But you spent months searching for this specialist.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Adrian looked at the empty room.
“Because I realized something.”
“What?”
His voice was low.
“I spent five years trying to escape a marriage that wasn’t the cage.”
A pause.
“I was.”
One month later.
I opened a small design studio by the sea.
For the first time in my life, I woke up without thinking about Adrian.
No waiting.
No jealousy.
No fear.
Only peace.
Then one afternoon, someone appeared outside my studio.
I looked up.
And froze.
Adrian.
He looked different.
Not like the cold man from my memories.
Not like the husband who hated me.
Just a tired man who had finally understood something too late.
“Lina.”
I put down my pen.
“Why are you here?”
He took a breath.
“I came to apologize.”
I said nothing.
“I was wrong.”
The wind moved through the open window.
“I thought you trapped me.”
His eyes lowered.
“But you were the person who stayed when everyone else left.”
I remained silent.
“I thought freedom meant losing you.”
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
“Now I know freedom without you was just emptiness.”
I looked away.
“Adrian.”
He looked at me.
“In our previous life…”
The words almost escaped.
But I stopped.
He couldn’t know.
Instead, I said:
“We already wasted five years.”
His eyes became red.
“I know.”
“Can we start again?”
I looked at him.
The old Lina would have answered immediately.
The old Lina waited her entire life for this question.
But the woman standing here now was different.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian accepted that.
For the first time, he didn’t force anything.
“I’ll wait.”
Those words surprised me.
Because once…
I was the one who waited.
Now it was his turn.
Then my phone rang.
I looked at the screen.
A message from an unknown number.
The content was short.
“Lina Reed, if you think you escaped your fate…”
“You are wrong.”
Attached was a photograph.
My blood turned cold.
Because the person in the picture was someone who should never have appeared again.
Clara Moon.
And below it was a sentence:
“She remembers the previous life too.”
