Reborn to Love His Rival

The year my mission imploded, Zane sent me to prison with his own two hands.

He stared straight into my eyes, his voice devoid of warmth. You take the fall for her. When you get out, I'll marry you.

Tears streamed down my face. My throat felt raw. Zane, Ill die in there.

He laughed. A cruel, hollow sound. "Don't use death as leverage. If you actually die, it saves her life. Thats a fair trade."

And just as he wished, I died.

So why, exactly, is the man who called me worthless currently clutching my urn at his wedding, sobbing like hes been shattered into a million pieces?

Chapter 1

"You take the fall for her. When you get out, I'll marry you."

Zanes voice was ice. A glacier grating against my eardrums.

I am a Conqueror.

My directive: Make Zane fall in love with me.

This was Year Five. The deadline.

For five years, I played the part of the desperate simp. I circled his orbit like a moth drawn to a flame. It didn't matter how his friends mocked me. It didn't matter how much he loathed my existence.

I stayed.

I tended to his wounds. I anticipated his needs. I swallowed my pride until I choked on it.

And it was working. I could feel the frost thawing. I saw the shift in his gaze. I thought victory was within reach.

Then the world tilted on its axis.

That night, Courtney and I went to a bar.

Courtney. Zanes obsession. The one that got away. She loved someone else, of course. But that guy didn't want her. He wanted another woman.

A classic, messy love quadrangle. Or it was, until I showed up and shifted the dynamic.

Courtney had just been rejected again. She needed a drinking buddy to drown her sorrows. To please Zane, I would have befriended the devil himself. So, I befriended his crush.

We drank. A lot.

My memory of leaving the bar is a blur of neon lights and asphalt. When I woke up, the sound of weeping drilled into my skull.

My vision swam. I saw Courtney in the driver's seat. She was shaking with terror, clutching her phone like a lifeline. "Zane... I killed him. I hit someone. Im so scared..."

Adrenaline snapped me sober.

Through the windshield, I saw it. A few yards from the sedan, a body lay on the tarmac.

Mr. Smith.

He was a mess of twisted limbs and blood. Motionless.

I slammed the passenger door open. I had to check on him.

"Sloane! Where are you going?!" Courtneys fingers dug into my arm. "Im checking his pulse! If hes still alive, we need an ambulance. Now!"

"No! You can't call 911!" Courtney shrieked, her grip tightening until her nails broke skin. "I can't go to prison, Sloane! I can't!"

"What if he can be saved?"

I shoved her off.

I stumbled out of the car. The night air hit my face, cold and sharp. Courtney scrambled after me. She tackled me, dragging me back, blocking my path to the victim.

"Stop! Don't go over there!"

We wrestled on the desolate highway. Pushing. Pulling. Screaming.

Headlights cut through the darkness. Tires screeched.

Zane.

He was here.

Courtney abandoned me instantly. She threw herself into his arms. "Zane! Sloane is trying to call the cops on me! She wants me arrested!"

Chapter 2

Zanes gaze sliced through me. Sharp. Glacial. Pure, unfiltered disgust radiated from his eyes.

He turned his back on me and strode toward the body. He nudged Mr. Smith with the toe of his expensive Oxford shoe. "He's dead."

Flat. Final.

Courtney collapsed. Her knees hit the asphalt with a sickening thud. She curled into a ball, spiraling. "No. No prison. I can't do prison. My showcase... I have the soloist spot in two weeks. Its my big break. I cant lose this..."

Sobs tore out of her throat. She sounded like a wounded animal.

Zane didn't hesitate. He crouched down and scooped her up, tucking her head under his chin.

Courtney clung to his lapels, her knuckles turning white. "Zane, please. Prison will destroy me. My career, my life... itll all be over."

She wailed, the sound piercing the night air.

Pain flashed across Zanes facefor her. "Shh. Ive got you," he murmured against her hair. "Youre not going down for this. I promise."

Then, he lifted his head.

His eyes locked onto mine.

For a split second, I thought he actually saw me. I thought he was going to ask if I was okay.

Then he delivered the kill shot.

"Sloane. You were driving."

The world stopped.

I blinked. Once. Twice. Had my hearing short-circuited? I stared at him, paralyzed.

Courtneys sobbing cut off instantly. She pulled back from Zanes chest. Her tear-streaked face turned toward me. Beneath the fear, a spark ignited in her eyes.

Relief.

Maybe even triumph.

"I didn't hit him." My voice shook, but I forced the volume up. "I wasn't driving!"

"It was you." Zanes tone brooked no argument. "I'm calling 911. I'll get you the best defense team in the city. We'll plead it down to manslaughter. You'll do minimum time."

A laugh bubbled up in my chest. Bitter. Acidic. It was the first time his cruelty actually made me want to laugh instead of cry.

"Zane, listen to me! I didn't kill him! I am not going to perjure myself for her!" Hysteria clawed at my throat.

"Courtney cannot go to prison."

He stepped over my panic like it was trash. His indifference was terrifying.

"She can't? But I can?" My laugh turned into a jagged gasp. "Is that it?"

"Shes a virtuoso, Sloane. She has a brilliant future ahead of her. Shes fragile. Her record needs to be spotless..."

"So my life is disposable?"

I was shaking now, rage and disbelief warring in my blood. "Ive never hurt anyone! Why should I destroy my future to save hers?"

I clenched my fists to stop the trembling. "Zane, you can't be this selfish. You can't play god like this!"

"What future?"

He sneered, looking me up and down. "Your life revolves around chasing men. Besides love, what do you actually have?"

The air left my lungs.

A physical blow.

For the first time, the weight of the last five years crushed me. All my devotion. All my love. To him, it was nothing.

Cheap.

Worthless.

"You take the fall for her. When you get out, I'll marry you."

He tossed the offer like a bone to a dog. As if becoming his wife was the ultimate prize. The Holy Grail that would make up for a prison sentence.

Hah.

I was beyond words.

Chapter 3

Echos mechanical warning buzzed in my ear.

"Host, do not agree. This is the final year of the conquest. If you go to prison, the system defaults to mission failure. Game over."

I ignored the glitching noise in my head. I looked straight at him.

"Zane. I'm dying."

I forced the corners of my mouth up. A cold, jagged smile. I enunciated every syllable, making sure they landed like stones.

"Don't threaten me with death," he said. His voice was absolute zero. "If you're really dying, use that life to save hers. Its a fair trade."

My chest seized. The air left my lungs in a violent rush.

"I. Do. Not. Consent!"

I screamed the words, my composure shattering into a million jagged pieces.

"You know exactly what I'm capable of." Zane didn't even raise his voice. The threat hung heavy in the air, suffocating. "You don't have a choice, Sloane."

Right.

Zane ruled this city. In his world, laws were suggestions. Finding a scapegoat? Pinning a hit-and-run on an innocent woman? Child's play.

"Quit while you're ahead, Sloane," Zane said, adjusting his cuffs. "When you get out, you'll thank me for this."

So.

They frame me. I rot in a cell for a crime I didn't commit. And Im supposed to kiss the ring in gratitude.

Zane sent me away.

The judge sentenced me to three years.

I didn't last one.

Echo terminated me within the first twelve months. My heart stopped beating on a concrete floor. Mission failed.

But I didn't leave.

I became a wisp of consciousness, a ghost tethered to Zanes side. Echo called it punishment. Eternal purgatory for the loser.

Three years passed.

"Mr. Zhou," Cody said, stepping into the office. "Sloane is scheduled for release tomorrow."

Zane looked up from his files. His expression didn't flicker.

Three years. He hadn't visited. Not once. No letters. No lawyers. If Cody hadn't opened his mouth, Zane would have forgotten I ever existed.

Silence stretched across the office. Thick. Heavy.

I hovered near the ceiling, watching him. He was probably trying to remember who "Sloane" even was.

"Sir?" Cody pressed, shifting his weight.

"Mmh. Noted." Zanes tone was flat. Bored.

Cody hesitated, sensing the dismissal, and backed out of the room.

Zane went back to his paperwork without missing a beat. My freedom meant nothing to him.

Hed probably forgotten the deal he made when he threw me to the wolves. Take the fall, and Ill marry you.

Not that I cared anymore. Hard to care about a wedding when youre dead.

Dead for two years.

Death brings clarity. It strips away the delusions.

Zane wasn't a lover. He wasn't a person. He was just a failed objective. A glitched quest log. I felt nothing for him now. No love. No hate. Just a cold, hollow wait.

I watched him work, praying for his heart to stop. If he died, the tether would snap. I could finally move on. I could finally disappear.

Hours bled by.

Zane finally capped his pen. He stood up, rolling his stiff shoulders. He picked up his phone and dialed Cody. "You said Sloane is released tomorrow?"

Floating in the dead air above him, I let out a jagged, silent laugh.

The irony was suffocating.

Chapter 4

Should I be flattered? He actually remembered me.

Even if I was always the last item on his agenda. Dead last.

I watched him calculate the hours. If his meetings ran long, hed probably just scrub me from the schedule entirely.

"Yes, Mr. Zhou."

"I promised to marry her," Zane said.

His voice carried zero warmth. It was a statement of fact. A debt to be cleared.

Ha.

Incredible. You actually remembered.

"Arrange a wedding," Zane ordered, eyes still scanning a document. "I'll drive to the prison tomorrow and pick her up. Well do it then."

Cody blinked. "Sir, organizing a wedding on such short notice is"

"Keep it minimal," Zane cut him off.

Code for: Just get it done.

He didn't want a celebration. He wanted to check a box.

My ghost of a smile twisted into something uglier.

Cody left to execute the order.

Zane sat there, phone in hand. He hesitated. For a long, agonizing minute, he just stared at the screen. Then, with a look of complicated misery, he dialed Courtney.

They hadn't stopped talking. Not for the last two years.

While I rotted in a cell for her crime, Courtneys career skyrocketed. She was the darling of the classical music world now. International tours. Magazine covers. Limitless potential.

And she was still single.

A few months ago, shed had a breakdown. Called Zane in the middle of the night, sobbing. She told him to wait two more years. If she was still single then, shed marry him.

Zane hadn't said no.

He hadn't said yes, either.

But now? We were barely halfway through that timeline.

I floated closer, genuinely curious. How was he going to spin this? Would he actually break his "Golden Girl's" heart?

"Zane?"

Courtneys voice purred through the speaker. Soft. Sugary.

I saw Zanes knuckles whiten as he gripped the phone. He took a breath, steeling himself. "Courtney. Sloane is being released tomorrow."

"Already?" The word shot out before she could catch it.

She paused, recalibrating instantly. Her tone shifted to practiced concern. "I mean... finally. Oh, Zane, I feel so guilty whenever I think about her. Im actually free tomorrow. Let me come with you to pick her up. You are going, right?"

"Im going," Zane said.

He paused. The air in the room grew heavy. "Im also throwing her a wedding tomorrow."

"A... wedding?" Courtneys voice pitched up. A crack in the facade. "Youre marrying her?"

"Mmh. I promised."

"But... what about our pact?"

"Im sorry." Zane sounded genuinely pained.

I stared at him.

When he sent me to prison, he never looked this gutted. Back then, he acted like he was doing me a favor. Like I should be thanking him for the opportunity to ruin my life.

"Zane, please. Think this through," Courtney pleaded, her voice trembling. "Marriage isn't a game. Youre just going to make yourself miserable."

"I know," Zane whispered. His voice dropped an octave, dripping with tragic nobility. "But I gave her my word. I can't break it. Even if it means sacrificing my own happiness."

I burst out laughing.

It was a silent, hysterical scream that no one could hear.

Look at him.

Saint Zane.

Sacrificing himself to the monster.

Martyrdom really suited him. He was practically glowing with self-righteousness.

Chapter 5

"Zane, I can't stand seeing you suffer like this." Courtneys voice cracked, thick with distress.

Zane didn't answer.

He didn't have to. His face said it all. The furrowed brow, the clenched jawhe was the picture of a man being torn apart by duty. Reluctant. Unwilling.

Above them, I laughed until I metaphorically choked.

He had no idea.

To Courtney, he wasn't the love of her life. He was the backup plan. The safety net.

He thought his deep, ocean-like devotion was making her feel guilty? Please. She was just terrified that if her main target didn't work out, shed lose her consolation prize.

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess," Courtney sobbed. "Let me fix it. Ill go to Sloane tomorrow. Ill apologize. We can give her money. A lot of it. Ill make her promise to leave you alone."

"Sloane won't take the money," Zane said. His voice was absolute, dripping with confidence. "She only wants me."

I gagged.

If I had a physical body, I would have vomited right there on his expensive Persian rug.

Yes.

Back then, I had to want you. It was literally programmed into my brain. I had to chase you to survive.

But now?

Who in their right mind would want the man who framed them? Who would pine for the guy who sent an innocent woman to prison?

The system is gone. The leash is off. Im not sick in the head.

"Zane..."

"My mind is made up." Zane cut her off, sounding like a general marching to his doom. "Courtney, take care of yourself."

He hung up. Hard.

Like he was afraid that if he listened to her for one more second, his resolve would crumble.

I watched him stand there, bathed in the glow of his own self-imposed martyrdom.

God, I couldn't wait for tomorrow.

I really wanted to see his face when he realized he wasn't picking up a bride, but a box of ashes. Hed probably cry tears of joy, right? Finally rid of the burden.

The next day.

Zane dressed in a bespoke suit, tailored to perfection.

He stared at his reflection in the full-length mirror for a long time. Silence hung heavy in the room. He still looked unwilling. Like a man walking to the gallows instead of a wedding.

Cody had to check the time and clear his throat three times before Zane finally moved. He took a deep breath, adjusted his tie with tragic solemnity, and walked out.

Outside the villa, a fleet of luxury cars waited. A motorcade fit for a diplomat. Zane got into the lead car.

I drifted in after him, settling into the leather seat as we rolled toward the prison.

Three years.

Three full years, and he hadnt visited once.

But the prison staff had called him. I remembered that day clearly. It was right after I died.

Zane was driving Courtney to a concert. They were running late, and he was speeding, weaving through traffic with intense focus.

The phone rang.

"Are you Sloane's family?" the voice on the other end asked.

"I'm busy right now. Whatever it is, talk to me later." Zanes voice was clipped. Impatient.

"Sloane has died in an accident at the prison. You need to come"

"What? Is she playing dead now?" Zane let out a scoff, his eyes cold with mockery. "Shes really pulling out all the stops to get me to visit? Tell her Im busy. I don't have time for her games."

"Sir, I said Sloane is dead!"

"She can't be dead," Zane said, his tone flat and certain. "Shes unbreakable."

Chapter 6

He was so certain.

He thought I was sitting in there, counting the seconds, desperate for him to save me.

"Are you related to Sloane or not?" The caller on the other end had lost patience with Zanes dismissal.

"No."

Zane ended the call without a second thought.

He turned to Courtney, his voice dripping with reassurance. "Relax. I promise you won't miss the opening number."

Back then? Maybe that moment would have frozen my blood. But looking back now? It played like a dark comedy.

The convoy of luxury sedans idled outside the prison gates. Engines hummed in unison.

Cody went inside to handle the release paperwork. When he walked back out, he wasn't guiding a woman.

He was clutching a box.

Small. Square. Heavy.

My ashes.

Zane frowned, scanning the empty space behind his assistant. "Where is she? Whats taking so long?"

Cody didn't answer. His face was gray, eyes fixed on the gravel.

"What, does she expect me to walk in there and carry her out?" Zanes laugh was sharp, cutting. "Marrying me is the greatest honor of her life. Go back in there. Tell her if she doesn't walk out this second, the wedding is off."

I floated there, listening to the arrogance spill out of him. It was pathetic.

How small did I make myself? How low did I crawl for him to believewith such absolute certaintythat marrying him was a gift from the heavens?

He didn't cherish me.

He just wanted to own me.

"Mr. Zhou..." Codys voice was barely a whisper. He swallowed hard. "Sloane passed away."

Panic flickered across Zanes face. A crack in the mask. But he sealed it instantly. Just like two years ago.

"What is this?" Zane scoffed. "Another game? What is she playing at?"

"No games, sir," Cody said, his voice trembling. "Sloane died a year into her sentence."

"Impossible." Zane waved a hand, dismissing reality. "She dreams of marrying me. I finally agreed to it. She wouldn't die. She couldn't."

"Warden Lewis confirmed it. Cardiac arrest. It was an accident." Cody took a step forward, the box heavy in his hands. "They called you two years ago. You told them you weren't family."

Zanes complexion shifted. The color drained from his skin, leaving it ashen.

The memory hit him. Hard.

The phone call. The music hall. The dismissal. Fear, cold and sharp, finally pierced his delusion.

He started muttering, the words tumbling out in a disorganized stream. "Sloane can't be dead. She can't just... be gone."

"People die, sir," Cody said gently.

"Not her!" Zane roared, the sound tearing from his throat. "She hasn't married me yet! She wouldn't dare die!"

I stared at him.

His chest heaved. His hands shook.

This wasn't grief.

This was a tantrum.

He wasn't unraveling because I was gone. He was unraveling because I had defied his script. I had ruined his perfect ending.

"Sir. She is gone." Cody forced the words out, lifting the container slightly. "This is her."

Zanes eyes were rimmed with red, bloodshot and wild.

He stared at the box.

For a long time, the world stood still.

Then, his hand moved.

His fingers, trembling violently, reached out to touch the cold surface of the urn.

Chapter 7