ADELINE'S POV

"He looks at you like he simply wants to eat you up." Bella playfully covered her lips with her gloves and cackled like a witch.

I pursed my lips together, tightening my arm around Conrad. Emphasizing my mark.

"The next step is kids? Right?"

I clicked my wine glass against hers.

"Yeah. Conrad and I... We've decided that we will try for kids."

He took my hand, kissing my cheek lightly.

I struggled to hide the way it made me feel.

"Yes, maybe... who knows, we could be lucky on the next… swimmer release."

The idea warmed me as he said so.

This was the life, standing in this extravagant hall full of people who actually recognized and loved the things our foundation did for the world.

And with the man that I loved, holding my arm and sheepishly talking about the thought of growing our family.

Within minutes, more people had gathered around us. We were celebrating the foundation's official opening. The test run had been good but this...

even better.

"It's amazing, really. What your husband does for those people."

I smiled, squeezing his hand as he waved to his PA, Davon.

"Babe..." He leaned into my ear. "Attend to the guests, I'll be right back."

I nodded, taking his forehead kiss like the princess he had made me.

"Aww, you both are so sweet it hurts."

"Shh, Daila. You'll find yours when the time is right."

"I'm heading on thirty and it isn't yet?"

I refilled her glass.

"Baby steps Daila. Baby steps."

Before the drink tipped into her cup, a toddler in blue ran past us in a blur.

"Fara," I handed the bottle and glass to Dalia, and then chased after the caramel-skinned ball of energy.

She was looking for her favourite uncle. Of course, Conrad had promised her a bag of Skittles earlier and the girl was eagerly looking forward to the promise being maintained.

"Uncle!" She ran all the way to the terrace.

Due to the speed at which I was trotting like a horse, my heel snapped and I hissed. I leaned against the wall, away from the crowd's sight and took off the shoe.

Tch.

It had cost a fortune.

"Uncle Conrad."

I heard Fara say.

I giggled at her enthusiasm and decided to 'cutely eavesdrop.'

Normally I expected Conrad to magically, resourcefully pull out a mini packet of Skittles from his pocket or something, and then hand it over to her.

But something was off.

Conrad's expression was tight. He was obviously frustrated about something. And so was Devon.

He swatted Fara aside.

She almost fell down if not for Devon who steadied her by the arm and tucked a lollipop into her hand to contain her pout.

I gasped.

I had never seen Conrad act like that.

Even at his angriest. Something was definitely up.

Fara went to the far corner and sat on the ground, licking at her lollipop with a sad expression on her face. I wanted to step out of my crouching point and ask what the matter was. But I decided to stay and listen instead.

"So what do we do?" Devon murmured, running his hands tiredly through his hair.

"What we've always done. Put on a show, hire people. Show the cops that all they are sniffing at is grass."

"Mr Morelli then? What do we tell him? Do we return his investments? Try to talk things out?"

Mr Morelli.

One of Conrad's top investors. He donated heavy charity lumps into the foundation. Return his investments? What were they talking about?

"No. We won't do that." Conrad pressed the bridge of his nose. "If we do that, then we will definitely seem guilty. All we have to do is get that little fag, Isaac, to spin him..." He looked around and I crouched lower. "A different narrative."

Fag? Who was he referring to?

Conrad never used offensive slurs on anyone.

"What narrative should I spin?" Devon whispered harshly. "I'm your assistant, not a magician. Do you think Mr Morelli is stupid? If we don't give him something airtight, he'll definitely smell a rat."

"Then disinfect the rat goddamnit! I can't be doing all the thinking here."

Conrad never cursed.

What was happening today?

"Fine. Let's... um, I'll tell him that the boy was in love with you and tried to harass you or something, and when you didn't reciprocate. He acted out."

Conrad snapped his fingers in the air.

"Perfect." He reached for Devon's hair. "See? I don't pay you thousands of bucks for nothing."

I wanted to move. To let them know that I had been listening, but Devon's next sentence halted me.

"I'm afraid of anyone finding out that we run a fake foundation."

My blood ran cold and my brain tweaked off for a second.

Was it hearing failure? Or... or had I just heard what I thought I heard?

"Yeah." Conrad chuckled. "Mal would nag me if anyone found out. She already thinks parading our daughter around as my niece is reckless enough."

Wait.

Did he just say... 'our' daughter? As in he and whoever the hell Mal was.

"Yeah. Your wife is one... intense female."

Conrad laughed heartily.

"She is. A pity Fara doesn't take after her."

"I think Fara is just—"

"Your wife?."

I hadn't even realized when I had stepped out from behind the wall.

Conrad and Devon froze, their faces going instantly pale.

"A-Adeline..."

"Fara is your daughter? You're married, Conrad? Mal? Who is Mal?"

Conrad blinked, his lips parting like he was searching for the right lie, the right tone, the right excuse that would make it all dissolve into thin air.

"Adeline, listen—"

"No. You listen!" My voice echoed off the marble, and Fara startled from her corner, her lollipop clattering to the floor. "You—" I pointed at him. "You are running a fake foundation?!"

"Adeline, please," Devon tried to interject, but my glare halted him.

"Don't you dare," I snapped. "Not a single word from you."

Conrad reached out.

"It isn’t what you think."

"It never is, is it?" I stepped back, pressing my palm to my stomach because I could feel it twisting and tightening like a knot. "Go ahead, Conrad. Tell me how exactly this isn’t what it looks like."

He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Adeline. Keep your voice down. We are not doing this here."

"Here?" I gestured around wildly. "At your grand event for your fake foundation? Oh no, Conrad, I think here is exactly where we should do this."

Devon shot him a nervous glance, whispering, "Sir, the guests are starting to look this way"

"Let them look”

Before I could complete my sentence, Conrad shoved at my chest and sent me tumbling over the terrace.

ADELINE'S POV

My back hit the earth with a sickening thud.

The shock was instant. My spine screamed as if it had been split in two, and the ache spread like wildfire through every nerve of mine. The ground was wet, rainwater soaked through the satin of my gown, turning the fabric cold. My head struck something hard, and a warm trickle began to slide down the side of my face.

Blood. I could smell it before I felt it.

I looked up.

The terrace lights seemed distorted by the water in my eyes. I looked up again, and again. Each time, the world spun a little more out of focus.

Devon’s face appeared first in my barely zoned vision. Behind him, Conrad stood still and signaled him.

Devon turned, rushing back inside. I realized that they were trying to keep anyone from seeing me.

I tried to move but the pain slammed me back down.

My voice came out a rasp. “Conrad…”

For a moment, he only stared at me, panting like a chased deer until he finally came down.

Relief spurred in my chest. He would help me. He would carry me to the car and call for an ambulance.

He crouched beside me, hands trembling as he lifted my head. The movement made me cry out. More blood spilled through my hair, sticking to his sleeve.

“Does it hurt?”

Tears burned my eyes. I tried to nod, but even that felt impossible. My fingers clawed at the grass, reaching for him. “Please… help…”

He studied me for a long, unbearable moment. Then he exhaled, as if arriving at a decision.

“Maybe this is for the best.”

I blinked hard, certain I had misheard him. “W what?”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a white napkin, the kind they had used at the gala.

He unfolded it carefully, like it was a fragile piece of paper.

“C Conrad…”

He pressed it over my mouth and nose.

I struggled instantly, my arms flailing, fingers clawing at his wrist. I tried to scream, but the sound was muffled against the cloth.

“Do not,” Conrad hissed through clenched teeth, “make this harder than it already is.”

My vision blurred, my lungs burned for air.

I kicked weakly, but my strength was gone. The last thing I saw was Conrad’s face, bleak and expressionless, focused, like he was finishing a task he had planned all along.

I thought he had shoved me by accident.

"I'm sorry Adeline." He placed a kiss atop my forehead. "I just cannot have you ruining what I have worked so hard for."

Conrad.

That was the last name my brain registered.

I have thought about death. Many times, but never like this.

[FIFTEEN HOURS LATER • ST. MIKHAIL'S HOSPITAL]

×××

I was gone. I was sure of it.

But all of a sudden, I had started to feel.

Cold steel was what I felt first, then the scent of antiseptics and embalming powder. My eyes snapped open and I sat up, feeling around my chest and skull at the same time.

I felt no pain, the back of my head was all stitched up and I felt no pain whatsoever there.

I also had a heartbeat.

A heartbeat.

H how... how is this possible?.

I looked down at myself. I was naked, with only a sheen hospital blanket, a corpse's thin covering, and I quickly hopped off the steel table and wrapped the material around myself.

My eyes adjusted to my dim surroundings and my heart tanked. Okay, this was definitely a mortuary. And there were other bodies here, to my left. Ugh, I quickly averted my gaze feeling extremely creeped out.

"What morgue is this?"

I looked around, dragging my wobbly feet toward the door.

St. Mikhail's General Hospital

The sign above the door was clear.

"Mikhail" The name sounded familiar but my brain was lagging behind by a lot. "Mikhail... Mik— Mikhail Leonidovich."

This was Mikhail's hospital.

My hand immediately shot out for the door handle, pulling on it harshly. But of course it was locked from the outside.

"Hello?" I pounded on the door with my fist. "Anybody out there? Nurse? Doctor? Cleaners?"

There was no response but I had started to hear muffled voices. "Hello!!!"

"My goodness, who is that?"

"Marta, do—"

Two nurses. Thank the good lord.

"Hi... the door is locked. I cannot get out."

"Are you a nurse that got stuck in there or something?"

I could not find the right words to phrase my rebirth-ish situation so I decided to flow with the lie instead.

"Yeah, yeah. Um... yeah, I came to get... morgue stuff and I got a call and I stepped away from the door and got locked in here."

"Which nurse are you? Your name and your discipline." the other voice questioned and I bit my lip.

"Nurse... dingle, orthopedics."

"The only nurse in orthopedics whose name starts with D is Daisy. And I am Daisy."

Fuck.

"Okay. I am not a nurse. My name is Adeline, Adeline Royce."

The silence stretched so long I could hear my own pulse in my ears. The nurses outside whispered furiously to each other.

"That cannot be," one of them, Nurse Daisy, said. "She was declared dead at midnight."

"I saw the body myself," the other muttered. "Head trauma, spine fracture. It was bad."

I pulled the cloth tighter around my chest.

“I am not dead.”

“Don't listen to her ghost Daisy, she is!.”

"I am not dead!" I shouted, hitting the metal door so hard my palm stung. "Do you hear me? I am alive! My name is Adeline Royce, and I need to see Mikhail."

The voices fell quiet, completely.

For a moment I thought they had run off to get security.

Then one of them continued, "Adeline Royce died last night."

"Then open the damn door and see for yourself." I yelled back. "Do I sound dead to you?"

I started pounding on the door again. Footsteps began to gather outside. They seemed like dozens of them now.

"She says she is Adeline Royce..."

"Impossible..."

"Someone check the log—"

"I told you, she is dead."

I pressed my forehead to the cold metal. "Please," I said, softer this time. "Please just open the door."

I was just about to resort to screaming the door down when everywhere went quiet and the handle turned.

Light spilled in from the open door. I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes to the sudden brightness. As they adjusted, I finally noticed the figure holding the door ajar.

Standing in the doorway was a man built like stone. His hair was blond, his eyes steel grey.

“Mikhail.”

ADELINE'S POV

I stayed silent as he drove, the occasional squeak of tires... those were the only sounds between us. I asked him to take me to the family house because I needed to see my father. He needed to see me. I needed him to know that I was alive.

Mikhail told me that my father had already left the hospital earlier, that he had gone home to arrange my burial.

My throat was dry. I felt so parched.

"Do you have water?" I asked.

He reached into a grocery bag on the seat and handed me a bottle. I gulped it down, greedy, like I had been dying of thirst for days.

He was still in his hospital scrubs, and somehow they made him look even more enhanced.

"You look like someone is advertising scrubs in a magazine" I said, trying to sound casual.

He gave me a flat look and shook his head. "High fashion apparently" he muttered.

Typical Mikhail.

Calm and rarely long spoken.

Traffic slowed up ahead and we paused in one spot temporarily.

"Did the news say I am dead"

He pulled out his phone, entered a passcode, and handed it to me. His feed was full of posts and headlines, some official, some blogs.

My name was everywhere.

"DEATH OF ADELINE ROYCE DISOWNED HEIRESS OF THE ROYCE FAMILY."

The article said I had fallen from the balcony at my boyfriend's foundation launch.

"Fell... accidentally of course" I said, scrolling down.

He glanced at me. "You did not fall"

"No," I said. "I did not fall."

"Then what happened?"

I looked out the window.

"I will tell you when we get to Father. For now I just want to see him as soon as I can."

"According to GPS we are almost there."

Walking into my father's house, seeing his face after so long. It felt a bit intense, especially since he had practically disowned me.

"Do you think I can step foot inside there without him throwing me out?"

Mikhail turned to me, his lips stretching into a fraction of a smile.

"Despite your differences I am pretty sure Robert will be thrilled to have his daughter revived from death."

I scratched my head awkwardly, avoiding the healing stitches.

"What if the thrill only lasts so long"

Mikhail turned to me. Black eyes boring into mine.

"He is your father. And if I may remind you he did not forsake you. You did."

××××

[FLASHBACK TO THREE YEARS AGO JANUARY 28th 2022.]

"We need the money Adeline. And what you are giving me is not going to be enough."

I crawled into his lap.

"But Conrad... the crypto plan flopped, same as the music career. And I have invested thousands of dollars in that."

He nipped at my neck.

"I know babe, I know. And I take full accountability for being a failure"

"Do not say that Conrad. Never say that." I flipped my hair over my shoulder and peered into his eyes. "I promised to support you."

And to uplift him enough for daddy dearest to finally approve.

"But you have wasted so much money on me already. And your account is burning out. Your father might grow suspicious if you keep asking him for more allowances in short spaces of time."

And we could not wait next month till my next allowance came in. Even if we did, it would not even be enough for what Conrad had planned.

"What if we take a loan from the bank or something?"

Conrad's head lowered.

"Look at me Adeline. Do I look like I have any worthy collateral for the multi-millions we need"

I had bought him new shirts. But Conrad still wore the ones with holes in them.

"What if I take out a loan? I have properties of my—"

Wait.

I did not have properties of my own anymore. I had sold them out.

"Maybe I could pawn some of my jewelry."

"You have already pawned enough. The ones left are your family heirlooms and the ones your father specifically gifts you"

"Maybe I could pawn those ones off?"

“If your father finds out you are going to be disinherited"

I bit on my fingernails.

"What if I ask Mikhail for money?"

Conrad's hand slipped under my shirt. Using my boobs like a fidget toy or a squishy was one of his most regular actions.

"Your godfather?"

I nodded.

"No Adeline. He is your father's best friend. Meaning that is where his loyalty lies and you know he dosen't like me either."

"That is a lie. Mikhail is more understanding than Father."

"He is also smarter," Conrad sighed. "No. We need to do this on our own. We need access to something big. Something solid."

I chewed my fingernails rapidly. Biting into the acrylic like candy. One big illuminated light bulb was staring me in the face. It was risky but the only available solution we had.

Conrad and I would need money to elope and set ourselves up so that Father could finally accept him.

"What if I break into my father's vault and take some money?"

His eyes nearly dislodged from their sockets when he jumped up so fast from the bed.

"Adeline…"

"We will pay it all back to him when your plans work out, yes?"

He nodded quickly.

"Of course, of course, oh my goodness, Adeline I do not know what to say"

I crawled on my knees to him. My heart was beating fast and my blood was pumping in my ears. But I had to do this for Conrad.

You made sacrifices for the ones you loved right. For the later greater good.

He hugged me back tightly, sniffling into my sleeve.

"I love you Adeline. And I am so grateful to have you by my side."

I forced a smile.

"I love you too Conrad."

~

It did not end well at all.

We had broken into the vault, wired ourselves my father's money, and we prepared to leave. He found out of course, and his heart was broken. I was not thinking and so I still wanted to leave.

My father had given me a choice.

I hand back his gold and leave Conrad who was no good for me, or I leave with what I had stolen and the love of my life. Except I would not be his daughter any longer.

I picked the latter.

Mikhail was right. I had forsaken my own father.

And boy did karma come back to push me off a terrace.