"Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to you. After all, you only know the story of the third life—the one before this one. To understand it, it will take ti. It begins with the old woman of the Pierson family, Old Mrs. Pierson."
As ridiculous as it was, this man seed to truly believe his story about lifetis before the one Lola rembered.
According to him, it all started with Old Mrs. Pierson — Zoren’s grandmother.
During her ti, she was given away to a man like a commodity. Forced into a marriage she didn’t want with an abusive husband, the young Mrs. Pierson tried her best to leave countless tis. But every ti, she would get dragged back by her husband—and even by her own family.
As an act of rebellion, she escaped once again. This ti, she t a man. Given the circumstances she was in, she ended up sleeping with a stranger. Once the high faded and she realized what she had done, she slipped away, only to be found by her husband’s n.
Again, she was dragged back into his ho.
A month later, she found out she was pregnant. Although she wasn’t sure who the father was because her husband’s constant abuse remained relentless. Oblivious to her affair, he allowed her to keep the child.
That was the last straw for her.
The mont she gave birth to a boy—an heir that made her husband happy—Old Mrs. Pierson tried to end her life. Her attempts failed over and over until, eventually, she succeeded. By that point, years had already passed, and her son was nearly an adult.
"But the success of her final attempt didn’t an it killed her," the man said quietly as he sat on the altar steps, resting a hand on his knee. "It only confined her to the hospital, where she would spend the rest of her pitiful life bedridden."
Lola’s brows knitted, her eyes trembling slightly—almost believing him with how detailed his narration of the first true tiline was.
"Her son, who had taken care of her, eventually t Naylani. After all, his father’s business had strong ties to the mafia," he continued. "Together, they had a son, whom they nad Zoren. And in that tiline, the Zorken sisters had a good relationship. They didn’t need to fight over the power of the Shadow Order because Nathalie secured it without issue."
He blinked tenderly. "But since Nathalie and Noel couldn’t bear children of their own, Nathalie treated Zoren as her son."
Lola blurted out, "Noel?"
"The youngest of the triplets," he replied. "Nathalie, the oldest. Naylani, the middle child. And Noel, the youngest."
"..."
"And one way or another, Zoren and Atlas crossed paths over a business deal. Through that, Zoren t the beloved heiress of the Bennet family. They fell for each other and got married. Months later, she announced she was pregnant with a son," he continued in the sa calm tone. "However, unfortunately, she miscarried."
He paused. "That’s when Atlas went to the church as he handled the funeral services. And that was when the two of you t—an aspiring nun, and a man with no business in a secret society."
While Penny and Zoren were recovering from the loss of their stillborn child, Lola and Atlas grew close. They married soon after, and for a while, the man telling this story heard nothing about her.
When he did, it was because Atlas had taken over the Order—and gone mad, setting the entire secret society ablaze.
"Do you know what he did to ?" he humd, staring at the shock-stricken look on her face. "He forced to look at your corpse, as if to make sure I would never forget your face. I imagine he did the sa to everyone, forcing them to look at the face of his dead wife as their final mory."
He drew a deep breath and leaned back, propping his hand on the steps. "That is how it all began. And when I thought it was over, I found myself waking up years before the tragedy. Or rather, much earlier."
"Given a second chance, I told myself I would stop this madness and avoid such a fate—for myself... and for everyone around ," he whispered, his eyes softening as his gaze never left hers. "And to do that, I told myself I had to remove you from a situation you should never have been in. I didn’t want to, especially knowing you hold on to your faith more than anyone. More than I do."
Lola scoffed, glancing at her leg before lifting her gaze back to him. "So, you played with Jasmine and Mike’s lives. Is that it?"
"It was a challenge. When I woke up, I was very young and held little power. Even so, with knowledge of the future, climbing the ranks was faster. All I had to say was that I’d been granted a vision—a prophecy bestowed upon by the heavens."
Listening to him made her gut twist. She didn’t want to hear any more, but she had no choice.
"But yes, with enough power, I was able to manipulate Jasmine and Mike’s lives. They weren’t as horrible in this tiline. I simply made sure they wouldn’t have the ans," he explained. "That way, you could live in your world, and the rest in theirs."
Lola gulped, her fist trembling on her lap. She had known people who played God with others’ lives. But this man? The way he spoke about it—so calm, so justified—it sounded like he truly saw nothing wrong with it. If anything, he made it seem as though she owed him.
"What a..." she laughed through gritted teeth. "...bastard you are."
Yet even then, he didn’t budge. Not because he didn’t care, but because he expected that reaction. After all, this was their fourth life, and she was no longer the woman he rembered.
"However, I was too busy trying to remove you from the chaos of the secret society that... I didn’t realize soone else had returned as I did," he added under his breath. "Old Mrs. Pierson. I only found out when I investigated further and discovered she avoided marrying her husband in the first life—and chose soone else instead."
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