The CEO's Wild Reborn Wife

Emma Johnson's POV

The moment I learned Louis Campbell was dead, I finally understood how much he had loved me.

"Emma, you have no idea, do you?" Emily Johnson crouched down, dragging one sharp fingernail across my face, her lips curling with satisfaction. "Right before he died, Louis was still begging us to spare you."

She leaned closer, her voice dripping with venom. "He signed over everything—his entire fortune—just so we'd let you live. Pathetic, wasn't it?"

Alex Cooper pulled her against him, both of them towering over me like predators savoring their kill. "You didn't actually think I loved you, did you?" His laugh was cold and sharp. "I only pretended to care so you'd help me drain more money out of Louis. You were just a means to an end."

Every word was a blade, carving deeper into my chest until I couldn't breathe from the pain.

I lay sprawled on the concrete floor, wrists and ankles shackled in iron chains. Days without water had left me so weak I could barely curse them. All I could manage was a broken whisper through cracked lips, "I don't believe you... He's not dead..."

Louis Campbell—untouchable, fearless, the man who made corporate empires tremble—dead?

No. It couldn't be true.

I broke down completely, sobs wracking my dehydrated body until the world started spinning.

This was my fault. I had destroyed his love. I had pushed him toward death with my own hands.

A week ago, I'd run from Louis again, chasing what I thought was true love.

Instead, I came home to find Alex and Emily naked in our bed.

I'd screamed. I'd raged. And Alex, terrified I'd expose them, had dragged me down to this basement with Emily's help. For days, they'd tortured me for sport.

When Emily tossed the knife at my feet, still sticky with blood, she smiled like she'd won a game.

"This is what he used to kill himself," she said, watching my face. "We told him that if he died, we'd let you go. And he actually did it. Didn't even hesitate before driving it into his own chest."

The image of Louis stabbing himself to save me shattered something fundamental inside me.

I lunged for the knife with the last shred of strength I had left, ready to drag these monsters to hell with me.

But the chains held me back.

Alex wrenched the blade from my grip and plunged it into my stomach.

The pain was instant and overwhelming. I crumpled to the ground as warm blood spilled between my fingers, taking what little life I had left with it.

Through the haze of blood and tears, I saw their faces shift from triumph to panic.

"Alex, did we just—did we kill her?" Emily's voice shook, all her earlier confidence gone.

The man I'd loved enough to betray the world for glanced at me with pure disgust. "Don't worry about it. We'll dump her somewhere. She's got no one left who cares about her anyway. No one will even notice she's gone."

I tried to speak, but only a wet gurgle escaped my throat.

No one.

He was right. I was alone. I'd driven everyone away.

I'd believed their lies—that Louis was a monster who'd forced me into marriage to steal my family's company. That he'd imprisoned me, controlled me, hurt me out of some sick obsession.

So I'd fought him at every turn, making us both miserable.

All while dreaming of the day I could escape and run away with Alex.

But now I understood the truth, Louis had walked into Alex's trap to save me. He'd given his life for mine.

Alex and Emily fled, leaving me alone in that freezing basement to die.

As my consciousness faded and my body went numb, I saw Louis's face one last time—those eyes that had looked at me with such devotion, the safe harbor I'd been too blind to recognize.

Regret burned hotter than the pain as darkness swallowed me whole.

"Emma! How dare you threaten me with suicide!"

The furious shout yanked me back to consciousness.

My eyes flew open to find myself staring up at the opulent ceiling of the Campbell family estate, the crystal chandelier overhead glittering so brightly it felt unreal.

Then my gaze dropped to the man standing over me.

He wore an immaculate black suit, his tall frame rigid with anger. His devastatingly handsome features were twisted in rage, and those deep-set eyes—usually so controlled—blazed with fury and disappointment.

Louis. He was alive.

Joy exploded in my chest, but before I could speak, his hand shot out and wrapped around my throat.

"If you want to die so badly," he snarled, his eyes bloodshot, "then I'll grant your wish."

His grip tightened until I couldn't breathe. Something about this moment felt achingly familiar.

Then I saw it—the fruit knife lying on the floor nearby.

Everything clicked into place.

I'd been reborn.

Sent back exactly one year, to the day of our engagement party.

In my previous life, I'd tried to escape my arranged marriage to Louis so I could run away with Alex. In front of all our guests, I'd grabbed a knife and threatened to kill myself, humiliating Louis in front of the entire business world.

Enraged and heartbroken, he'd dragged me back to this room and—

I looked up at him now, at the devastating mix of anger and pain in his eyes, and felt no fear. Only overwhelming grief for what I'd put him through.

How furious he must have been. How utterly betrayed.

The woman he'd cherished had held a knife to her own throat for another man.

'I'm sorry... Louis, I'm so sorry.'

I wanted to apologize, to tell him I understood now, that I'd never hurt him again.

But his hand around my throat made speech impossible. All I could do was shake my head desperately as tears streamed down my face.

Something in my expression made him falter. His grip loosened, then released entirely.

I gasped for air, my lungs burning.

"Fine." Louis turned away, his voice hollow with defeat. "If you're that desperate to avoid marrying me, then—"

"I want to marry you!"

I threw my arms around him from behind before he could finish that sentence.

He went completely still. I felt his shoulders tremble slightly beneath my touch.

I knew that reaction. He was softening already.

No matter how much I'd hurt him, no matter how cold and brutal he acted, Louis always forgave me in the end.

He had in my past life. He would in this one too.

The overwhelming relief of having him back—alive, whole, real—shattered what little composure I had left.

I burst into tears, clinging to him like he might disappear.

"Louis, I missed you so much. Please don't leave me..."