Isabela POV:

I pushed open my bedroom door. The hallway was dim, lined with portraits of the Carter family patriarchs. Their painted eyes seemed to follow me, hollow and mocking.

Every step on the plush carpet felt like sinking into a grave. I had walked this path once before, and it had led me to hell. This time, it would be their road to ruin.

My eyes caught on a large oil painting of a winter hunt.

The image snagged me, pulling me back into the icy grip of my last moments.

It was a winter just as cold. They had sent me to "negotiate" with the northern rogues. A negotiation that was nothing more than a trap, with me as the bait. A disposable piece.

I remembered the mission failing. I remembered reaching out through the mind-link, screaming for help.

The only response was a wall of crushing silence.

They had severed the link.

The cold of being abandoned by my entire world was sharper than any blizzard. I was alone, facing dozens of hungry, frenzied rogues.

Their panting breath fogged the air. The sound of their saliva dripping onto the snow. Their yellow eyes, burning with a hunger for blood. It was my forever nightmare.

I shifted, fighting with the desperation of a cornered animal. But I was an Omega. My strength was nothing against theirs.

The first wolf's teeth sank into my left arm. The agony of fang piercing flesh and tearing through muscle ripped a scream from my throat. Then the second came, and the third...

My body was torn to pieces, but the deepest wound was the brand of betrayal seared onto my soul. As I died, my only thought was, Why?

I gave them everything. Why was this my reward?

"Isabela?"

A voice snapped me back to the present. A house servant was looking at me, her expression worried. She had seen my pale face, my vacant stare fixed on the painting.

I quickly composed myself, forcing a thin smile. "It's nothing. I just didn't sleep well."

The pity in her eyes was like a needle against my skin. To everyone in this house, I was just the poor, neglected girl, the bastard daughter who could be sacrificed at any time.

I didn't linger. I continued toward the study. The memory hadn't made me weak. It had forged my resolve into steel.

The heavy oak door of the study was just ahead, a sliver of oppressive light showing from beneath it. My tribunal was waiting.

I stopped at the door, adjusting the collar of my dress, making sure I looked impeccable. I was not here to be judged. I was here to declare war.

My hand rested on the cold, brass doorknob. The fear of my past life battled with the hatred of my new one.

Hatred won.

I didn't knock. I pushed the door open and walked in.

That small act of defiance was enough to startle them.

Alex sat in the master chair. Eleanor and Georgia were on the sofa to his side. My brother, Benton and Brad, stood nearby. Every pair of eyes in the room snapped to me.

Their gazes were a mixture of appraisal, impatience, and in Georgia's case, poorly hidden glee.

I didn't offer the usual timid greeting. I calmly swept my gaze over all of them and asked flatly, "You wanted to see me?"

My tone clearly irritated Alex. His brow furrowed. "Is that how you address your elders?" he growled.

Elders? I thought with a silent, cold laugh. A pack of executioners who sent me to my death hardly deserved the title.

Eleanor, ever the peacemaker, quickly intervened. "Alex, don't be upset. Isabela is just recovering from last night."

She turned to me, her face a mask of loving concern. "Isabela, sit down. We've called you here to discuss a matter of great importance to our family."

Discuss. The word was a bitter irony on her tongue. They had used the same word in my last life before announcing my sentence without any room for argument.

I ignored the small, isolated stool they always had me sit on. Instead, I pulled a lone armchair from against the wall and positioned it directly across from Alex, meeting his gaze at eye level.

The atmosphere in the room grew thick with tension. They could all see it. This was not the same Isabela they could push around.

Georgia couldn't hold her tongue. "You seem different today, Isabela," she said, a sour note in her voice.

I turned my calm, placid eyes to her. "Do I? Perhaps it's because I'm finally wide awake."

Isabela POV:

Eleanor cleared her throat, beginning her performance. "Isabela, as you know, Georgia has just refused the match with the Beaumont family. We all understand her position. Tristan's reputation is... difficult."

She paused, looking at me with an expression of profound expectation. "However, the alliance with the Beaumonts is crucial for the Carter family, especially with the council seat elections approaching."

Her tone hardened. "As a member of the Carter family, everyone has an obligation to contribute."

There it was. I listened silently, my heart as still as a frozen lake. The words were identical to the ones I'd heard in my past life.

Alex lost his patience with Eleanor's theatrics. He looked directly at me and issued his command. "Isabela, the family has decided. You will marry Tristan Beaumont in Georgia's place."

His words fell into a dead silence.

Everyone stared at me, waiting. They expected shock, fear, and then, a forced, tearful acceptance.

Georgia even had the gall to chime in with false sympathy. "Isabela, I know this is asking a lot, but for the family..."

I smiled.

It wasn't a cold sneer or a bitter grimace. It was a genuine, almost joyful smile.

My reaction stunned them into silence. They had prepared for tears, for begging, for anything but this.

My brother, Brad Carter, frowned in confusion. He probably thought I'd finally lost my mind.

Into their bewildered silence, I spoke one, clear, calm word.

"No."

The word was a bomb.

Alex's face turned a blotchy, furious red. Eleanor's practiced smile froze on her lips.

"What did you say?" Alex slammed his hand on the desk and shot to his feet. His Alpha's authority washed over me, a wave of pressure meant to force submission.

In my past life, I would have trembled. But a person who has already died has nothing left to fear from a bully's anger. I sat perfectly still, finding the display almost laughable.

I met his furious gaze and repeated, word for word, "I said, no. I refuse to marry Tristan Beaumont."

Eleanor finally found her voice, her tone sharp and incredulous. "Isabela, are you insane? Do you have any idea what you're saying? This is for the family!"

"For the family?" I finally let my smile fade, my eyes turning to ice. "For the family, I should be sacrificed to secure Georgia's happiness and your political ambitions?"

I turned my gaze to Georgia, who flinched as if struck. "If this alliance is so important, why must an Omega be the one sacrificed? Georgia is a Carter. She has the same obligation, does she not?"

Georgia immediately sputtered, "I... I can't marry him! He'll kill me!"

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "He'll kill you, but he won't kill me? Or is it that in your eyes, my life is simply worth less than yours?"

The question was so direct, so sharp, it silenced the entire room. Because deep down, they all knew the answer was yes.

My other brother, Benton, tried to use his business logic on me. "Isabela, don't be so emotional. This is a transaction. Georgia provides more value to the family than you do."

"Finally, the truth," I nodded. "So this isn't about family obligation at all. It's a business deal. And I refuse to be the asset you trade away."

I stood up, looking around at my stunned "family." I offered my own suggestion. "Since this marriage is so important, I suggest it should be carried out by the originally chosen person. If someone else is chosen, what if the other party is not satisfied?"

Georgia's face went white. She stared at me as if I were a demon.

"Of course," I added slowly, "if she's truly that frightened, you can provide her with the best bodyguards. Give her the most lavish dowry to appease the Beaumonts. Surely that's a better deal than sacrificing a 'less valuable' asset like me, isn't it?"

I used their own cold logic against them, and they had no answer.

"I'm done here," I said, turning toward the door. "My fate is my own to decide. From this day forward, don't ever think you can control me again."

I pulled the door open and walked out, leaving them in a state of shocked, furious disbelief.

Behind me, I heard Alex's enraged roar and Georgia's panicked sobs.

But it had nothing to do with me anymore. Walking down the hall, even the air felt fresher. It was the first time in two lifetimes I had ever felt so free.