Rebirth: The Billionaire's Deadly Ex-Wife

The edge of the cliff was cold, biting into my bare feet like the fangs of a winter wolf.

Below me, the black ocean raged against the jagged rocks, the sound of the crashing waves momentarily drowning out the howling wind. The sky was a suffocating blanket of dark, stormy clouds, mirroring the absolute devastation tearing through my soul.

I stood on the precipice of death, my white silk dress torn and fluttering violently in the gale. The freezing rain plastered my hair to my face, but I could barely feel the cold. My hands were trembling, not from the chill, but from the sheer, agonizing shock of what I was hearing.

"I'm tired of pretending, Elena," Victor's voice cut through the wind, sharp as a dagger. He stood behind me, his handsome face twisted into a cruel sneer I had never seen before. The man I had loved, supported, and built an empire with for five years looked at me like I was a piece of trash stuck to his shoe.

I turned my head slowly, my vision blurring with tears and rain. "Victor... we've been married for five years. I gave you everything. My family's money, my father's business, my entire life! How can you do this to me?"

"You gave me a stepping stone," Victor scoffed, taking a step closer. The moonlight glinted off the black pistol in his hand, the barrel pointed directly at my chest. "You were just the naive, pathetic heiress. You gave me the capital, and I built the empire. But now? Now you are just a burden. A liability I no longer need."

A sickening, familiar laugh echoed from the shadows. My heart plummeted into my stomach.

My sister, Sophia, stepped out from behind a large rock. She was wearing a tight, blood-red dress that clung to her curves, a stark contrast to my ruined white gown. She wrapped her arm around Victor's waist, resting her chin on his shoulder, her eyes glittering with pure, unadulterated malice.

"Oh, sister," Sophia purred, her voice dripping with fake pity. "You were always so blind. Did you really think all those 'late business trips' were just business? Victor and I have been together for four years. Right under your pathetic nose."

The world tilted around me. Four years. They had been betraying me for almost my entire marriage. Every kiss Victor gave me, every whispered promise, every late night I spent waiting for him-it had all been a lie. I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces, the shards cutting deep into my lungs, making it impossible to breathe.

"You... you are my sister," I choked out, the tears falling freely now, mixing with the rain. "I raised you after Mom died! I gave you everything! I paid for your education, I bought you your first car, I let you live in my home!"

"And I took it," Sophia sneered, her pretty face twisting into a mask of pure hatred. "Because you didn't deserve it. You're weak, Elena. You're boring. You always played the perfect, saintly wife, and it made me sick. And now... you're going to give me one last gift. Your fortune."

She nodded at Victor.

Victor raised the gun. The black barrel was a void, swallowing the little light left in the world.

"Goodbye, Elena," he whispered, a sickening smile playing on his lips. "Don't worry, I'll make sure the newspapers say it was a tragic accident. The grieving widower."

Bang!

The sound was deafening. A searing, white-hot pain exploded in my chest. The force of the bullet knocked me backward. I felt my feet leave the edge of the cliff.

For a terrifying, suspended moment, I was floating in the air, falling through the cold night sky. The wind whipped past my ears, and I watched Victor and Sophia shrink into tiny figures at the top of the cliff.

They weren't crying. They weren't reaching for me.

They were smiling. They were embracing. They had won.

As I fell toward the jagged rocks below, a single, burning thought consumed my mind. It was a thought so powerful, it ignited a fire in my soul that transcended the physical pain of death.

If I could do it all again... I would burn them both to the ground.

My body hit the icy water, and the darkness swallowed me whole.

---

I woke up with a violent gasp, choking on a scream.

My hands flew to my chest, expecting to feel the wet, sticky warmth of my own blood. My fingers clawed at my shirt, waiting for the gaping wound, for the pain.

But there was nothing. Just the smooth, unbroken skin above my heart. My chest was heaving. My heart was beating a frantic, desperate rhythm against my ribs, pumping clean, oxygenated blood through my body. I was alive.

I was sweating. The sheets beneath me were damp and tangled. I sat bolt upright, my eyes darting wildly in the semi-darkness.

I wasn't at the bottom of the ocean. I wasn't in a morgue. I wasn't on the cold, hard rocks.

I was in my bedroom.

My master bedroom in the Montague Estate. The thick velvet curtains were drawn, blocking out the bright morning sun, but slivers of golden light pierced through the gaps. The familiar scent of lavender and vanilla-the expensive candles I used to buy-filled the air.

"What... what is going on?" I whispered, my voice hoarse and raw, as if I hadn't used it in years.

I threw the covers off and stumbled out of bed. My legs were weak, shaking so badly I had to grab the mahogany nightstand to keep from collapsing.

I looked at my hands. They were soft. Unscarred. There were no calluses from working in the garden, no small cuts from the broken glass of the wine bottle Victor threw at me in our third year of marriage. They were the hands of a pampered, wealthy woman.

I ran to the vanity mirror, my bare feet silent on the plush carpet.

I gasped, my hands flying to my face.

Staring back at me was a young woman. I was wearing a thin silk nightgown, my hair cascading down my shoulders in soft, golden waves. My skin was flawless, my eyes bright and unburdened by the dark circles that had haunted me for years. I looked... innocent. I looked exactly as I had five years ago.

My eyes darted to the desk calendar. The date burned into my retinas.

October 14th. Five years ago.

"Impossible..." I breathed, touching the glass of the mirror, my fingers trembling against my reflection. "This can't be real. I... I'm dead. He shot me."

The last thing I remembered was the cliff. The gunshot. The fall. I remembered the cold water filling my lungs.

This wasn't a dream. I had died. And I had woken up. I was here. I was me, five years ago, on the morning of the day my life was supposed to end.

A sudden, overwhelming wave of nausea hit me, and I gripped the edge of the vanity. It was a rebirth. A second chance. The universe, or some cruel god, had given me a reset button.

The door to the bedroom suddenly clicked open.

I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat.

Victor walked in.

He was wearing a crisp, tailored suit, his hair perfectly styled, looking incredibly handsome. He had a charming, easy smile on his face-the exact same smile that had tricked me into falling in love with him. The same smile he wore right before he pulled the trigger.

"Good morning, my love," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

My breath caught in my throat. A wave of pure, unadulterated nausea washed over me. I could smell the phantom metallic scent of gunpowder, the ghost of the pain of the bullet tearing through my chest. The man who murdered me was standing five feet away, looking at me with fake adoration.

"Elena?" He stepped closer, a look of fake concern crossing his handsome face. "Are you alright? You're trembling."

He reached out to touch my shoulder.

Panic, rage, and the desperate will to survive slammed into me all at once. I wanted to punch him. I wanted to grab the letter opener from the vanity and drive it straight into his heart. I wanted to watch the life drain from his eyes the way he had watched mine.

But a cold, calculating voice in the back of my mind stopped me. He has the power, Elena. If you act crazy now, he will lock you in an asylum. You have no proof of his crimes yet. You need to play the game.

I forced myself to take a deep, shuddering breath. I pushed the bile down, swallowed the scream, and forced a smile onto my face. It felt like stretching a mask over a skull.

"I... I just had a terrible nightmare," I said, my voice shaking. I let out a nervous giggle, playing the role of the fragile, stupid girl he thought I was. "I dreamt that you didn't love me anymore. That you left me."

Victor's eyes crinkled with what he thought was affection. He pulled me into his arms, and I had to physically stop myself from recoiling at his touch. His hands felt like snakes around my waist.

"Don't be silly, my darling," he murmured into my hair. "I will always love you. Today is a very special day, remember?"

A special day. Yes, I remembered. Today was our five-year anniversary. And tonight, he was hosting a massive banquet at our estate to celebrate. It was the exact same banquet where he had introduced his new business partner, Damien. And it was the exact same night Sophia had worn that red dress for the first time, practically throwing herself at Victor in front of me.

"Yes," I whispered, looking past his shoulder at the mirror. My reflection looked back at me, a dark, terrifying determination settling into my eyes. "I remember. It's going to be a night to remember."

Victor pulled back, a wide, triumphant smile on his face. "I have a surprise for you tonight. Something that will change our lives forever."

I smiled back, a perfect, innocent mask covering the monster I was about to become.

"I can't wait," I said.

But in my mind, I was already planning the funeral.

I gave you my heart, Victor. You put a bullet in it.

Now, I'm going to take everything you love, everything you own, and everything you are... until there is nothing left of you but ashes.