Chapter 3

"Rowena, could you put the phone down for even five minutes? It's our fifth anniversary."

I drew in a sharp, ragged breath, my entire body violently convulsing as the wine glass slipped from my hand, slamming onto the table with a loud clack.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling alright?" Alaric asked immediately, his voice thick with concern.

I was gasping for air, both hands flying up to frantically clutch at my own throat.

I rushed to the mirror to examine my neck. No wound. No blood.

I looked up, scanning the room in sheer terror.

Everything was exactly as it had been just moments ago.

Was it all just a nightmare?

I snatched my phone off the table. 

The time read: 10:30 PM.

And then, the exact same post popped up.

I had reset! Sent back in time thirty minutes before I was murdered!

How was that even possible?

Yet the phantom pain of my throat being slashed open remained unmistakably sharp, and that overwhelming, rancid stench of blood still lingered in my nostrils.

It wasn't a dream. I really had died.

"Rowena?" A flicker of deep worry crossed Alaric's eyes. "What on earth is going on with you?"

"I... I'm just a little dizzy," I stuttered, forcing myself to calm down.

If time had reset, that meant I still had a chance.

Last time, I hid in the bathroom and still ended up slaughtered by the killer. 

This time, there was no way I was staying in this house.

"I need some fresh air." I stood up and, ignoring Alaric's attempts to stop me, headed straight for the villa's front doors.

The time read: 10:32 PM.

I speed-walked toward the exit, dialing Thorne as I went.

"Thorne, listen to me. Initiate the highest-level defense protocol immediately!"

"Cut the villa's external network and transfer all security camera privileges to my private terminal! Then grab everyone, gear up, and get up this mountain to extract me!"

"Boss? What's going on?"

"Execute the order!" I roared.

By the time I hung up, I had already reached the entryway.

I punched in the top-tier override code, and the heavy bulletproof glass doors slowly parted.

Outside, the mountain wind howled through an abyssal, pitch-black night.

As long as I got out of this house, into my car, and regrouped with my security team, whoever was lurking in the shadows wouldn't be able to touch me.

I marched briskly toward the Maybach parked in the driveway.

"Rowena! Where are you going?" Alaric had followed me to the door. He moved slowly, the bulky brace on his back throwing off his coordination and making his steps clumsy. "It's freezing outside!"

"Don't come any closer!" I snapped back at him. I yanked the car door open, slipped inside, and immediately hit the locks.

Sitting in the driver's seat, I gasped heavily for air.

The bulletproof glass completely sealed off the outside noise. The cabin was so suffocatingly quiet that I could only hear the thumping of my own racing heart.

I opened my phone. The Reddit link was still there.

I tapped on it, and the post refreshed.

Tonight at 11:00 PM, Aetheria Tech CEO Rowena will have her throat slit.

The photo had changed.

It was no longer the dining room or the bathroom. Instead, it was an image of the Maybach’s front cabin—shot from the back seat.

In the picture, I was staring into the rearview mirror in absolute horror.

My heart nearly seized.

Slowly, draining every ounce of courage, I tilted my head up and looked into the rearview mirror. 

The back seat was completely empty.

"Phew..." I let out a long, shuddering exhale.

It seemed this morbid prediction wasn't foolproof after all.

The time read: 10:50 PM.

Ten more minutes, and Thorne's team would be here.

Right at that moment, the car's climate control system suddenly let out an eerie hiss.

An incredibly pungent, sickeningly familiar scent of rot and metallic blood instantly flooded the entire cabin.

My whole body went rigid.

I violently whipped my head around.

A dark figure launched itself from the cramped footwell of the passenger seat!

Bang! I drew the self-defense pistol from the door compartment and pulled the trigger without a second's hesitation.

But the cabin was too confined, and the monster moved impossibly fast.

The bullet only shattered the car window, while that blood-soaked military hunting knife plunged brutally into my carotid artery.

Once again, at 11:00 PM on the dot, I was murdered.