LOVE LIES

Episode 1 : The Day I died

The night smelled of blood and betrayal.

Zafira Caelum staggered through the dimly lit alleyway, her breath ragged, her heartbeat a thunderous roar in her ears. The cold air burned her lungs as she clutched her abdomen, where warm, sticky blood seeped through her trembling fingers. Her vision blurred, but she forced herself to keep moving. One step at a time. One breath at a time.

The city lights in the distance flickered like dying stars, casting long shadows over the cracked pavement. She knew she was running out of time. Every step felt heavier, her legs trembling from exhaustion and pain.

Footsteps echoed behind her. Measured. Unhurried.

Like a predator playing with its prey.

A deep voice cut through the silence, smooth yet laced with quiet menace.

"Zafira."

The sound of her name sent a violent shudder through her body.

She knew that voice.

Knew it better than her own heartbeat.

A voice that had whispered promises against her skin in the dead of night. A voice she had trusted. A voice she had loved.

Slowly, she turned her head.

Standing under the dim glow of a streetlamp was Cypher Veyron.

His tall figure was draped in an expensive black trench coat, his dark hair slightly tousled by the wind. His face—sharp, aristocratic, beautiful—was devoid of emotion. Silver eyes locked onto hers with a quiet intensity, sending a fresh wave of fear down her spine.

His right hand held a sleek, black pistol. Pointed directly at her.

Zafira’s breathing hitched. Her fingers twitched against her wound, sticky with the evidence of his betrayal.

"You shot me," she whispered, more to herself than to him.

Cypher tilted his head slightly, as if amused by the obviousness of her statement.

"You already knew this would happen," he said, his voice devoid of warmth. "Why run?"

Her chest ached, not just from the bullet wound, but from the agony of realization.

This wasn’t just an execution.

It was a decision.

He had chosen this. Chosen to betray her. Chosen to end her.

"You said you loved me," she choked out, her voice trembling with disbelief.

Something flickered across his face—something dark, something unreadable. "I did."

The past tense cut through her like a knife.

I did.

Not I do. Not I still do.

Just I did.

Zafira took a shaky step back, her knees threatening to give out beneath her. She had been so blind. So stupidly blind. She had ignored the warnings, ignored the signs, convinced herself that Cypher was different. That what they had was real.

But in the end…

He had chosen the life over her.

He took another step forward, raising the gun slightly. "Close your eyes, Zafira."

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

A shadow moved behind him.

Zafira barely had time to react before another figure emerged from the darkness—a man with sharp features, a cruel smirk, and the same icy detachment in his gaze.

Kairo Valenciaga.

Her blood turned to ice.

Kairo was Cypher’s second-in-command. His right hand. The man who had warned her not to trust the mafia king.

And now he was here, watching her die with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"I told you, didn’t I?" Kairo mused, his voice almost mocking. "You should have never trusted him."

Her breath hitched.

He had been right.

But it was too late.

Cypher’s finger pressed against the trigger.

Zafira’s heart pounded. The world around her slowed. She thought of everything she had lost. Every mistake she had made.

And then—

BANG.

A single shot echoed in the alleyway.

And the world went black.

---

Five Years Earlier

Zafira jolted awake.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, her skin clammy with sweat. She shot up in bed, her fingers clutching at the soft sheets beneath her. Sheets?

Her heart pounded as she looked around.

Gone was the bloodstained alley. Gone was the suffocating darkness. Instead, she found herself in a bedroom bathed in soft morning light. The air smelled like vanilla and fresh linen. The curtains billowed slightly as a cool breeze swept through the open balcony doors.

Zafira’s pulse hammered against her ribs. This wasn’t possible.

Slowly, hesitantly, she turned her gaze toward the full-length mirror across the room.

Her reflection stared back at her. Younger. Healthier. Untouched by betrayal.

Her hands trembled as she reached up, touching her skin. No bullet wound. No blood.

A choked sob escaped her lips.

This was impossible.

She had been shot. She had died.

But somehow… she was alive.

Not just alive.

She was in the past.

A sharp knock on the door made her jump.

Before she could react, the door swung open.

And standing there, looking very much alive and oblivious to her turmoil, was Cypher Veyron.

Not the ruthless, emotionless man who had shot her.

Not the king of a criminal empire.

But the man before it all began.

Zafira’s breath caught.

He looked exactly the same as she remembered. Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in his signature black. His silver eyes studied her lazily, as if nothing in the world could faze him.

His gaze flicked over her, sharp and assessing. "You okay?"

Zafira’s mind screamed in confusion.

Five years.

She had been sent back five years.

The very moment before everything fell apart.

The moment before she made the biggest mistake of her life.

She clenched the sheets beneath her fingers, her body shaking with the weight of realization.

This was her second chance.

A chance to change everything.

A chance to uncover the truth before it was too late.

A chance to rewrite her fate.

Her lips parted as she forced herself to breathe, to think.