Chapter 1
She woke up with one thought in her mind.
*I am going to die.*
Her eyes opened slowly.
A dark wooden ceiling came into view.
For several seconds, she simply stared at it.
Then she remembered.
The novel.
The ending.
The woman whose body she was now wearing.
Her breathing became shallow.
“Lady Eveline?”
A maid stood beside the bed.
She looked frightened.
Not of her.
Of something else.
Eveline pushed herself upright.
“Where am I?”
The maid's expression changed.
“You... don't remember?”
Eveline didn't answer.
The door suddenly opened.
A man entered.
The room became silent.
He was tall, dressed completely in black, his expression colder than the winter outside.
Eveline recognized him immediately.
Lucian Vale.
The male lead.
The villain.
And, according to the novel, the man who would eventually kill her.
His eyes landed on her.
There was no surprise.
No concern.
Nothing.
Just a cold, unreadable stare.
“Leave.”
The maid immediately bowed and left.
The door closed.
Eveline's fingers tightened around the blanket.
Lucian walked toward the table and picked up a letter.
He didn't look at her again.
She remembered something important.
The original Eveline and Lucian had known each other since childhood.
But knowing someone for years didn't mean he was kind to her.
Especially now.
At this point in the original story, their relationship had already become distant.
She had been trying to regain his attention for reasons the novel never explained.
And Lucian had no patience for her.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
Eveline blinked.
“In your room?”
His eyes finally lifted.
The coldness in them made her immediately regret the answer.
“Don't play games with me.”
She lowered her gaze.
“I'm sorry.”
Silence.
Lucian stared at her as if he were trying to decide whether she was being sincere.
Then he placed the letter down.
“You were supposed to be at the eastern estate.”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot?”
His voice remained calm.
Somehow, that made it worse.
Eveline nodded.
“Yes.”
He said nothing.
She could almost hear the original character's reputation inside his silence.
Cunning.
Selfish.
Troublesome.
Dangerous when cornered.
She had inherited all of that.
But she hadn't inherited the memories.
Not yet.
That was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Because if she behaved differently, Lucian would notice.
And if he noticed...
She didn't know what would happen.
Lucian picked up the letter again.
“Go.”
She hesitated.
There was something she needed to know.
Something that might determine whether she survived.
“Lucian.”
He stopped reading.
She forced herself to continue.
“Do you... trust me?”
His eyes slowly moved toward her.
For the first time, something changed in his expression.
Not warmth.
Not anger.
Something closer to disbelief.
Then he gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
“Should I?”
Eveline's heart sank.
“No.”
“Then don't ask foolish questions.”
He returned to the letter.
The conversation was over.
Eveline stood there for another moment before turning toward the door.
Her hand touched the handle.
Then she stopped.
She suddenly remembered the one thing that mattered.
The original novel had never explained why Eveline died.
Only that she did.
Only that Lucian was the one responsible.
And if she wanted to survive, she couldn't simply avoid him.
She needed to understand him.
She needed his trust.
Slowly, she released the door.
*First, I need to figure out what kind of relationship we had.*
Because right now...
The man who was supposed to be her closest companion looked at her like he couldn't stand the sight of her.
And she had no idea why.
