"Ma'am, Old Mrs. Henson has arrived."

The butler's voice came from the doorway at just the right moment.

"Show her in, quickly!"

Matriarch Farley looked visibly relieved.

The first thing my grandmother did when she walked in was smack me on the back of the head, followed by a swift kick to my shin.

"You ungrateful brat!"

"The Farley family honored you by accepting this marriage, and this is how you repay them? You vanished on your wedding night, and now you have the nerve to bring up divorce? You've dragged the entire Henson name through the mud!"

After she finished tearing into me, she turned to Matriarch Farley.

"Matriarch Farley, this is my failure. I didn't raise my granddaughter properly. She doesn't know her place, and she's caused you and Sylvester terrible trouble."

"I'm old now, and I clearly can't keep her in line anymore. So I'd like to hand over controlling interest in several of Henson Corp's core investment projects to you, as our family's way of making amends. From this point on, whether this brat lives or dies is no longer my concern!"

As she spoke, she pulled several thick folders from her handbag.

They were equity transfer agreements for some of Henson Corp's most profitable and strategically vital commercial ventures.

Matriarch Farley's expression shifted. She stood up immediately.

"Mrs. Henson, what are you doing? Please, sit down. This is a matter between the children. There's no need to go this far..."

"When a granddaughter makes a mess, the grandmother cleans it up."

My grandmother's tone was iron. She pushed the documents forward.

"Please accept these, Matriarch Farley. Consider it a way to let both our family and yours save face."

The conservatory fell silent again.

I clutched my shin, wincing, but didn't dare make a sound.

I knew my grandmother's temperament. She understood the way the world worked better than anyone. If she was doing this, she had her reasons.

After a long pause, Matriarch Farley finally sighed.

She helped my grandmother into a seat, and with a subtle gesture, signaled her secretary to collect the documents.

"Mrs. Henson, you're being far too generous. I've never blamed Rose."

Matriarch Farley turned to me, her gaze unreadable.

"Rose, remember this. Sylvester is your husband now. Don't bring up divorce again."

"...Understood." I forced the word through clenched teeth.

Matriarch Farley looked at Sylvester last, her tone softening slightly.

"Sylvester, you've had quite a scare today. Stay here at the estate and rest. Tomorrow, Rose will come to take you home."

Sylvester's grip on the pistol loosened. His eyes flicked to me, then to the two elders, and slowly, he set the gun down.

It hit the Persian rug with a soft click.

He lowered his head, his voice hoarse. "Alright."

A bodyguard stepped forward immediately to retrieve the weapon, and the butler hurried over to steady him.

As he turned to leave, his gaze lingered on me for a beat.

I looked away.

My grandmother glared at me, ice in her eyes.

"What are you standing there for? Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Come on. We're going home."

The moment we settled into the car, every trace of anger vanished from my grandmother's face.

She frowned and looked me over.

"Did I actually hurt you? Let me see. If your grandfather notices when we get back, he'll never let me hear the end of it."

My grandparents were devoted to each other in a way that bordered on ridiculous.

And everyone knew that Grandpa's greatest soft spot was me.

I hissed through my teeth. "Yes, it hurts! Did you have to kick that hard?"

"Hard?"

The old woman shot me a look.

"If you weren't the only heir I've got worth grooming, I would've broken your leg today."

She smacked me on the back for good measure.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused in there?"

I kept my mouth shut. I knew exactly how much.

A marriage between powerful families was a delicate thing. Filing for divorce days after the wedding was the same as slapping the Farley family across the face in broad daylight.

If I'd been anyone else, I probably would have "gone missing" by now.

Seeing my expression, the old woman didn't press further. She just sighed.

"Rose, don't let the way things look fool you. Our family seems powerful, sure. But do you know how many eyes are on us? I've built something enormous. All those resources, all those channels I control. To everyone else, it's like a slab of prime rib dangling over their heads."

"I'm getting old. The plan was for me to step back gradually and let you take over at your own pace, so no one would feel too threatened. But the problem is, you turned out to be too capable. Even more ruthless than I was at your age. Tell me, how is anyone supposed to sleep soundly knowing that?"

It clicked.

What Grandma meant was that the Henson family had grown too powerful. People were wary of us.

Especially a partner on the level of the Farley family. They wanted to keep us close, but they also needed to keep us in check.

Pushing Sylvester on me had been Matriarch Farley's opening move, a test.

Now that I wanted a divorce, she'd be calculating. Was the Henson family shifting its loyalties? Did we no longer want to be bound together?

Of course, marrying me off to Sylvester had only ever been a temporary arrangement. Matriarch Farley undoubtedly had a longer game in mind. One day, she probably intended to swallow the Henson family whole.

But my little scene had given Grandma the perfect excuse to surrender a few key projects. A show of weakness. It should lower the Farleys' guard, at least for now.

Grandma fixed me with a look, her expression suddenly grave.

"Rose, things have reached a point where there are certain matters you need to know. But before that, let me ask you one thing. That Farley boy. Are you truly done with him?"

She knew I'd been in love with Sylvester once.

I didn't hesitate. "Completely. Not a shred left."

"Good."

She nodded and pulled another document from her bag.

"Rose, do you know why I've always insisted you keep a low profile all these years?"

I shook my head.

"Because your grandmother has been playing a very long game."

She opened the document. Inside were page after page of equity certificates.

"Over the years, I've been quietly acquiring hidden stakes in over a dozen major firms across Graystone. Including fifteen percent of Farley Group."

The air left my lungs.

"Grandma, you mean..."

"Exactly."

Her gaze was razor-sharp.

"Matriarch Farley thinks she's been outmaneuvering us. The truth is, I started positioning years ago. Those projects I just gave up? Smoke and mirrors. The real hand we're holding is right here."

She tapped the document.

"Rose, I'm old. This game is yours to finish now."

I started thinking about how to handle Sylvester.

But the first thing that arrived wasn't him. It was news about Lucy Stephens.

The very first day after my rebirth, I'd sent Brett to track her down. The debts from my past life weren't something I could let slide.

That woman moved fast, though. She'd already reconnected with old enemies, and paparazzi had caught her draped across the lap of some trust-fund heir from Hartford, dressed in next to nothing.

Honestly, I almost admired her nerve.

That particular young man was infamous for his creative cruelty, volatile and unpredictable.

But Lucy Stephens would do whatever it took to climb. No line she wouldn't cross.

The next morning, I'd just finished a run in my private gym when Brett appeared in the doorway.

"Miss Henson, Mr. Farley is here. He's waiting in the reception room."

I grabbed a towel and blotted the sweat from my neck. My eyes cooled.

That was fast.

Sylvester stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, wearing a simple white shirt tucked into black trousers. Gone was the cutting edge he usually carried. In its place was something softer, almost gentlemanly.

The moment he heard footsteps, he turned. His fingers curled at his sides, an unconscious tell.

No trace of yesterday's man who'd pressed a gun to his own temple. Right now, he looked almost... cautious.

He said my name. His voice was still raw.

I dropped into a single-seat armchair and crossed my legs.

"What else could you possibly want, Mr. Farley? Yesterday's performance wasn't enough?"

He swallowed hard. "That's not why I'm here. I came because there are things I need to tell you."

I shot him an impatient glance.

Sylvester looked like a man steeling himself for something enormous.

"Rose, you... you're reborn too, aren't you?"

My hand froze mid-pour. I looked up at him.

It made sense, though. From the moment I'd bolted on our wedding night, my behavior had been nothing like my previous life. It wasn't surprising he'd figured it out.

"So what if I am?"

I set the glass on the table. It landed with a deliberate clink.

"What are you trying to say?"

Sylvester walked over and settled onto the sofa across from me. He continued without waiting for an invitation.

"Matriarch Farley never truly trusted the Henson family."

"You were too young and too capable. The resources and connections your family controlled made her uneasy. She was afraid that one day you'd slip beyond her control, maybe even turn around and threaten the Farleys. So from the very beginning, I was the bait she dangled."

He pulled a pocket watch from his jacket. It was old, silver, simple in design, its surface etched with fine scratches.

"This belonged to my birth mother. She was an ordinary woman, a secretary for Matriarch Farley. She was eventually moved to a care facility on the outskirts of the city. The official story was that she'd passed away from illness."

"Matriarch Farley holds her over my head. If I don't do exactly as she says, my mother has an 'accident.'"

"She arranged our marriage as a trap."

"Lucy Stephens was part of the plan too. Matriarch Farley knew Lucy was ambitious. She deliberately gave her access to sensitive information, nudged her along behind the scenes. Lucy was meant to be a pawn, a check against you and the Hensons."

"She had me act like I still carried a torch for Lucy. That was calculated too. She wanted to provoke you into making mistakes."

"Her original plan was to wait until jealousy or something else pushed you into acting irrationally, or until the Henson family showed any sign of stepping out of line. Then she'd have justification to rally the other families and carve up everything the Hensons owned."

"But she didn't anticipate that Lucy's appetite was far bigger than she'd estimated, and completely beyond her control. You saw how that ended."

I sank back into the sofa. The glass nearly slipped from my fingers.

My mind went blank.

Scenes from my previous life played back one by one.

He didn't choose not to love me. Matriarch Farley had been holding his mother's life over his head the entire time?

Matriarch Farley was the one pulling the strings all along. And our family, and me... in my last life, I'd thrown everything away, my very life, all because of her scheme?

I thought back to what Grandma had told me in the car yesterday.

"Grandma, are you serious? You want to strike out on your own, but you're handing over the most profitable projects?"

The old woman had laughed.

"Those projects? They're the meat hanging in the shop window. They're there so people feel comfortable. You think I'd put the real lifeline of this family on display for everyone to see?"

"And do you honestly think what's on the books is all I have?"

Every old-money dynasty had power hidden in the shadows, and the Hensons were no exception.

The investment network and concealed business empire Grandma had built in private dwarfed anything on the public ledger. If she wanted to, she could assemble a coalition powerful enough to make anyone think twice.

All this time, my own grandmother had been the biggest hidden player on the board.

But one thing still didn't add up. In my previous life, the Henson family had burned through everything to prop up the Farleys, and Grandma had never once deployed these resources.

It only took a moment's thought to understand why.

She loved me. I was her only granddaughter.

In my last life, I'd been willing to die for Sylvester Farley. I'd thrown myself into propping up the Farley family with everything I had, and so she'd quietly shelved her plans to build something of her own.

The realization sat heavy in my chest.

"Grandma..."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, are your eyes getting red? Pull yourself together!"

She swatted away the arm I'd tried to wrap around her.

"One question. Are you in, or are you out?"

"I'm in."

I snapped back to the present, looking at the man sitting across from me, every word he'd spoken dripping with sincerity.

His eyes were rimmed red, and he looked utterly wounded.

In my past life, I would have caved immediately, thrown my arms around him, and told him it was okay, that we'd face it together.

But this time around...

I smiled.