Back from Death to Destroy My Ex

Chapter 5

I WON'T MARRY YOU

ODETTE

The first thing I felt as I regained consciousness was the touch of warm sunlight on my face.

For a long moment, I simply lay still, confused by the gentle warmth. The last thing I remembered was the freezing prison floor beneath my body. I remembered the wolfsbane burning through my veins, the darkness swallowing my vision, and my final breath leaving my lungs. I had died. I was certain I had died.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

Instead of cold stone walls, I saw a beautiful cream-colored ceiling with golden patterns painted across it. Soft white curtains danced in the morning breeze, and the familiar smell of fresh flowers filled the room. Birds sang happily outside the open window. Everything looked peaceful, almost too peaceful.

I frowned.

"Am I... dead?"

My voice sounded weak, but it was clear.

I slowly lifted my hands in front of my face. There were no chains, no bruises, no bloody bandages. The deep wolfbane wounds had completely disappeared.

I touched my chest with trembling fingers.

The terrible pain was gone.

I sat up so quickly that my head began spinning. My eyes moved around the room, taking in every small detail. The carved wooden wardrobe stood in the same corner where it had once been years ago. The little blue vase beside my bed had been broken long before I became Wynne's Luna, yet there it was, completely whole.

"No..." I whispered.

"This isn't possible."

The bedroom door opened.

A young woman carrying a bowl of water walked inside, humming softly to herself.

I stared at her.

"Lina?"

She looked at me and smiled brightly.

"Good morning, Miss Odette."

My heart nearly stopped.

Lina.

My childhood maid.

She had gotten married three years before my imprisonment and left our home. The woman standing before me looked much younger, exactly as she had looked years ago.

She frowned when she noticed my shocked expression.

"Miss?"

I slowly climbed out of bed.

"Lina..."

"Yes?"

I walked closer.

"Is it really you?"

She laughed nervously.

"Of course it's me."

I reached out and gently touched her arm. It was warm. It was real. This was not a dream, and she wasn't a ghost.

Tears filled my eyes.

"You're alive."

Her smile disappeared.

"Miss... are you feeling alright?"

I ignored her question.

"What year is this?"

She blinked several times.

"What?"

"What year?"

She looked completely confused.

"You've only just woken up."

"What year is it?" I repeated desperately.

She stared at me, completely confused.

Without waiting for permission, I rushed out of my bedroom.

"Miss Odette!" Lina shouted behind me.

I barely heard her.

I ran through the hallway that I knew so well. Every painting, every flower pot, every piece of furniture looked exactly as it had years ago. My heartbeat grew louder with every step.

I finally reached the sitting room.

A large calendar hung beside the fireplace.

My shaking hands gripped its edges.

Then I looked at the date, and everything around me became silent. It was three years before the rogue attack. Three years, before I was accused and before I died in prison.

My legs became too weak to hold me.

I slowly slid onto the floor.

"This..."

I covered my mouth.

"This can't be real."

The prison returned to my mind all at once—the chains around my wrists, the cold floor, Seraphine's tearful lies, the guards calling me an assassin, and worst of all, Wynne never showing up, and then my final breath.

I wrapped my arms tightly around myself as panic took over.

"I died," I whispered.

"I died..."

Tears poured down my face.

"So why am I here?"

I looked around the familiar room again.

Every single thing was exactly as I remembered before my life fell apart.

Had the Moon Goddess given me another chance? Had time turned backwards? Or had I finally lost my mind?

"Miss Odette!"

Lina finally caught up with me.

She knelt beside me.

"You're frightening me."

I looked into her worried eyes.

"Lina..."

"Yes?"

"I'm fine,” I said, forcing a smile.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Before I could ask another question, cheerful footsteps echoed down the hallway.

"My precious daughter!"

I froze.

That voice...

It couldn't be.

I slowly turned.

My mother walked toward me carrying beautiful folded wedding fabrics across one arm and a wooden jewellery box in the other. Her smile was warm, loving, and completely alive.

"M-Mother..."

She laughed.

"What kind of greeting is that?"

Fresh tears flooded my eyes as I ran straight into her arms. She almost dropped everything as I hugged her tightly.

"Oh!"

She laughed again.

"What has gotten into you today?"

I couldn't stop crying.

"You..."

I whispered.

"You're here."

She gently rubbed my back.

"Of course I'm here."

"I missed you."

She pulled back slightly and touched my forehead.

"You really do have a fever."

I shook my head.

"No. I'm just..."

I couldn't finish.

She smiled kindly and lifted the folded fabrics.

"Come now."

She spread the expensive white cloth across a nearby chair.

"We still have so much to do."

I stared at the fabric. It looked exactly like the wedding material we had chosen together.

She opened the jewellery box next.

Inside rested the necklace I had worn on the day I promised to marry Wynne.

My breathing suddenly stopped.

Mother smiled brightly.

"The jeweller finished adjusting it yesterday."

She held it against my neck.

"It will look perfect with your wedding dress."

The word echoed inside my head.

Wedding.

Wedding.

Wedding.

Every terrible memory came crashing back.

Wynne's cold refusal to see me.

The voice of the guards calling me a thief.

Seraphina said he believed the evidence.

The engagement was canceled.

Dying alone.

My whole body started shaking.

Mother frowned.

"Odette?"

She reached for my hand.

"What's wrong?"

I quickly stepped away from her, and my breathing became faster.

"Sweetheart?"

"No."

She looked confused.

"What did you say?"

I shook my head over and over.

"No..."

Lina looked between us nervously.

"Miss..."

Mother took another careful step toward me.

"The wedding is only a few weeks away."

"No!"

I shouted so loudly that everyone froze.

The jewelry box slipped from Mother's hands and landed on the floor with a loud crash. Pearls scattered across the room.

She stared at me in complete shock.

"Odette..."

I backed away until my shoulders touched the wall. Tears poured down my face.

"I can't."

Mother raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

"I won't do it."

My mother's smile slowly disappeared.

"Won't do what?"

I forced the words out through trembling lips.

"Cancel the wedding!"

Silence filled the room.

"I won't marry Wynne!"

The words echoed through the house.

My mother stood completely frozen, unable to speak.

Footsteps rushed toward the room as servants, hearing my shout, gathered outside the door. Everyone stared at me as if I had suddenly become a stranger.

But I didn't care.

I had already lived through loving Wynne once, and I had already paid for that love with my life. This time, no matter what happened, I would never walk that same road again.