Chapter 9
1039 Words
Calista stared at the pile of documents in front of her, a sharp, blade‑like ache lodged deep in her lungs.
Every breath she took sent searing pain ripping through her chest.
She never, in a million years, could have imagined this.
The entire Ellery family, Gideon, herself... All the agony they had endured was orchestrated single‑handedly by none other than Emrys.
When she'd first woken up reborn, she'd been stupid enough to think her past self had been too blind to cherish how good Emrys was, that she'd let him down.
So when she got this second shot at life, she'd dumped that scumbag Finlo without a second thought, determined to make it up to Emrys, to stay by his side forever...
For the first time ever, Calista knew what soul‑crushing despair tasted like.
It was even worse than the all‑consuming agony she'd felt in her past life, when Finlo had thrown her off the 29th floor and her body had shattered into pieces.
She'd moved on autopilot all the way to the hospital, her mind a total blank.
She just wanted to ask Gideon what she had done wrong, exactly.
But when she reached the door of his ward, the first person she saw was Emrys.
And the devastating news he dropped on her: "Calista, your father... he's passed away," he said quietly.
A deafening ring exploded in Calista's ears, and the entire world went dead silent around her.
Endless, icy despair and grief coiled tight around her heart.
She stared numbly at the handsome man in the crisp suit standing in front of him.
He still looked exactly as she remembered—gentle, refined, every inch the polished nobleman.
Even the look in his eyes as he gazed at her was brimming with what looked like heartache and reluctance, as if his concern for her was completely genuine.
It looked exactly like he really was her doting uncle, like he actually cared about how much this would hurt her.
But the ugly truths she'd just uncovered kept stabbing through her brain like thousands of tiny, sharp needles.
Calista turned her gaze to the ward, where Gideon lay under a white sheet.
The man who once dominated the business world now lay there cold and still.
He would never again call her "Callie" with that warm, doting tone she'd known her whole life.
Emrys, the man who'd single‑handedly destroyed the entire Ellery family, had the nerve to stand right in front of her, acting like he hadn't done a single thing wrong.
What a sick, twisted joke it was that she'd once confessed to him, that she'd actually fallen for this cold, calculating snake of a man.
"Emrys, am I really that easy to fool?" she asked, her voice trembling with rage.
"Was it funny watching me run around completely in the dark, calling you 'uncle' like I always did, even pouring my heart out to you? Was it entertaining for you?"
Emrys's brows knitted tighter. "Callie, you—" he started.
"Don't you dare call me that!" she cut him off.
If she hadn't uncovered the truth, that nickname would have made her heart flutter with glee. Now, though, hearing it spill from his mouth made her skin crawl.
She glared at him, her voice thick with searing hatred.
"How much longer are you going to keep up this act? The Ellery family going bankrupt, my dad's death—it's all your fault, isn't it?"
The soft, gentle look on Emrys's face faded bit by bit, his tone taking on a cold, distant edge.
"Calista, the Ellery family collapsed because of years of mismanagement and a broken capital chain," he replied evenly. "Everything I did was just normal business competition."
With that one sentence, he wiped his hands completely clean of any blame.
Calista could barely believe her eyes.
The man standing in front of her was totally unrecognizable from the Emrys she knew from her past life.
That Emrys had avenged her and shed real tears at her grave.
*****
Gideon's funeral was scheduled for three days later.
Calista pulled off the entire funeral all on her own.
She'd always been thin and fragile, but by the end of it, she was gaunt enough that you could practically count her ribs.
As soon as everything wrapped up, she didn't even take a single day to rest.
She threw herself straight into drama productions, taking any gig that came her way, no matter how terrible the character's reputation or how small the part.
Debt collectors hounded her like rabid dogs, never letting her catch a break.
Right now, all she wanted was to pay off every last cent of the debt as fast as she could, get as far away from this place as possible, and cut every last tie to her old life for good.
But the very night her first acting paycheck hit her bank account, Calista's name went viral on social media all over again.
News outlets flooded the internet with scandalous reports—she and Emrys shared no blood relation at all, and she'd been throwing herself at him to seduce him.
Haleysford media was as sharp‑tongued and vicious as ever.
"Shameless Homewrecker Calista Has No Shame Inserting Herself into Her Uncle's Marriage!"
Headlines just like that were everywhere.
If that wasn't bad enough, the thing that sent Calista spiraling into complete, inescapable ruin was a post on social media from Elara:
Saw a stray dog on the street, felt bad for it, so I brought it home. Who knew it'd be so ungrateful and bite the hand that fed it?
The comments underneath exploded instantly.
A: [Elara's definitely shading Calista here, right?]
B: [Total ungrateful backstabber, having the nerve to cheat and ruin someone's relationship? f*****g disgusting!]
Calista stared at the words on her screen, trembling so hard with rage her teeth chattered.
She was just about to post a clarification on social media when, out of nowhere, her phone pinged with a new notification.
The official Calder Group account had just shared Elara's post.
Calista remembered Emrys had always been the one managing that account himself, no one else.
- Writer
