A GHOST OR A SECOND CHANCE

(Days before the gala)

Leon hadn't stepped into sunlight in weeks.

Ayla's death clung to him like a second skin, and no amount of liquor, blood, or business could wash it off. Her laughter still echoed in the halls of his estate, even though everything that remained of her had turned to ash.

Until one morning… Daniel walked in, holding a newspaper in silence.

On the front page:

"Heiress Celeste Moreau Returns Home After Years of Disappearance."

And below the headline… her face.

Different. Elegant. Sculpted. But the eyes—

God, those eyes.

They were Ayla's eyes.

Or… were they?

Leon Froze.

"She was found a few weeks after Ayla's death," Daniel said.

"Plastic surgery… face reconstruction. The family says it was due to an accident abroad. She remembers very little."

Leon's throat went dry.

Celeste.

His first love.

The girl who once kissed him under a vineyard moonlight when they were just thirteen.

The one who disappeared after her father's scandal years ago—presumed dead.

And now… she was alive. Beautiful. Back.

Just weeks after Ayla died.

His Mind Split in Two.

Ayla. His fire, his storm, his weakness.

But Celeste… Celeste was softness. Safety. The girl who once made his young heart believe in forever.

He stood in his study, staring between two photos.

Ayla in his arms.

Celeste on the newspaper cover.

Two women.

One heart.

And the terrifying thought:

What if they were the same?

Meanwhile… in the Moreau Mansion, Celeste Stared at a Necklace.

It had no name, no memory—just a strange warmth.

She didn't know why she wore it.

Or why her hands trembled every time she touched the metal.

But she felt like someone once gave it to her.

Someone with eyes like frost and words like thunder.