NOT IN MY NEXT LIFE

CHAPTER 6:GHOSTS OF THE PAST

Zaria didn't expect the message. Not that night, not from him.

It was nearly midnight.She sat at her desk, still going through Celestines clinic records and financial links,when her phone buzed with a name she hadn't seen in years.

REZA CALDERON

He was a ghost of the past , one of the few people who had known her before she become Mrs Zaria THorwell.Back when she was still just Zaria Valencia DelaRue, the quiet , brilliant girl from the royal prep schoools known more for her painting than for being heiress of an empire.

She hesitated, Thumb hovering over the screen.

Message:saw your name in the news. couldn't believe it. still alive? i'm in the city. we should talk.

she didn't reply right away.

Reza had been her first love, wild, kind and never quite tamed. Their worlds had been too different. H ewas the rebellious son of a disgraced diplomat, and she was the tightly controlled daughter of a billion dollar legacy. When her engagement to Darian had been announced, Reza disappeared without a word. She announced , Reza disappeared without a word. She never knew if he had left out of heartbreak or wisdom.

Now he was back.

she messaged him the next morning. LUNCH.Private. One hour.

They metat a quiet rooftop garden cafe downtown. when she walked in , he stood , dressed in a charcoal gray coat and a navyturtle neck. Older, sharper but still that same aura of unpredictable and intense.

"Zaria Valencia DelaRue," He said with a soft bitter smile."Didn't think i had ever say that name again."

"i don'd say it out loud anymore,' she said taking her seat."Too many people prefer to forget it."

He poured her tea without asking. He Still remembered how she liked it.

"I had about Darian," he said."i didn't want to believe you married him."

"I don't want to either."

They shared a long silence.

Reza leaned forward. "I didn't come just to say hi. i have been following something. Your name's been coming up... in some places it shouldn't.

Zaria stiffened. "Go on."

"I am working with an offshore group now, cleaning up corruption tied to falling empires. Darian's been moving funds through ghost companies, but that's not what shocked me. Your father;'s estate, it was bought out through a dummy company, traced back to Darian. Months before your parents died."

Zaria's breath caught.

"I know,"Reza said softly."i didn't want to believe it either."

"i have evidence," she whispered."On a driver. Transfers., signatures and i was about to go public."

Reza shook his head."You will be buried in lawsuits before you blink. Darian has people everywhere. He is not the careless rich boy anymore. He is calculated and cold."

"i am not afraid of him."

Reza leaned closer."Then let me help. Let me give you something in return. A name,someone inside Darian's inner circle who wants out,but it will cost you."

Zaria considered it."Give me her number."

"You trust me that easily?"he asked, amused.

"No," she said." but i trust your guilt." The only thing is that Zaria was not gonna tell REza she had plans to leave. she wanted to cool of and she wa still going to go public with the informatin she had gathered so far. she was willing to risking it all. to raise hell and watch from far as everyone burnt in it. Everyone who had anything to do with hurting her family.

He laughed, then looked away."Fair enough."

Later that night, Zaria met kesi in the back of the church library, neutral ground. Kesi looked tired and worn.

"i know who you are." Kesi said. Everyone in that office knows the wife Darian pretends doesn't exist."

Kesi pulled a flash drive frim her coat."Here is everything.Celestine's payments, Darian's transfers , taxfraud and even records of a bribe to shut down medical reports on your miscarriage."

Zaria foze."What?"

Kesi nodded."he bribed the doctors to hide the fact that the trauma was physical stress. It would have made liable.:

zaria felt her hand trembled. This wasn't just betrayal anymore. It was calculated erasure.

"Why are you doing this?"she asked.

Kesi's voice cracked,"Because my daughter is ten and if i don't leave this life now. She will grow up thinking survival means silence."

zaria took the drive.

"Go,"she said. "I'll make sure you are covered."

She walked out into the cold night . For the first time in years she felt the chains loosening.

This wasn't just revenge anymore.

This was about writing everything and unraveling a lie. Taking back a life that had been stolen from her in pieces.

The rebirth wasn't coming.

It has already began. She thought as she heading to the airport to catch her flight. This war was something long over due and it was time to set the battle ground.