Chapter 2
839 Words
All those days she'd drifted as a ghost after her death, Calista had replayed her regrets a thousand times over.
Why had she left Emrys? Why had she ever fallen for Finlo?
Now that she'd been reborn, she couldn't wait to establish a real relationship with him.
But when Emrys heard what she'd said, his sharp, defined brows snapped into a deep furrow.
He clamped down hard on her wrist and shoved her away without a single ounce of mercy.
"Cut the nonsense," he said. "I'm your uncle."
Every single thing he'd done for her in her past life, every word he'd said in front of her tombstone, all of it was still burned into her memory, clear as day.
Calista was dead certain he had feelings for her.
So why was he saying he only saw her as a family member now?
She refused to buy it. "Are you still mad at me?" she asked.
Back when she'd wanted to sign with Finlo to enter the entertainment industry, Emrys had flat-out refused to let her. They'd gotten into a screaming, ugly fight over it.
Even though they'd still lived under the same roof after that, a c***k had formed between them, cold and unignorable.
She stared at his deep, sharp brows and eyes. No one else knew that in her past life, she'd carried a quiet, burning crush on him for years.
He was only four years older than her.
They'd grown up together and spent every day side by side. Every time she'd been heartbroken, he'd been the one by her side.
It was no surprise at all that she'd fallen for him.
She'd planned to confess to him the night of her eighteenth birthday, right after her debutante ball.
But her dad had found out before she could even say a word.
He'd flown into a rage, threatening to kick Emrys out of the Ellery family for good if she dared act on her feelings. She'd had no choice but to give up that crush.
Snapping back to the present, Calista tried to speak again. "Uncle Emrys, I..." she started.
"Emrys," a soft, silvery voice cut her off. It was Elara Penrose.
Elara Penrose stood there in a shimmering silver-white pearl gown, raven hair cascading over her shoulders, bold red lips perfectly painted. She was so stunning it hurt to look at her directly.
"I've been looking for you forever," she said, gliding over and looping her arm through Emrys's intimately. "Who would've thought you'd be here? The auction's about to start. Let's hurry over, yeah?"
Elara acted like Calista wasn't even standing there.
But what stung way worse was that Emrys didn't even spare her a second glance before turning to walk away with Elara.
That cold, total disregard knocked the wind right out of her. Her face drained of all color in an instant.
By the time she'd pulled herself together enough to take a seat in the auction hall, she spotted Emrys and Elara's backs in the row ahead of her, heads tilted close as they chatted like no one else existed.
It felt like her heart had been shoved into a meat grinder and ground to pulp.
Not long after, the room erupted in shocked murmurs and gasps when Emrys dropped a jaw-dropping three billion to win the gemstone brooch Elara had donated for the event.
"The Calder Group's got more money than they know what to do with, huh?"
"Oh, you haven't heard? Mr. Calder has been chasing Elara lately. Throwing around cash left and right, all just to get a smile out of the award-winning actress, of course."
In her past life, Calista had been completely focused on earning money to pay off debts and obsessed with Finlo. She'd never paid the slightest bit of attention to whatever was going on between Emrys and Elara.
Hearing those words now, her heart seemed to stop.
The auction finally came to an end, and the guests began filing out in droves. At the entrance of the mansion, Calista clearly watched as Emrys and Elara climbed into the same car and peeled off into the distance, as reporters' huge camera lenses flashed nonstop around them.
She had no memory of how she made her way back to Emrys's villa.
She just sank onto the couch and sat there alone for hours.
It was deep into the night by the time Emrys finally came home.
Under the soft, warm glow of the lights, Calista stared at the man standing in the entryway, a heavy lump wedged in her throat.
She couldn't hold the question back any longer. "People are saying you're chasing Elara. Is that true?" she asked.
"No," he replied.
In his denial, Calista let out a long, shaky breath. The heavy stone in her stomach finally dropped.
But before she could even process the relief, he spoke again, and his words hit her like a bolt of lightning.
"She's already my girlfriend," he said. "Before long, she'll be your aunt by marriage."
- Writer
