Chapter 3

Ahtisa’s Pov

My eyes snapped open. Air rushed into my lungs like my head had been inside water for a long time.

My chest rose sharply as if my body had forgotten how to breathe.

My fingers curled against the cold surface, nails pressing into the wood.

Wait, I was sitting. I wasn't lying on the floor dying.

“... Officer Vale?"

The voice sounded familiar but still, not too familiar. I blinked trying to get my vision to focus.

Then it started coming in fragments. White walls. Metal table..

I was in an interrogation room.

My heartbeat stuttered.

“No…” I said under my breath.

It couldn't be…

“Are you alright?" The same voice asked again, worried. I turned my head to the voice and froze.

He was there, sitting across from me looking composed. Not the same man who had held me. His gaze fixed on me.

Lucien Blackwell.

My breath caught.

I had just died. I remembered dying. The blood. The pain. Adrian's voice. Lucien's arms around me.

My chest tightened.

“... This isn't real," I murmured.

Lucien's brows furrowed. “If this is your idea of a strategy, it's not going to work."

I looked around again, more carefully this time.

Everything was exactly as I remembered. Three years ago. I was back to the day I made my first mistake.

The day I destroyed the person who loved me most.

My stomach twisted.

“... Officer Vale?" Someone called again, firmly this time.

I exhaled. Once. Twice. I needed control. My gaze lifted back to Lucien.

He still hadn't looked away and now that I was truly seeing him. There was something in his eyes that I hadn't noticed before… as if he knew something wasn't right and was just playing along.

“You said you didn't do it," I said, trying to steady my voice.

Lucien leaned back slightly, chains shifting the way he moved.

He shrugged.

I stared at him blankly.

He sighed. “I didn't do it"

My throat tightened. In my past life, I hadn't listened. I hadn't given him a chance.

I had just walked into this room already convinced he was guilty because Adrian told me so. Because I had trusted him blindly.

My hands curled slightly under the table. Not this time.

“Then explain," I said.

Lucien tilted his head, eyes glinting. “Didn't Adrian tell you my offense?"

A chill ran down my spine.

He held my gaze.

"I want to hear it from you,” I said, crossing my arms.

I swallowed.

“Start from the beginning," I said, firmer now. “The allegations against you involve financial misconduct, illegal transfers and breach of corporate trust. If you are innocent, then explain the discrepancies."

Lucien stared at me for a moment, then shifted. "Who gave you the case?”

"Answer my question,” I replied.

"And you answer mine,” he countered.

The silence between us stretched and I knew he wasn't going to talk if I didn't.

"Adrian.” I said

"Then he can answer your question.”

My breath caught. "Do you want to be ruled guilty?”

A smile curved up his lips.

"If he says I am," he said, shrugging. “It's not like you are going to believe me”

I sighed.

Everything had changed. I wasn't that same girl again but I didn't know how to say that to him.

Then the door opened, my assistant came in and whispered in my ears that Adrian was waiting for me outside the room.

The air in the room shifted. What could he be doing here?

I stepped outside and there he was, standing in the doorway like nothing had ever happened. Like he hadn't watched me die. Like he hadn't left me on the floor… bleeding.

My heart started to beat fast as the memory crashed over me again.

She will be dead soon.

My fingers trembled at my sides.

“Adrian." I forced it through my mouth.

He occupied the doorway like he owned it, his gaze briefly flicking to Lucien inside the room before settling on me.

“I heard you were handling the case personally," he said. “I just thought I should check in"

I searched his face for anything that resembled the man I had seen in my last life.

But nothing.

He looked the same. The same man who I had once trusted with everything.

“Just check in?" I scoffed. “You don't need to be here"

He lifted his brows. “I think I have a right to be involved… you know, I brought the case to your department”

And in my last life, it was the last case I worked on before my profession started to threaten him.

You had a right to kill me too, didn't you?

The thought came uninvited. I pushed it down. “This is an official investigation"

Adrian laughed then his face changed when he saw my face. I was serious.

"You've always taken your job too seriously,” he said, clearing his throat. "It's one of the things I admire about you”

Really?

I didn't say anything.

“But this case is straightforward," he continued. “There's no need to drag it out.

He stepped closer, placing a file in my hands. I clutched it tightly.

I knew the file. I had signed it before without doubt. I hadn't even thought about it.

“You have everything you need right there," he continued. “Evidence, statements, financial records. It's all been verified"

I smiled.

"Where did you get them from?” I asked. A question I hadn't bother asking the first time but this time, I wouldn't make the same mistake.

"It doesn't matter,” he said smoothly. "Just sign.”