Chapter 21 

The private jet pierced through the clouds. James stared at the shrinking skyline below, faint needle marks from the IV still visible on the back of his hand. 

The price of medical parole was permanent exile from Corvalis and everyone who had once revolved 

around him. 

Nolan was now hiding overseas under an assumed name. 

Conrad had been reduced to an ordinary office worker. 

Liam remained behind bars. 

A flight attendant offered James a glass of champagne. Just as he reached to take it, his eyes caught the cover of a financial magazine, showing Adrianna and Derick standing side by side. 

The bold headline read: “Power Couple of Ashford Corporation Acquires Core Assets of Emmons Corporation.” 

James flung the magazine across the cabin. The violent motion yanked at the electronic shackle on his wrist, and a shrill alarm split the air. 

In front of the blue-domed church in Thalorina, Adrianna’s white veil caught the sea breeze and lifted gracefully. 

“Nervous?” Derick asked softly, noticing the subtle tremor in her fingers. 

She looked up at the man in his impeccably tailored suit, and warmth stung her eyes as an image flashed 

in her mind-Derick kneeling in tears before her grave in her past life. “I was just thinking…” 

The priest’s words were suddenly cut short. 

“I object!” 

A ripple of surprise swept through the guests. 

A woman in dark sunglasses barged in, sparking an even greater uproar when she removed them. 

It was Cecilia. Her face was ashen, with faint, unhealed scars from a recent suicide attempt still marring 

her wrist. 

“Derick!” Cecilia’s voice was shrill, almost hysterical, as she jabbed a finger at Adrianna. “This woman has been reborn! She’s a monster!” 

The room plunged into a dead silence. 

Adrianna’s blood turned to ice. Instinctively, she glanced at Derick, only to see him calmly adjust his cufflinks. “Security.” 

Four bodyguards moved in at once, seizing Cecilia. 

“You’ll all pay for this!” Cecilia’s screams grew faint as she was dragged away. “Adrianna, you’ll never-” 

Derick cupped Adrianna’s ears and lowered his head to kiss her. 

Amid the guests’ applause, he rested his forehead against hers and murmured, “Have I won in this life?” 

Adrianna smiled, returning his kiss. “You won long ago.” 

In the third year of their marriage, the top floor of Ashford Corporation’s headquarters underwent a complete renovation. 

Adrianna, one hand resting on her gently rounded belly, oversaw the workers as they hung a painting titled “Spring Mountains in the Misty Rain.”. 

It was a cherished work by her late mentor, painstakingly restored and acquired by Derick at three times 

its original price. 

“Mr. Ashford, Mrs. Ashford has skipped lunch again,” Yannick said helplessly, handing him a tablet. “I really couldn’t convince her.” 

Adrianna could be seen discreetly tipping the nutritionist’s carefully prepared maternity meal into the 

trash on the surveillance feed. 

Derick closed his laptop, stepped out himself, and bought her latest craving-pumpkin soup. 

On the way back, the press spotted the usually imposing Mr. Ashford carrying a humble plastic bag, 

cradling the steaming paper bowl as if it were the most delicate treasure. 

#AshfordCorporationCouple once again claimed the top of the trending charts. 

On the day of the delivery, the usually calm Derick nearly tore the hospital apart. 

“C-section! Now!” he roared, grabbing the hospital director’s collar. “She’s been in pain for 12 hours!” 

Adrianna weakly tugged at his sleeve. “Derick… Calm down…” 

“How can I calm down?” The man who never wavered at the negotiating table now had a tremor in his 

voice. “You…” 

When the baby’s first cry finally broke the air, Adrianna saw the formidable titan of the business world kneeling beside the delivery bed, tears streaming down his face. 

The nurse smiled and asked, “What’s the baby’s name?” 

“Mira Ashford,” Adrianna whispered. 

Derick pressed a kiss to her sweat-dampened forehead. “Mira…” 

On the day of Mira’s one-month celebration, Adrianna discovered a locked safe in the walk-in closet. 

Chapter 21 

The password was the date of her rebirth. 

Inside lay the investigation report from before. 

3/3 

“You…” Adrianna turned to find Derick in the doorway, their daughter in his arms. “You knew all along?” 

He placed the sleeping baby in her crib, then drew Adrianna into his arms from behind. “I started investigating the day your parents suddenly came to me.” 

He kissed the crown of her head. “After all, it was something as impossible as being reborn…” 

“But you still believed me.” 

“Because it was you who said it.” 

A fine drizzle veiled the cemetery where Adrianna seť a white rose before a nameless gravestone. It was the resting place of her former self. 

Beneath a black umbrella, Derick cradled Mira in his arms, the little girl reaching out with curiosity to catch the falling raindrops. 

“Who is Mommy talking to?” she asked in her soft, milky voice. 

He sank to one knee, his hand brushing over the cold stone. “Someone very important.” 

Adrianna, eyes rimmed red, turned and caught Derick’s gentle profile through the curtain of rain. 

“In this life, I’ll stay with you both until we’re old,” he said, rising to wrap his arms around his wife and 

daughter. 

On the drive home, Mira slept soundly in her car seat. 

Leaning against Derick’s shoulder, Adrianna caught sight of his phone’s lock screen. It was a photo of the three of them in the delivery room, their very first picture as a family. 

After two lifetimes, everything was finally whole.