The sound of a heart monitor echoed in my ears. A sharp pain behind my eyes and the feeling of my brain throbbing.

I opened my eyelids with effort. The white light from the ceiling blinded me for a moment, and the sensation was as strange as it was familiar. The ceiling was white, flat, and had a small crack in the left corner.

That crack...

My heart stopped.

I... I had seen that ceiling before. Not once. Hundreds of times. It was the same one I saw when I was hospitalized after a nervous breakdown... five years ago.

But that didn't make sense.

"Isabella?" said a trembling voice.

I turned my face. Eva, my best friend, was sitting next to my bed, tears in her eyes.

"How... how long have I been here?" I asked, my voice raspy.

"Three days. You said you were going to accept Benjamin's offer and then... you collapsed. You said something about chest pain and lost consciousness."

Benjamin.

My stomach clenched.

It wasn't possible. The last time I saw Benjamin Arriaga... I was screaming for help as the car fell down the ravine. Lucas, our four-year-old son, was in the back seat. He died instantly. I survived the fall... for forty-three minutes, while Benjamin watched us from a distance, motionless, leaving us to die on the spot.

He had counted every second as the blood mixed with the mud. And now... was he five years in the past?

"Eva... what day is it today?"

"What? Isabella, are you okay?"

"What day?"

"April 15... 2020."

My throat closed up.

That was the date I agreed to work for his company and move in with Benjamin, beginning a journey that, little by little, stripped me of everything: my career, my dignity, my son... my life.

I had become his shadow. A broken woman living among lies, infidelities disguised as mistakes, and guilt that he masterfully planted in my mind. I was "too emotional," "not virtuous enough," "difficult to understand."

And I believed him and let myself be trampled on, prey to a manipulator.

But now... I was back, 22 years old, but with the maturity of a 27-year-old woman.

I knew his game. And this time, I wouldn't let him win.

Two days later, I left the hospital. Benjamin never called or visited me during those days, and I was grateful for that. Eva offered to let me stay at her house, but I refused. There were things I needed to do. Urgent things.

First: resign from my job with the Arriagas. Don't let Benjamin get close to me, no, get away from him completely, disappear from his radar!

Second: apply for and win the position that, in my other life, I had turned down out of "loyalty" to him. A position as an architect at the Del Valle company. The Arriagas' direct competition. The same family that Benjamin hated with an obsession.

In my past life, Román Del Valle was a distant figure. Powerful, feared, the patriarch of a dynasty of construction companies. They called him "the Steel Lion." A man no one dared to offend... but whom Benjamin spoke of with irrational hatred.

"That man should have died with his wife," I once heard him say through gritted teeth. "But no. He's still breathing and hoarding contracts."

Now I understood why he hated him. Román was his mirror image. Ruthless, yes, but with a code.

Benjamin wanted what Roman had... without deserving it, without effort, without having built it.

I would never be his sacrificial lamb again, I would never go straight to the slaughterhouse. In my previous life, I loved him with all my soul, but after all the damage he did to me and killing our son, I hate him with all my heart.

The Del Valle & Associates building was in the heart of the financial district, with a black glass facade and metallic details. I showed up for the interview in a simple gray dress, my hair pulled back, and a portfolio full of projects that had been ignored in my previous life.

At the reception desk, a sharp-eyed woman scanned me from head to toe.

"Isabella Ferrer? Come in. Engineer Del Valle wishes to see you personally."

My heart skipped a beat.

In my past life, I was interviewed by a human resources assistant, but at Benjamin's company, I never got this far. Roman Del Valle was never present at job interviews.

But this time... it was an exception, and I don't know why.

The office was spacious, sober, unadorned. Only a giant model of the new Aurea real estate complex occupied the center. A project of twenty apartment towers on the coast.

And there he was.

Román Del Valle.

Younger than I remembered him from television, but with the same commanding presence. Standing next to the model, he studied the plans with almost surgical concentration. He wore a black shirt, no tie, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His black hair was sprinkled with a few gray strands, impregnating maturity, and his eyes... were emerald green. He was the epitome of masculine beauty.

"Engineer Ferrer," he said without looking at me. "Take a seat."

I sat down quietly, knowing that every gesture, every word, could be decisive.

"Your record is clean. You're getting degrees in engineering and architecture at the same time. Impressive. Your designs are good. Not excellent. But they show character," he continued.

Why do you want to work here?

I took a deep breath.

"Because I don't want to work for companies that just put roofs over people's heads. You build homes, structures with soul. I want to learn from that."

Román looked up for the first time. His eyes locked intensely with mine.

"Have you ever worked for the Arriaga Group?"

"They offered me a position. I turned it down," I said without hesitation.

"Why?"

"I didn't trust their vision."

A shadow crossed his expression, but it disappeared instantly.

"Good. You start on Monday. Room B. South wing floors. You'll be part of the core team for Project Aurea.

You have one week to prove I didn't waste my time.

I nodded. I stood up. I was about to leave when his voice stopped me.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like my wife?"

I turned slowly.

"No."

"She died years ago. But... you have the same look in your eyes." Roman looked up. His eyes locked intensely with mine.

"I'm sorry."

—You don't have to do that, I'm just telling you in case someone else does.

I tilted my head and smiled genuinely.

"See you on Monday, engineer. I hope I don't disappoint you."

I waved my hand slightly and left without waiting for a reply.

That night, I settled into the small apartment I had rented with the savings I still remembered having in my maiden account. In my previous life, Benjamin had asked me to close that account to "better organize expenses." I, idiot that I was, agreed. He froze my cards several times just for fun. I never indulged in luxuries, I bought only what I needed, but even so, he accused me of squandering money.

Now he had total control.

I took out an old notebook and began to write.

Goals for this life:

Never trust Benjamin Arriaga again.

Build my own career.

Avoid any emotional ties with the opposite sex.

Seek justice. And if possible... revenge.

I lay down with the notebook on my chest. In the dim light, a gentle breeze came in through the window.

I was back.

And this time, nothing and no one would stop me.