Chapter 4: Past that never dies
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BOUND BY THE BILLIONAIRE’S CURSE
Chapter Four: The Past Never Dies
Word Count: 3,038
Zina gasped.
The world around her shimmered, like water rippling in reverse. The air smelled of old parchment, rose oil, and firewood. Her hand trembled as she touched the heavy velvet skirt at her hips.
It wasn’t a dream.
She was there.
But not now.
The cathedral before her was grand, candlelit, and filled with murmuring nobles. She stood at the altar, beside Damien—not in a suit and tie—but a ceremonial robe embroidered with gold.
His eyes met hers with a strange mixture of longing and… regret.
This isn’t real, Zina thought.
But when the priest lifted his hands and began the marriage rites in Old English, she realized—
It was real once.
And now, it was returning.
---
The vision shattered like glass.
Zina stumbled backward, gasping, her palm scraped against the wooden floor of the Obudu mansion’s library.
Damien caught her before she fell.
“You’re remembering,” he said softly.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“Our past,” he replied. “From long ago. From before either of us were ever born… again.”
She stared at him. “We were married?”
“Yes.”
“In another life?”
“Yes.”
“And you cursed me?”
“No,” he said, jaw tightening. “I cursed myself.”
---
He helped her sit in the chair near the fireplace. The room was dark except for the embers glowing in the hearth.
“You weren’t meant to remember yet,” Damien said. “Not until the full moon.”
Zina blinked. “What happens on the full moon?”
He exhaled slowly. “The curse resets… or breaks. Depending on what we choose.”
She pressed her fingers to her temples. “I don’t understand.”
He knelt before her, taking her hands. His voice was raw. “I loved you. Centuries ago, in a kingdom that no longer exists. I was a royal heir, and you were a healer’s daughter. Our love was forbidden… and when they tore us apart, I made a deal with something ancient.”
Zina’s lips trembled. “What kind of deal?”
“To live again,” he said. “To find you, lifetime after lifetime. Until you loved me back fully—without fear, without running, without doubt.”
Her breath hitched. “That’s why you’re… cold sometimes. Guarded.”
He nodded. “I remember every life. Every time you forgot me. Every time you died too soon. Or ran from me.”
Zina shook her head. “That’s insane.”
“Maybe. But it’s true.”
He pulled something from his pocket—a small silver ring, engraved with an ancient symbol.
“It’s yours. You wore it in our first life. You always do.”
She reached out—and the moment her fingers brushed the ring, memories flooded back again.
She saw…
herself dancing in a moonlit garden, barefoot, laughing
Damien holding her against a tree, whispering promises
a knife, blood, fire—
a betrayal
Zina screamed.
---
Later, she sat alone in her room. Her door locked. The ring clutched in her hand.
Her phone had no signal. Of course it didn’t.
She stared at the cracked mirror.
Then at herself.
Her reflection… wasn’t quite right.
For just a second, the eyes staring back weren’t hers. They belonged to someone older. Wiser. Wounded.
Then the reflection blinked and matched her again.
Zina’s hands shook.
She had to get out.
---
She crept out of her room near midnight. The halls were quiet, the old house sighing in its sleep. She tiptoed down to the basement—the only place she hadn’t explored.
She found the door behind the kitchen pantry. Unlocked.
The stairs were stone, cold, and spiraling downward.
At the bottom was a wooden door with a strange mark—the same as the ring.
She touched it.
It opened.
Inside was a vault.
And in it—portraits.
Not just one.
But many.
Each showed her.
Wearing different dresses. In different time periods.
Victorian. Egyptian. 1940s Nigeria. Colonial Spain.
And in every portrait… Damien stood beside her.
Unchanged.
---
Suddenly, a hand clamped on her shoulder.
She whirled around with a scream.
It was Damien.
His eyes glowed faintly in the dark.
“You weren’t supposed to find this yet,” he said.
“I needed to know,” she whispered.
He stared at her.
Then said, “So now you understand.”
Zina nodded slowly. “You’ve kept me prisoner in your love for centuries.”
“No. I’ve waited.”
“Same thing.”
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, she asked, “What happens if I walk away this time?”
He closed his eyes. “You break the curse… but I die.”
“What?”
“That was the price. Immortality, until you love me willingly. If you leave me forever, my soul dissolves. No more lives. No more rebirths.”
Zina’s heart cracked. “That’s not love. That’s obsession.”
Damien stepped back. “Then why do you keep finding me? Why do you come back every time?”
She opened her mouth—but couldn’t answer.
Because deep down, something had always drawn her to him.
Even when she didn’t understand why.
Even when he scared her.
---
The next morning, Damien was gone.
Zina wandered the estate, asking the staff, but no one had seen him.
Not even the groundskeeper.
The helicopter had vanished.
Her phone still had no signal.
She was trapped.
Or maybe… being tested.
That night, she put the ring on.
And whispered to the shadows, “Come find me.”
---
As she slept, the wind howled outside.
The house groaned.
And in her dreams, Damien stood before her again.
But this time, he didn’t speak.
He just knelt.
And held out a sword.
As if asking her to end it.
To choose:
Love him… or destroy him.
Forever.
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✅ Chapter Four complete!
Next in Chapter Five:
A powerful enemy from their first life returns
Zina must decide whether to save or kill Damien
Magic enters the real world
Ready for Chapter Five?
- Writer
