A Sacrifice Rekindled

The smell of smoke and burning wood woke me, my heart pounding. It was the same fire, the one that had consumed everything in my first life.

But this time, Kaelen was alive, his silver eyes narrowed, not in concern for me, but in a frantic search for Lyra.

He accused me of setting the blaze, demanding I save her with my own lifeblood, forcing the agonizing transfusion while she smirked, thriving on my pain and his blind devotion.

How could he believe her lies, even as I sacrificed everything, again and again, for the very life he now blamed me for saving?

Then, the memory hit me: Kaelen, dying in my past life, his last breath a bitter regret not for Lyra, but for me. This second chance wasn't just about saving him from fire, but from himself, from the painful, world-shattering regret that had haunted his dying eyes.