The morning sun spilled through the curtains, golden and gentle — the kind of light that once made Elara feel safe.
Now, it only burned.
She sat before her vanity, staring at the reflection that gazed back — flawless skin, bright eyes, a face untouched by betrayal or blood, the reflection of her younger self staring back. Yet behind those familiar features, something had changed.
Her innocence was gone.
Her reflection no longer belonged to the naive girl who had loved blindly. It belonged to someone else — someone reborn from fire and deceit.
Elara's trembling hand touched the smooth surface of the mirror. "I'm back…" she whispered, her voice steady despite the storm inside her. "And this time, I see you all clearly."
Her gaze shifted to the golden locket resting on the vanity — a gift from Lyra, given the day Elara announced her engagement to Adrian. Inside it was a picture of the three of them smiling — the perfect trio.
How ironic.
Elara closed it with a snap and pushed it aside. That friendship died with me.
___
She remembered every deal, every collapse, every future stock price, every company that would soon rise.
Knowledge was her weapon now.
As Elara wrote her first list of future companies to invest in, she paused.
Her hand trembled slightly.
The dagger that had once killed her lay on the table — a relic she had found in her drawer earlier, though it shouldn't have existed yet.
She traced the blade and smiled faintly.
"You'll serve me this time," she whispered. "Not end me."
Outside, thunder rolled — the first storm of her new life.
And in the lightning's brief flash, her reflection in the window looked almost royal.
The beginning of a legend.