Serena's POV
For a long moment, I couldn't say anything.
The wind moved softly across the balcony, carrying the distant sounds of music and conversation from inside the ballroom, but everything felt strangely quiet.
Adrian remembered.
Not just small details.
Not vague feelings.
He remembered my death.
The balcony.
The champagne glass.
The exact moment my life ended.
Which meant only one thing.
He had lived that life too.
I stared at him, trying to find some sign that he was joking or testing me somehow. But Adrian Kingsley didn't look like a man who made jokes about death.
His expression was calm.
Serious.
Almost... relieved.
"You're not surprised," he said quietly.
It wasn't a question.
I swallowed, forcing my thoughts into order.
"You expected me to believe you?" I replied carefully.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I expected you to understand."
I crossed my arms, leaning against the railing beside him.
"And why would I understand something that sounds completely insane?"
Adrian studied my face for a moment longer.
Then he said something that made my stomach twist.
"Because you remember it too."
The certainty in his voice left no room for denial.
My heart beat harder.
Of course he would notice.
Someone who had lived through the same events would recognize the signs.
The way I spoke.
The way I looked at Lily.
The way I reacted to him.
Everything was different from the girl he remembered.
Still, I didn't answer immediately.
Adrian sighed quietly.
"You woke up earlier than I did," he continued.
That made me blink.
"What?"
"In the last timeline," he said calmly, "you died before me."
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
Before him?
That meant Adrian had lived past the night I was poisoned.
"How...?" I began.
He cut me off.
"I found out the truth later."
My hands tightened slightly.
"The truth?"
"That you didn't collapse from illness."
His eyes darkened.
"You were poisoned."
Hearing the word again sent a wave of anger through my chest.
"Yes," I said quietly.
"I know."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"I suspected it."
My head snapped toward him.
"You suspected it?"
His jaw tightened slightly.
"But I was too late."
For the first time since we started speaking, Adrian looked... angry.
Not loud anger.
Not explosive anger.
But something colder.
Something dangerous.
"I spent months investigating after your death," he continued.
"Something about that night never made sense."
My heart pounded faster.
"And?"
His gaze shifted toward the ballroom doors.
"And I discovered things your family would rather keep hidden."
Lily's face flashed through my mind.
Sweet.
Innocent.
Deadly.
"You found out it was her," I said.
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Then he spoke quietly.
"Yes."
The confirmation felt strange.
Part of me had always known.
But hearing someone else say it out loud made it feel real all over again.
"She wasn't careful enough," he continued.
"There were traces of poison in the champagne glass."
My fingers curled slightly.
"So what happened to her?"
Adrian's expression darkened.
"I confronted her."
"And?"
For a moment, he didn't respond.
Then he said something unexpected.
"She denied everything."
I frowned.
"That's it?"
"No."
His voice became colder.
"She tried to run."
I stared at him.
"Run?"
"Yes."
Adrian leaned against the railing beside me, looking out over the city again.
"But she didn't get very far."
Something in his tone made my heart skip.
"What did you do?" I asked slowly.
He glanced at me.
And for the first time since we started talking, a faint smile appeared.
Not a warm smile.
Something sharper.
"Let's just say," he said calmly, "Lily Vale didn't have a very happy ending."
A strange mix of emotions twisted inside me.
Relief.
Shock.
And something darker.
"You killed her?" I asked.
Adrian shrugged slightly.
"I didn't say that."
Which meant he wasn't going to clarify either.
The silence between us stretched for a moment.
Then I asked the question that had been bothering me since the beginning.
"When did you wake up?"
"Three weeks ago."
My eyes widened slightly.
"That long?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't come find me?"
Adrian gave me a strange look.
"I did."
That surprised me.
"When?"
"The day after I woke up."
I blinked.
"But we didn't meet."
"That's because you were still acting exactly like before."
His words made me pause.
"What do you mean?"
"You still obeyed your father."
"You still protected Lily."
"You still avoided me."
My chest tightened slightly.
Of course I had.
At that point, I hadn't died yet.
I hadn't learned the truth.
"So you waited," I said slowly.
"Yes."
Adrian's gaze moved over my face again.
"I wanted to see when you would change."
A small chill ran through me.
"And tonight?"
He smiled faintly.
"Tonight confirmed it."
I frowned.
"Confirmed what?"
"That the Serena standing in front of me now..."
His eyes locked onto mine.
"...is not the same Serena I lost."
The words hung in the air between us.
Lost.
He said it so casually.
But the meaning behind it was heavy.
"You talk like we were close," I said carefully.
"In the last timeline."
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he studied my face again, as if debating something.
Then he said quietly,
"We were engaged."
"I know."
"But that wasn't the whole story."
My heart skipped.
"What do you mean?"
Adrian stepped closer.
Not threateningly.
But close enough that I could see every detail of his expression.
"In the last timeline," he said softly,
"I loved you."
My breath caught.
The words felt unreal.
Loved me?
That didn't make sense.
"You barely spoke to me," I said.
"You always looked uninterested."
Adrian let out a quiet laugh.
"You really believed that?"
"Of course I did."
His smile faded slightly.
"That's unfortunate."
"Why?"
"Because while you were busy convincing yourself I preferred your sister..."
His eyes darkened.
"...I was trying to figure out how to make you stop sacrificing everything for her."
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I stared at him in shock.
"You're saying... you never liked Lily?"
Adrian's expression turned completely flat.
"I never even considered her."
The answer was immediate.
Absolute.
Which meant something very uncomfortable.
All those years...
All those sacrifices...
They had been based on a lie.
A lie Lily told me.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
"That's ridiculous."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"What is?"
"My life," I said quietly.
"For years I thought I was being a good sister."
My fingers tightened slightly against the railing.
"But apparently I was just being an idiot."
Adrian didn't argue with that.
Instead, he said something that made my heart skip again.
"You don't have to repeat the same mistakes."
I looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Adrian's gaze was steady.
"In the previous timeline, I failed to protect you."
A strange seriousness filled his voice.
"But this time..."
His eyes hardened slightly.
"...I won't make the same mistake."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The city lights glittered endlessly below us.
Somewhere inside the ballroom, the music changed.
And standing there beside Adrian Kingsley, I realized something important.
My revenge...
My future...
My second life...
None of it would be simple anymore.
Because now there were two people who knew how the story ended.
And together...
We could change everything.
