But it was also at this mont that she realized no one had inford Ella that Serena was alive. Her eyes narrowed slightly as a slow, calculating smile curved her lips. Well, she could use this opportunity to get a truthful confession.
Oh, she believed Aiden had received the confession but pretending in front of a brother who loved her and pretending in front of the spirit of the woman she had killed.
Adjusting her stance, she raised a brow and began to walk toward the foot of the bed, each step deliberate and unhurried, letting the tension build.
Of course, I’ve co to haunt you," she murmured, her voice laced with a quiet, eerie amusent. "Why wouldn’t I? You planned everything, didn’t you? You’re responsible for all of this."
Ella’s breath hitched sharply. Her entire body recoiled as she frantically shook her head, her hands gripping the sheets as if they could anchor her to reality. "No, no! I swear, I’m not! I had no idea that Kimberlee was planning to hurt you!"
"When I went there that ti, I was already having doubts—about everything. I only wanted to talk to you, to try and dissuade you from marrying Aiden. That was it. I never wanted this!" She gulped, her voice breaking. "I only did it because of what Father told . Because I was a blind fool who thought that you were responsible for taking my brother from ."
Her shoulders shook violently as a shudder wracked her thin fra. How many tis had she repeated these sa words? To Aiden, to Nate, to her grandmother—again and again, desperate for soone, anyone, to believe her. But no one did. No one had ever told her that they could forgive her.
And maybe that was fair. Maybe she didn’t deserve forgiveness. How could she when Serena was already gone from this world?
A hollow emptiness yawned inside her chest, swallowing what little hope she had. She had been a coward, a traitor, and worst of all, she had lost everything. The one thing she had always feared the most had co to pass. She was utterly, completely alone.
Tears stread down her face as she stared at the ghostly figure before her. Was this real? Had Serena truly returned from the dead to haunt her? Or was this just her mind’s way of unraveling, of surrendering to madness?
But whether real or not, she needed to say it.
"Serena," her voice cracked as she whispered the na, raw with regret. "I... I am so sorry. If I could turn back ti—" A sob wrenched itself from her throat, her entire body shaking as she choked out the words. "I would rather kill myself than harm you!"
Serena stared at her for a long, heavy mont before her lips curled into a slow, chilling smile. The kind of smile that sent a shiver down the spine, one that promised sothing dark, sothing unnatural.
"Really?" she murmured, tilting her head slightly and lowering her voice into a haunting whisper. "You would kill yourself rather than harm ?"
Her eyes glead with sothing unreadable as she took a slow step closer. "Then... what if I told you that if you die, I can co back? Hmm?"
She let the words settle, savoring the way Ella’s breath hitched, the way her fingers twisted the blanket in a nervous grip. It was so easy to say the words I would rather kill myself. But when it ca to putting them to the good, of course she would be scared silly.
Serena wanted Ella to feel that. To realize that the only reason she was asking for forgiveness was not because she was truly sorry but because she thought that apologizing would get her forgiveness and her family back. The sa way she had believed that Serena being out of her way would bring her closer to Aiden again. So, she continued the charade.
"I’m already haunting this place. If you die, I can take your body. I can live again. Only the two of us would know." Her voice dropped lower, almost coaxing now. "So, tell , Ella... are you really going to kill yourself for ?"
Ella froze, her entire body going rigid as she stared at the ghostly figure before her. For a brief mont, her mind whirled, caught between disbelief and sothing disturbingly close to hope. Was this a trick? A cruel test? Or was it real?
But then, inexplicably, her shoulders relaxed, and she nodded.
"Yes," she whispered, the word barely audible. "If you can take my body, I’m willing." Her breath ca out in a shuddering sigh, almost relieved. "I will gladly leave this place."
Without another word, her hand moved to the side, fingers searching blindly for the sharp blade she knew was there. She had seen the nurse place it on the small tal tray earlier, used to cut bandages. It was within reach. It would be quick.
Serena’s smile faltered, her brows drawing together in a frown. Ella’s fingers closed around the handle of the blade. Serena’s frown deepened.
And then, just as Ella lifted the blade, her grip tightening, ready to drive it into her stomach, Serena cursed and lunged.
"Are you crazy?!" Serena hissed, shoving Ella’s hand away with enough force to send the blade clattering to the floor.
She sent a look to the blads on the floor and then glared at Ella and snapped, "Are you a complete fool? Do you even have a single thought of your own? Or do you just blindly follow whatever anyone tells you?"
Ella flinched and stared at her while Serena continued," First, you let your father and Kimberlee twist your mind until you were ready to help them kill . And now, you’re ready to kill yourself just because my ghost suggested it?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "What, do you have no will of your own? No sense of self-preservation?"
Ella swallowed hard, sha burning through her like fire.
"I—" she started, but Serena didn’t let her finish.
"No, don’t even try," Serena cut her off, her expression dark with sothing unreadable. "You thought getting rid of would bring Aiden back to you, make him forgive your father so you can live happily as a family. And then you thought playing the victim would erase what you did. And now, you think dying will fix everything?" Her voice dropped to a hiss. "Pathetic."
Ella trembled, her fingers tightening around the sheets, her eyes shimring with unshed tears.
Serena let out a humorless laugh. "Tell , Ella, do you even know what you want? Or are you just waiting for soone else to decide that for you?"
With that, Serena marched out of the room, leaving behind Ella in a daze as she looked at the door and realized... Serena was alive... That was not her ghost. She brought her knees to her chest and broke down in relief.
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