I Can Hear Everyone’s Thoughts Except My Husband

The first thing I felt was pain. Not sharp. Not sudden. But spreading slow and suffocating like poison sinking into my veins. I lay on the cold marble floor of the Draven estate, my wedding ring still on my finger, my vision blurring as the chandelier above fractured into scattered light. Footsteps approached. Unhurried. Familiar. Lyra. My sister crouched beside me, her shadow falling over my body. She didn’t look frightened. She didn’t look guilty. She looked relieved. “You should have stayed quiet,” she said softly. Her voice trembled—but not from regret. From excitement. My fingers twitched. I tried to speak. Nothing came out except the metallic taste of blood rising in my throat. Across the room, Cassian’s portrait stared down at us from the wall. Cold. Distant. Untouchable. Dead. Just like he had been for months. Poisoned. By the wrong hands. “You always looked so calm,” Lyra continued, brushing imaginary dust from her sleeve. “Even when you were being used. Even when Julian was testing those drugs on you. You never fought back.” Julian. My gentle husband. The man everyone believed was kind. The illegitimate son who smiled too easily. The man who had used my body like a laboratory. The man who poisoned his own brother. I tried to move. To scream. To expose her. Lyra leaned closer instead. “You thought your marriage was perfect,” she whispered. “You thought I was the unlucky one.” Her fingers gripped my chin, forcing my fading eyes to meet hers. “But I watched you. I watched how Mother favored you. How the servants respected you. Even Cassian… before he died… he never once looked at me the way he looked at you.” That was a lie. Cassian never looked at anyone. Especially not me. Or maybe… Maybe I had been too blind to notice. My lungs burned. The poison was finishing its work. Lyra stood and smoothed down her dress. “You shouldn’t have survived him,” she murmured. “You shouldn’t have survived any of it.” Darkness crept inward. The chandelier light disappeared. And the last thing I heard was her voice. “This time, I’ll choose correctly.” I woke up. Not in a coffin. Not in the cold estate hallway. But in my childhood bedroom. Sunlight spilled across pale curtains. The air smelled of fresh lilies. And downstairs Voices. Excited. Expectant. Today was the day. The day Lyra and I would choose our husbands. My heart stopped. No. No. I sat upright violently. My hands trembled as I looked at them. Unscarred. Untouched. Alive. The date on my phone confirmed it. Three years earlier. Before the marriages. Before the poison. Before the betrayal. Before my death. A laugh echoed from the hallway. Lyra’s voice. Bright. Innocent. “I hope he chooses me.” Then— Something strange happened. Her voice continued. But her lips were no longer moving. This time, I’ll grab the better husband first. The words didn’t come from the hallway. They came from inside my head. I froze. Another thought followed. Aria was stupid in the last life. She thought gentle meant safe. My blood ran cold. Last life. She remembered too. And I— I could hear her thoughts. Downstairs, someone called my name. “Aria! Hurry up! The Draven brothers are already here!” The Draven brothers. Cassian. And Julian. In my last life, Lyra chose Cassian. The cold heir. The sole successor. And she was beaten whenever she tried to touch him. I chose Julian. The gentle one. The illegitimate son. And I died quietly, piece by piece. Footsteps rushed past my door. Lyra’s thoughts pulsed louder now. Julian. I’ll choose Julian this time. He was kind to her. He never hit her. He must be the better one. I stood slowly. So that’s how it was. She thought she was clever. She thought she had fixed her mistake. But she didn’t know what I knew. Gentle was an act. Kindness was a mask. And monsters don’t always shout. Some smile. I looked at my reflection. Alive. Reborn. Listening. “This time,” I whispered softly to myself, “I won’t die for anyone.” Downstairs Lyra laughed sweetly. And in her thoughts, I heard it clearly. I’ll steal her happiness before she can steal mine. I smiled. Because this time I could hear everything. Everything… Except When I reached the staircase and saw Cassian Draven standing in the living room— Tall. Immaculate. Emotionless. His gaze lifted slowly to meet mine. And for the first time in two lifetimes— I heard nothing. No thoughts. No voice. Only silence.