"So you an to say... Kathrine, in our past life, staged everything just to get rid of ?" Anna asked, her voice trembling despite her attempt to stay calm. "But why? I always thought she knew about us—about you and . Especially since you never ca ho. You never even tried to look for ."
The last words slipped out sharper than she intended.
Daniel went still. His jaw tightened, lips pressing into a thin line as he absorbed the weight of her accusation.
She hadn’t ant to sound cruel. But the mories ca rushing back too fast—endless nights spent staring at the door, longing to see him, days turning into months, and months into silence. The kind of silence that hollowed her out.
"I’m sorry," Daniel said quietly.
The apology stunned her. Not because she hadn’t wanted to hear it— but because she had waited a lifeti for it.
Anna’s breath hitched before she could stop it. "I didn’t an to hurt you," she said, her voice softer now, stripped of its edge.
"I know," he replied, eyes dark with sothing dangerously close to grief. "But you’re not wrong. I failed you back then. If only I had been truthful with my feelings towards you and not let the revenge lead my emotions, I wouldn’t have lost you"
He let out a slow breath, as if the confession itself had taken sothing out of him. But then, sothing about his words finally clicked—and they both lifted their heads at the sa ti, staring at each other in shock.
"So... you wanted revenge back then too?" Anna asked softly.
Daniel nodded.
He had seen the fragnt—the mory that confird it. Whatever had changed in this life, his hatred for the Bennetts had still existed in the past, sharp and consuming. The faces were different, the circumstances altered, but the fire inside him had burned just the sa.
Anna swallowed.
A cold knot ford in her stomach.
When she had woken up after dying—back on the very day she married Daniel—she had sworn she would change everything. She would rewrite their story. She would avoid the sa mistakes, the sa pain, the sa ending that had stolen her life.
And sohow... she had succeeded. At least partially.
So many things had shifted. Conversations that never happened before. Choices she hadn’t made in the past. Even Daniel himself felt different—softer, more present.
But now that she thought about it...
She still didn’t know the truth.
She didn’t know who had pushed her, nor did she know how Daniel had died or what had really happened to Kathrine.
Her fingers curled slowly at her side. If the truth was still buried, then nothing was truly over.
Which ant the person who had ended her life was still out there—watching, waiting, hidden sowhere in the shadows of a fate she had only delayed, not escaped.
"Daniel... how did you die?" Anna asked quietly, forcing herself out of her spiraling thoughts.
He froze.
"I—I don’t know," he admitted.
The words hit her harder than she expected.
"You... don’t?" Anna repeated, disbelief creeping into her voice.
Daniel shook his head, frustration flickering across his face. "I rember my past life. I rember you. But it’s like my mories stop at a certain point. Everything after that is blurred—broken. I never saw my own end."
Anna’s shoulders slowly slumped.
So even death had kept its secrets.
Daniel looked away, his jaw tightening. "I rember what happened after you died, though. Or at least... what I did."
He exhaled sharply, as if ashad of the man he used to be.
"I took revenge on the Bennetts. All of them. I destroyed Hugo’s empire piece by piece. After your death, Roseline lost her mind. She stopped caring about the business, about appearances, about anything. Hugo was drowning, and I just... pushed his head under."
Anna felt a strange mix of horror and sorrow twist inside her.
"And Kathrine?" she asked softly.
A bitter smile curved Daniel’s lips.
"She thought she had finally won by trapping . Thought I’d marry her out of duty, or guilt, or resignation." His eyes darkened. "So I let her believe it. I promised her everything."
Anna’s heart sank.
"But I never showed up," Daniel continued. "I left her waiting. Day after day. Let the world watch her humiliation. Let her rot in the hope I never intended to fulfill."
Silence fell between them, heavy and uncomfortable.
"I beca soone else after you died," Daniel said quietly. "Soone I don’t recognize. I don’t know how I died—but if I’m being honest... I don’t think I cared whether I lived or not."
Anna looked at him then, really looked at him.
Not the man he was now.
But the broken, vengeful shadow he had once beco.
Sothing inside her shifted as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Anna had never truly known what Daniel went through after her death—how her family had stripped everything from him, how alone he must have been in his grief, anger, and need for revenge. But now, as the truth slowly unraveled between them, she realized sothing painfully simple.
They had both been victims of the past.
Just in different ways.
"You don’t have to carry the guilt of that life anymore, Daniel," Anna whispered against his shoulder. "Because I forgive you."
She pulled back, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Anna..." he breathed, as if the word itself hurt.
"I an it," she said firmly, eting his gaze. "I’ve been holding onto my anger for so long, using it to justify my pain. But in this life... you never once abandoned . You protected . You chose . You gave the life I never had before."
Her voice trembled, but her conviction didn’t.
"So whatever mistakes we made back then," she continued softly, "they don’t get to define us now. I won’t let them."
Daniel stared at her like he was afraid to believe her.
But the truth in her eyes was undeniable—and slowly, sothing inside him finally gave way. The tension he had carried seed to ease as he stepped forward, one hand lifting to cradle her face before he leaned in and kissed her.
It wasn’t desperate. It wasn’t rushed but gentle. Certain like a promise finally kept.
"I love you, Anna," he whispered against her lips. "I loved you back then. I love you now. And I will love you in every lifeti."
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