REBORN: Not Another Mistake

A different Choice

CHAPTER THREE: A Different Choice

Lucian walked through the front doors as though he owned the house.

Well, maybe he did now.

My father's debt had made him powerful enough to decide the fate of everyone inside it.

I watched from the top of the staircase as my father rushed forward to greet him.

"Mr. Bianchi."

Lucian barely acknowledged him. His eyes swept across the room.

Cold, calculating and dangerous.

I remembered those eyes looking at me before I was dragged to the dungeon.

I remembered the anger behind them.

My fingers tightened on the window. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. Every instinct in me screamed to run, to hide, to get as far away from this man as possible.

But I couldn't run. I couldn't hide. Instead, I stayed and I watched.

"Mr. Bianchi, please, let me explain about the debt. I can pay it back, I just need more time—"

"You've had time." Lucian's voice was cold, cutting through my father's rambling like a blade. "And you've wasted it. I'm not here to discuss payment plans, Mr. Hartwell. I'm here to collect what I'm owed."

My father's face went pale. "Yes, of course. I understand. I'll have everything prepared. Please, come this way."

I watched my father lead Lucian toward the study. He was walking like a man going to his own execution, his shoulders tensed and his steps hesitant.

Lucian followed him without hesitation.

I should have stayed where I was. I should have gone back to my room and waited for whatever was going to happen next. But my feet carried me down the stairs before my mind could catch up.

I needed to see. I needed to know what was happening.

Most importantly, I needed to know why he was here.

I reached the bottom of the stairs just as the study door closed behind them.

I stopped and stood there, frozen.

The house was quiet now. Too quiet. The kind of silence that felt heavy and suffocating.

Suddenly, the study door opened again and my father stepped out. He looked shaken, his face filled with panic.

"Lydia!" He spotted me and rushed over. "Good. You're here. He wants to see you. Both of you."

My heart dropped to my stomach. I stared at him. "Both of us?"

"Your sister too." My father's voice was strained. "He wants to choose."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

He wants to choose.

This was different. In my first life, he had simply accepted me as part of the settlement. He hadn't come here to choose between me and Selene. He hadn't even met Selene until after the wedding.

But this time...

This time, everything is different.

My father was already calling for Selene, his voice echoing through the house. I heard footsteps on the stairs, and a few seconds later, Selene appeared.

She was dressed beautifully, as always. Her hair was perfect. Her makeup was flawless. She looked like she had walked straight out of a magazine.

"What's happening?" she asked, her eyes darting between my father and me. "Father, you look terrible."

"He's here," my father said. "Lucian Bianchi. He's here, and he wants to meet both of you before he makes his decision."

Selene's face dropped. "He's here? Now? Before he makes his decision?" I noticed her hands tremble slightly by her side.

"Yes. And you need to be on your best behavior. Both of you." My father looked at me, his gaze hard. "Lydia, I'm warning you. Don't do anything to embarrass me."

I didn't respond. I just stared at the closed study door, my heart pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears, my hands clenched tightly beside me that they started to hurt.

He's right behind that door. The same man who locked me in a dungeon and left me to die.

And now he's going to choose between me and my stepsister. The one who betrayed me.

Life really has no shame.

My father opened the study door and motioned for us to enter. Selene went first, her head held high, her smile radiant.

I followed behind.

Lucian was standing by the window, his back to us. He turned when we entered, and his eyes swept over both of us.

I felt his gaze land on me, and something shifted in his expression. Recognition? Surprise? I couldn't tell.

"Mr. Bianchi," my father said, his voice bright. "This is my other daughter, Selene. And this is Lydia, my eldest."

Lucian's eyes lingered on me. His eyes never left mine.

I instinctively stepped backward.

One step, then another.

"Come here."

The command made my chest tighten. It was the same kind of command I heard countless times in my first life.

My old self would have obeyed. But this Lydia wouldn't.

"No."

The room went silent. Lucian's eyebrow lifted slightly.

My father looked horrified. "Lydia!"

I ignored him.

Lucian studied me for a moment. "Did you just say no?"

"Yes," I said calmly, clutching onto my dress.

He fully turned from the window. "And why is that?"

I wanted to snap and say because you once left me to die, because I loved you and you never believed me, because I know exactly how this marriage ends.

"Because I don't want to marry you." That was what came out from my mouth instead.

Something flickered in his eyes. Surprise. Perhaps even amusement.

"You don't know me, do you?" I wasn't sure if that was a question or threat.

"I know enough," I simply blurted.

He stepped closer. "Then perhaps you should get to know me."

"I don't want to," I choked out.

My father looked like he was ready to explode. "You will apologize immediately."

I turned toward him. "No."

"Lydia!" He growled.

"I'm not marrying him," I said, my eyes never leaving Lucian.

Lucian's gaze moved between us. Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.

It wasn't a warm smile. It was the kind that made my skin crawl.

"Interesting," he whispered.

My heart pounded. He looked at my father.

"I'll take her."

My blood froze.

My father stared at him. "Mr. Bianchi, she—"

"I said I'll take her," he repeated.

I stared at Lucian. "You can't." My voice came out almost as a whisper.

His gaze shifted and settled on me. "And why can't I?"

"You just heard me refuse."

"I did."

"Then why are you still choosing me?" I questioned. My heart was beating loudly against my chest.

He was silent for a moment.

Then he stepped close enough that I could see the faint scar cutting through his eyebrow.

A scar I remembered touching once. A scar I had loved. A scar that suddenly felt like a warning.

"Because," he said quietly, "you just looked into my eyes and said no, without flinching. I figured that's still a lesson you need to learn." He whispered on my face with a cold smile.

I stood there unable to breathe well. Unsure how my happiness turned into something else in few minutes.

He turned away.

"Prepare the marriage documents."

My father's face brightened immediately. "Of course."

I stared at Lucian's retreating figure.

This wasn't how it happened. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I had refused him. I had refused my father. I had changed the first decision that led me to marrying him.

So why was I standing in the same house, watching the same man choose me?

Lucian reached the door, then he stopped. Without turning around, he announced, "The wedding will take place in three days."

Three days.

My stomach dropped.

The moment the doors closed behind him, everyone turned toward me.

My father looked triumphant. My stepmother looked relieved.

I slowly looked toward the doors Lucian had disappeared through.

Three days until I became his wife again and step back into the life that had ended with me dying alone in a dungeon.

Only this time, I knew the ending.

And I was not going to let it end like before.