Chapter196 I was reborn

Chapter196 I was reborn
Aliya POV

Nikolai went completely still. I could see the shock register in his eyes.

"Didn't expect me to be so ruthless?" I asked quietly.

But instead of pulling away, Nikolai suddenly grabbed me and pulled me close, his arms wrapping around me tightly. There was excitement in his voice when he spoke.

"So three years ago, when you were with Marcus, it was all to trap him, wasn't it?"

"Yes," I said simply. "I lured him onto that yacht specifically to get rid of him. But I never expected you to show up there too."

Nikolai's grip on me tightened. "You didn't love Marcus at all, did you?"

"Love him?" I let out a bitter laugh. "No, I didn't love him. I hated him."

Nikolai took my hands in his, his thumbs stroking over my knuckles. "Then why didn't you tell me three years ago? Why didn't you let me help you?"

I gave him a small smile. "Well, Victor did help me a little. But your help? I didn't need it. That was my business, my fight with Marcus. I wanted to get revenge myself."

Nikolai's expression became incredibly tender as he looked at me. "Sweetheart, the Moon Goddess sent me to you to tell you that you don't have to be so strong all the time. What did that bastard Marcus do to you?"

I tilted my head back to look at the endless carpet of stars above us. The words came out quietly, almost like a confession to the night sky itself.

"You probably won't believe this, but I'm actually reborn."

"What do you mean?"

"In my previous life," I began, still gazing upward, "I was naive enough to marry Marcus. I used my entire family's power to support him, helped him become the alpha king."

"But after he got what he wanted, he told me it was all a lie. His love, his protection, everything was just a disguise to trick me into helping him." The memories felt like shards of glass in my throat. "Once he became alpha king, he didn't need to pretend anymore."

"That son of a bitch," Nikolai growled, his hands tightening on mine.

"He slept with Sarah right in front of me. And my parents..." I had to stop for a moment, the words catching. "He killed them. Brutally. And then he made me..." I felt sick just thinking about it. "He made me eat their flesh."

"Jesus Christ," Nikolai breathed, his voice shaking with rage. "Aliya, no."

I could feel him trembling with anger, but I forced myself to continue. "As for me, Marcus threw me to the rogues he was secretly working with. They took turns with me until I died."

"I'm going to kill him," Nikolai said fiercely. "I'm going to bring him back to life just so I can kill him again."

"They hit me, stabbed me, made me bleed everywhere. It hurt so much, Nikolai." The tears were flowing freely now. "I screamed until my voice was gone, but no one came to save me. No one."

Nikolai pulled me against his chest, his arms forming a protective cage around me. "I'm here now. I'm here."

"In my previous life, today was the day I died," I whispered against his shoulder. "I remember looking up at stars just like these, so beautiful and bright, right before everything went dark."

"Baby, I'm so sorry," he murmured into my hair.

"It's been so long that some of the memories are fuzzy now, but whenever I think about it, my body still aches. I can still feel the pain sometimes."

Nikolai was holding me so tightly I could barely breathe, but I needed that pressure, that reminder that I was safe.

"So when I got this second chance, when I came back to life, I knew I had to make Marcus pay. But sometimes I wonder if what I did was wrong." I pulled back to look at him. "The Marcus who hurt me was from my previous life. Technically, the Marcus in this life hadn't done those things yet."

"Don't you dare feel guilty about this," Nikolai said fiercely. "Don't you dare."

"But is it right to punish someone for crimes they haven't committed yet?"

"He would have done the same things, Aliya. Men like that don't change." Nikolai cupped my face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to carry this alone for so long."

"Don't you think I'm too cruel now?" I asked. "Too cold-hearted?"

"The only thing I regret is that I didn't get to kill Marcus myself for making you so helpless, for putting you through hell."

I leaned into his touch, feeling some of the weight I'd been carrying start to lift. "So you understand why I can't trust love anymore? It's too painful, Nikolai. Last time, it cost me my life."

"I understand," he said softly.

"I gave everything I had to someone who was just using me. My heart, my family's resources, my complete faith and trust. And he destroyed all of it. He destroyed me."

"He was a monster," Nikolai said. "What he did to you, what he put you through, it was evil."

"I'm scared," I admitted, the words barely audible. "I'm scared of being that vulnerable again. Of trusting someone with everything and having them tear me apart."

"I know, sweetheart. I know."

We stood there in silence for a while, holding each other under the vast expanse of stars. I could feel Nikolai's heart beating against my cheek, steady and strong.

Nikolai was quiet for a long moment, just studying my face in the starlight. When he finally spoke, his voice was incredibly gentle.

"Aliya, I can't promise that loving someone won't hurt sometimes. But I can promise that I will never be Marcus. I will never use your love as a weapon against you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I love you more than I love power, more than I love anything. You and Nova are my world now."

I wanted to believe him. Every fiber of my being wanted to trust in the sincerity I saw in his eyes.

"I've been alone with my pain for so long," I whispered. "I don't know how to let someone else in."

"You don't have to figure it all out tonight," Nikolai said. "We can take it slow. We can take it one day at a time."

The stars above us seemed to pulse with ancient light, witnesses to countless love stories, countless heartbreaks, countless second chances.

Nikolai's smile was radiant. "That's all I'm asking for. Just a chance."

He looked up at the brilliant canopy of stars above us, then back down at me with such tenderness that it made my heart ache in the best possible way.

"Under all these stars, Aliya," he said softly, "are you willing to give love another chance?"