Seraphina POV:

The sharp, agonizing crack of shattering porcelain jerked me awake from the cold fog of rebirth. The copper scent of spilled blood filled my nose, and a strange, ancient power stirred deep within my body.

My eyes snapped open, taking in the grand parlor of the Beaumont Manor. The timeline had reset. I was back.

This was the room where my nightmare had begun. This was also the place where my first life had ended.

My mother's favorite antique vase lay in a thousand pieces at my feet.

Faye Beaumont, my sweet, adopted "sister," was crumpled on the floor, clutching her wrist. A few delicate drops of blood stained the white lace of her dress. Her wide, doe-like eyes filled with tears as she looked at me in supposed terror.

"Seraphina... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break it. I just wanted to help you wipe the dust off your skirt..." she sobbed.

Her voice was just loud enough for every servant in the main hall to hear.

I watched her performance with ice in my veins. In my first life, I was a naive girl who fell for these pathetic little traps, letting my family vilify me until they traded me away to a terrible fate. I trusted the people who should have protected me, believed every lie they told me, and paid for it with my life.

But now, I remembered everything.

Every betrayal. Every humiliation. Every moment when Faye had smiled while pushing me toward destruction.

Yet this time, something was different.

When my life ended, the bloodline that had slept inside me for years was finally awakened. Perhaps death had broken the seal that had suppressed the ancient white wolf blood within me, or perhaps the hatred and regret I carried from my first life had finally called forth the power hidden in my veins.

I didn't know the reason yet.

But I knew one thing.

The girl standing before Faye was no longer the timid Seraphina who would lower her head and accept their cruelty.

"You vicious woman!" a roar came from the doorway.

My second brother, Vincent Beaumont—a brash twenty-two-year-old Alpha warrior whose hot temper always blinded him to the truth—charged into the room like an enraged bull.

He didn't even glance at me. He rushed straight to Faye's side, gently helping her up and inspecting her wrist, his eyes burning with a mixture of pity and fury.

"It's you again! Seraphina! Can't you just leave Faye alone?" Vincent spun around, his amber eyes glaring at me as if I were his sworn enemy.

The surrounding servants lowered their heads, but I could feel their fearful glances and hear their hushed whispers. They were all condemning me without a word.

I didn't panic and try to defend myself like I used to. I just stood there silently, feeling the unfamiliar strength quietly flowing through my body.

My calmness seemed to infuriate him even more. "Are you deaf? Apologize to Faye! On your knees!" he bellowed, spit flying from his mouth.

Behind him, Faye timidly tugged at his sleeve. "Vincent, forget it, it's not her fault. It was my own clumsiness..."

The more she said that, the hotter his anger burned.

Kneel? Me? After everything they had done to me in my previous life, after they had sacrificed me for Faye's happiness and left me to die? Kneel to this manipulative little actress? What a joke.

I finally moved. Not to my knees, but one step forward. I looked directly into Vincent's eyes, a cold, unfamiliar smile playing on my lips.

"You want me to kneel to her?"

My voice was quiet, but it carried a playful, mocking tone that echoed through the silent hall.

Vincent was taken aback by my reaction for a second, then his anger surged again. "What is this attitude! Faye is the treasure of this family. You hurt her, and you should beg for her forgiveness!"

"Oh? The treasure of your family?" I chuckled softly. My eyes swept over the cowering servants, finally landing on Faye's pale face.

"I'd like to ask," I said, enunciating each word clearly, "why should I, Seraphina Beaumont, the true-born daughter whose name is on the family registry, who carries the blood of Alphas, kneel to an adopted girl from who knows where?"

A dead silence fell over the hall. Even Faye's sobbing stopped.

Everyone stared at me in shock, including Vincent. They were used to my weakness and obedience. They had never imagined I would say something so defiant.

"Or has the house of Beaumont changed its rules?" I continued. "A replacement's status is now higher than the true heir's?"

"What... what nonsense are you spouting!" Vincent's face turned a deep shade of red. He seemed to want to argue but couldn't find the words.

Faye's body began to tremble, not from fear, but from the panic of her lies being exposed.

I stared at her coldly, adding more pressure. "You all brought me back after I was switched at birth, not to reunite with your real daughter, but to be a stepping stone and a punching bag for your beloved adopted one, isn't that right?"

The words hit them like a thunderclap. It was a secret everyone in the family knew but never dared to speak aloud.

For the first time, in front of everyone, I ripped that flimsy veil of politeness to shreds.

Vincent's lips quivered as he pointed a finger at me. "You... you're insane!"

"Insane?" I laughed, a bright, brilliant laugh. "No. I've just woken up."

I ignored them and turned my gaze to the broken shards of the vase, specifically to a sharp piece stained with Faye's blood.

"It's just a vase, hardly worth all this drama," I said lightly. "But the acting was decent. Just remember to try something new next time."

I lifted my head, my gaze traveling over a stunned Vincent to land directly on the pale face of Faye behind him.

"Because starting today," my voice was a cold promise, "I'm no longer acting in your old script."

Seraphina POV:

My words hung in the air, seemingly freezing the very atmosphere in the hall. Vincent stared at me, his expression for the first time holding not just disgust, but a strange confusion.

Faye's face was whiter than the walls. She instinctively tried to hide behind Vincent, a subtle movement that didn't escape my notice.

"You think saying that absolves you of responsibility?" Vincent finally spoke, though his voice no longer carried the same conviction as before. "Faye's hand is still bleeding!"

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, my gaze shifting to the hand Faye was clutching tightly. "Then perhaps we should have the family doctor examine it. Such a serious wound... We wouldn't want it to leave a scar and ruin her chances of marrying Gideon Sinclair."

At the mention of Gideon Sinclair's name, Faye's body stiffened. Vincent's expression darkened even further.

I watched their reactions, a cold mockery rising in my heart. Of course I knew. This political marriage had always been arranged for Faye. She had carefully planned everything, all so that I, her "useless" sister, could take her place and die in her stead.

In my previous life, I was deceived by their false promises. Carrying a trace of hope, I entered Gideon's castle, only to be sent back to my family after the failed marriage was exposed.

Everyone in the Beaumont family mocked and despised me, and in the end, I was tortured to death by Vincent's people.Meanwhile, Faye used my "sacrifice" to gain even more sympathy and affection.

"What exactly are you talking about!" Vincent shouted angrily. "The marriage contract with the Regent was Father's decision! It has nothing to do with Faye!"

"Nothing to do with Faye?" I laughed. "Then why was I the one being sent away for such an important alliance instead of our family's 'treasure,' Faye?"

I stepped forward slowly, each step feeling as if it landed directly on Faye's and Vincent's hearts.

"Wasn't it because she cried to you, telling you that the Regent was a cruel monster? Wasn't it because she said she would die if she married him, so you pretended to comfort her and secretly convinced Father to give the engagement to me instead?"

My words were like a sharp blade, precisely cutting through the filthy secret between them. Vincent's expression began to waver. He looked at me in disbelief.

"I didn't!" Faye screamed. Her voice became sharp with panic and fear.

"You didn't?" I stood in front of her, looking down at her. "Then do you dare let me examine your so-called 'injury'?"

"Don't touch her!" Vincent roared.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he lunged toward me, trying to push me away.

The moment his thick arm moved toward me, the power sleeping within my bloodline surged instinctively.

My senses sharpened. I could see the shift of his muscles, the direction of his movement, and the opening created by his anger before he realized it himself.

Vincent was an Alpha warrior, stronger than any ordinary wolf, but strength alone meant nothing when emotion blinded judgment.

I moved with the instinct of the ancient blood flowing through my veins. I pivoted aside, avoided his forceful attack, and used his own momentum against him. Before he could react, I seized the opening and forced his body downward, making him drop to one knee.

"Ah!" Vincent cried out in pain.

The entire hall gasped. No one could believe that the frail me could unleash such astonishing strength and skill, subduing the powerful Vincent in an instant.

Vincent himself was stunned. He struggled, but my grip held firm, supported by the unfamiliar strength coursing through my body. He looked up at me in disbelief, and for the first time, his eyes showed a flicker of fear.

"I said, don't touch me," I said coldly, releasing him and stepping away.

I turned to the petrified Faye and, before she could react, seized her "injured" wrist.

"No! Let go of me!" Faye screamed, struggling.

I ignored her protests, forcefully prying her fingers open. There, on her delicate wrist, was a single, shallow scratch, so faint the blood had already clotted.

"This is your 'bleeding uncontrollably' wound?" I held up her wrist for everyone to see. "You really went all out to frame me."

Her lie exposed in public, the blood drained from Faye's face. She collapsed to the floor, unable to do anything but sob.

The servants' expressions shifted from accusation to shock, then to dawning comprehension, and finally, to contempt. Their eyes, when they looked at Faye, no longer held any sympathy.

Vincent, who had scrambled to his feet, looked at Faye's fake wound, then at my cold face. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He was finally realizing he had been played for a fool.

This is just the beginning, Faye. Everything you put me through in my last life, I will make you pay back a hundred, a thousand times over.

I smoothed my own skirt, as if nothing had happened. "Call the doctor. Not for her, for me."

I looked at Faye and declared, "I need a health certificate, to marry the Regent in perfect condition. After all, this is the wonderful marriage you 'gave' to me. I can't possibly disappoint your 'good intentions'."

Seraphina POV:

In the end, I came to the Regent's castle alone.

No family escort, no blessings, just a plain carriage and a few pathetic boxes for a dowry.

The Beaumont family couldn't wait to get rid of me. The day after I exposed Faye, they shipped me out like I was a plague. They probably thought sending me into the castle of the infamous "Living Devil" was the best punishment for me.

The carriage passed through a gloomy, dark forest before finally stopping in front of a massive, oppressive castle. It was built entirely of black obsidian, its tall spires seeming to pierce the gray sky, exuding an aura that warned all to stay away.

I took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and stepped out of the carriage alone. The cold wind whipped my long hair as I straightened my back. For some reason, the chill felt sharper than it should have, sinking into my bones instead of merely touching my skin.

I ignored the strange discomfort. This was the castle of the man who had been the instrument of my family's betrayal in my last life. And it would be my new beginning in this one.

A middle-aged man in a tailored tailcoat with slicked-back, graying hair stood at the castle entrance. His posture was rigid, exuding the stern decorum of a lifelong royal servant.

This was Alfred Hayes, the head majordomo of the Regent's estate, a man whose loyalty to the crown was absolute and whose patience for useless political collateral was nonexistent. He looked at me as if I were a lifeless object, his eyes filled with scrutiny and disdain.

"You are Seraphina Beaumont?" he asked, his voice as cold as the castle stones.

"I am," I replied calmly.

"I am the majordomo here, Alfred Hayes." He gave a slight nod, a gesture that barely passed for a bow. "His Grace, the Regent, is waiting for you in the study. Follow me."

I followed him into the castle. The massive gates closed slowly behind me with a heavy thud, as if sealing off one world from another.

The interior of the castle was even more oppressive than the outside. The light was dim, and the air was filled with the faint scent of herbs and... blood.

After walking through a long, silent corridor, Alfred stopped before a huge oak door and knocked. "Your Grace, Miss Beaumont has arrived."

"Let her in," a deep, magnetic voice came from within. The sound alone carried an undeniable authority.

I pushed the door open and walked inside. The study was vast, with a fire crackling in the hearth, its light dancing across rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

A tall figure had his back to me, seated in a wheelchair by the window. He wore a black silk shirt, his midnight-black hair glinting in the moonlight.

Even from behind, I could feel an almost suffocating Alpha presence. This was him. The Regent of Silvermoon City, Gideon Sinclair.

"Come here," he ordered without turning around.

I walked toward him.

When the firelight finally revealed his face, I saw him clearly for the first time. He was as handsome as a god, but his cold silver-gray eyes held no emotion, only the desolation of a barren winter.

He studied me carefully, his brows drawing together slightly.

"Something is wrong," he said coldly, his words striking directly at the truth.

My heart skipped a beat.

"The letter from the Beaumont family stated that the woman marrying me would be their most beloved daughter, Faye," he said, slowly turning the black and gold ring on his thumb. His gaze was sharp as a blade. "You are not her."

"I am not," I admitted openly. "I am Seraphina Beaumont. The daughter they never loved."

A mocking curve appeared on Gideon's lips.

"So they used a daughter nobody wanted to deal with me?"

His dominant aura intensified abruptly, and the temperature in the study seemed to drop. I felt my breath catch in my throat. This was an Alpha's absolute suppression over a subordinate.

But I was no ordinary Omega. The ancient white wolf blood awakened within me after my death had changed something fundamental in my body. Even under Gideon's overwhelming Alpha pressure, I could barely remain standing.

"It seems so," I forced myself to say, my voice a bit dry.

"Alfred," Gideon called out coldly. "Throw her out. And tell the Beaumonts I appreciate their gesture. I will pay them a visit tomorrow to discuss this 'surprise' personally."

The majordomo, Alfred, appeared silently behind me, ready to carry out the order.

Just as he was about to grab my arm, my eyes fell on the blanket covering Gideon's legs. The faint herbal scent in the air was coming from there.

In my last life, I never had the chance to truly understand the truth behind Gideon's condition. I only saw fragments—the medicine, the pain, and the way everyone around him carefully hid his weakness.

I died before I could uncover the secret.

But now, with the memories of my previous life and the awakening of my ancient white wolf bloodline, I could finally understand what I had once overlooked.

That scent... it was a symptom of silver poisoning.

"Wait!" I blurted out.

"Before you throw me out, wouldn't you like to know if I can cure your legs, Your Grace?"