Betrothed to a Billionaire

Chapter 2: A Second Chance

From her position Ariana remained immobile as she studied her reflection in the mirror.

She saw a different face reflected in the mirror because the exhaustion heartache and scars she once carried had disappeared. The same delicate features, the same soft waves of dark hair, but her eyes… They were different.

Something innocent had disappeared from her eyes.

The eyes of this woman who perished because of betrayal now carried an entire woman's weight.

Taking a deep breath she touched the vanity's smooth surface with her fingers. No amount of time had blunted her vision of blood spreading across the frozen pavement below her body. She had died. She knew she had. And yet—

Quickly she spun around to view the entire space.

Every part of the room looked exactly the way it did when she left it many years before. The combination of contemporary sophistication and Chinese heritage remained visible throughout her chambers through the embroidered silk bedcover and carved wooden partition and her nightstand's jasmine incense perfume.

This wasn't a dream.

Impossible though it seemed she managed to time-travel back to her past self.

Her hands clenched into fists.

She refused to become their tool this time.

Against Antony's lies she decided to remain unyielding this time around.

This time she swore to extract payment from them.

---

An unexpected knock on the door brought her mind back to attention.

The servant announced "Breakfast is ready for Miss Ariana."

To gain control over her emotions Ariana forced herself to swallow. Acting out of the ordinary was not an option for her. People would never accept that she underwent a rebirth. She needed to survive while planning her revenge so she took great care about everything she did.

She walked toward the wardrobe while her touch glided across the known fabrics. During that recollection she remembered herself as a younger girl picking delicate pastel colors because she wanted Antony to find her appealing.

Her jaw tightened.

Not this time.

She brought forth a slim dark red dress for the occasion. Elegant, but striking. Strength marks this color preventing anyone from seeing it as a sign of submission.

Through the mirror she saw her naked wrists while she put on clothes. No engagement ring. No chains bound her to Antony Raymond.

The soft burlesque smile formed across her lips.

She had returned to her original condition.

---

The sight that greeted her in the dining room nearly brought a sudden constriction to her chest.

His father occupied the head position at the table while he read financial news during his habitual routine. Her stepmother wore elegance while keeping herself busy with a sip of tea. The dining room table revealed her half-sibling Madison laughing quietly while moving between phone screens.

Alive.

Not in a coma. Not betrayed.

Her hands shook when she reached for her seat. Failure to keep her sister safe in her previous life terrified her. She received another opportunity at life.

"Ariana?" Madison's happy tone interrupting her thoughts created a sudden break. "You're staring."

Ariana registered the scene before her face became neutral. "Just… thinking."

Her stepmother briefly turned her eyes toward Ariana. Since this morning you seem different than your normal self. Did something happen?"

Ariana adopted a fake grin to direct her answer with caution. "No, Mother. A strange dream visited me last night. That's all it was.

Her father briefly looked away from his newspaper to study her before returning to his reading.

Good. No suspicion. She had to keep it that way.

---

Ariana went straight to her bedroom following breakfast as her thoughts moved quickly.

She had time now. Time to prepare.

She began her plan by evaluating every situation at hand. How far back had she come? Her father established what agreements before her arrival? When precisely would Antony start developing his plans?

She rushed to retrieve her old journals from their shelf while she rapidly flipped through their neatly dated pages. She meticulously recorded all dates and events from her meetings because she lacked any awareness of approaching danger.

She flipped through the pages rapidly because her heart raced as she verified the truth.

The journey brought her right back to her initial starting point.

Antony had not earned her trust at that time.

Rachel had not yet started spreading her hurtful suggestions at this moment.

Before Madison's "accident."

Ariana inhaled deeply, steadying herself.

This was it.

Her chance to rewrite everything.

---

Her initial modest steps occurred during that afternoon.

She ordered the employees to retrieve latest financial records from their business operations. The teenager arranged secret messaging to reach out discreetly to her father's most loyal advisors then scheduled meetings under false business learning pretenses.

She was careful. Calculated.

Every move had to be subtle.

The couple remained in darkness about her detection efforts. Not yet.

The knock on her office door arrived just when she was completing her review of documents.

An employee announced to Ariana "Young Master Antony seeks your presence right now."

Ariana clutched the papers harder in her hands.

So it begins.

Ariana stepped back to normalize her appearance then paused for air before mastering a nonchalant face.

"Send him in."