The city of Elarion was alive with the pulse of ambition.
Skyscrapers glimmered under the rising sun, glass and steel catching light like diamonds. Cars streamed below, workers hustled through the streets, and in the heart of the old district, the Voss estate loomed — still powerful, still whole. For now.
Elara Voss stood on her balcony, dressed in a plain uniform — the same one she had worn ten years ago, when she was just a student at St. Clarion Academy. Her hands rested on the railing as she watched the city she once ruled and lost.
She was alive. Sixteen again.
And this time, she wouldn't waste a second.
_____
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
"Miss Elara?" came the voice of her maid, Lena. "Breakfast is ready. Mr. Voss is waiting downstairs."said the maid, a kind-faced woman who would, in the previous life, die in the fire that consumed the Voss estate.
Her father.
Elara froze. The last time she'd seen him, he had been lying in a coffin, poisoned under the guise of illness — another part of Lyra and Adrian's scheme to strip her of her inheritance.
Her throat tightened. Without thinking, she ran to the door, pulling it open.
Lena blinked in surprise. "Miss?"
Elara's voice broke. "Is Father… well?"
Lena smiled, puzzled. "Of course, my lady. He's waiting for you in the garden."
For a heartbeat, Elara couldn't move. Then she whispered, "Thank you," and hurried down the corridor.
______
The garden was just as she remembered — morning dew on the roses, the gentle hum of bees, and the old oak bench where her father sat, reading his newspaper.
"Father…"
Lord Voss looked up, his graying hair catching the sunlight. "Elara? You're up early, my dear."
She couldn't stop herself — she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. The warmth of his embrace shattered what little composure she had left.
"Careful, you'll wrinkle my paper," he chuckled, patting her hand. "What's this all of a sudden?"
She swallowed the sob threatening to escape. "I just… missed you."
He smiled, though confused. "You saw me last night, silly girl."
Last night… The night of her death, she had been too distracted by Lyra's party and Adrian's attention to even say goodnight.
Now, she vowed silently, never again.
_____
After breakfast, Elara slipped into her study — a sunlit room cluttered with old computers and her teenage notebooks. She pulled out a leather-bound journal and began to write, her mind sharp, movements methodical.
Operation Rebirth: Phase One
Goal: Establish future financial base.
Duration: 6 months.
Method: Strategic micro-investments.
Key Targets (pre-market rise):
• NovaTech Systems (AI analytics, stock will surge 400% in 2 years)
• Vireo Energy (merger with GlobalWind in 3 years)
• ValeCorp (potential rival… observe)
• Zenith Micro (to be acquired by Crimson Industries — her future company)
She paused at the last name — ValeCorp.
Damien Vale's empire.
In her first life, she'd met him only once, at a gala three years from now. He'd been cold, unreadable — yet somehow, he'd known everything about her. When the world turned against her, he'd been the only one who didn't condemn her.
Now, she wondered what he would see in this new version of her.
_____
That afternoon, Elara visited the downtown café where she knew one of her future allies would be — a young man named Finn Calder, a computer science prodigy who, in her first life, would become the world's top cybersecurity engineer… and later, her fiercest competitor.
This time, he'd work for her.
The café buzzed with chatter, the smell of roasted coffee heavy in the air. At a corner table, a thin boy with messy hair was typing furiously on a laptop, muttering to himself.
Elara smiled. Found him.
She ordered a latte, took a seat across from him without asking, and said, "You're about to get locked out of the university servers."
He froze. "What—how—" His eyes darted up, startled.
"Your code," she said smoothly, "is brilliant but predictable. The admin will trace it back in five minutes."
Finn blinked, then frowned, suspicious. "Who are you?"
"Someone who knows tomorrow," Elara said simply. "And someone who needs a hacker."
He stared at her like she'd lost her mind — until she pulled a flash drive from her bag and slid it across the table. "There's a loophole in the school's firewall system. Fix it. I'll pay you double whatever anyone else offers."
He hesitated. "And if I say no?"
Elara smiled — the kind of smile that promised trouble and opportunity in equal measure. "Then you'll get arrested in two hours for breaching university data. But if you say yes, you'll be rich before you graduate."
Silence. Then, slowly, he grinned.
"I'm listening."
_______
By evening, Finn had agreed to work under her — quietly, discreetly. He didn't believe her talk of knowing the future, but he didn't need to. She gave him exact stock numbers, predicted news headlines, even a date for a minor cyberattack that would hit a local bank next month.
When each prediction came true, he'd believe her fully. And then, he'd become her shield in the digital world.
________
That night, Elara returned home and found a letter on her desk — sealed in gold.
Her heart stilled when she saw the emblem.
Vale Corporation.
Inside was an invitation:
To Miss Elara Voss,
The Board of Vale Corporation cordially invites you and your family to the Annual Innovation Gala.
— Signed, Damien Vale, CEO
She traced the signature with her fingertip, remembering the man behind it — tall, silent, eyes like black ice. The one who had once told her, in her dying days, "If only you'd been born ten years earlier, Elara Voss, the world would have been yours."
Now, she was ten years earlier.
And this time, the world would be hers indeed.
_________
Three Days Later – Vale Corporation Headquarters
The headquarters towered over the skyline like a blade of glass. Security was tight, the crowd elite — politicians, investors, innovators. Elara stepped from the limousine with her father and Lyra, dressed in white silk. She looked like innocence itself.
Lyra smirked. "Don't trip on your way in, sister. It would be such a shame to embarrass Father."
Elara smiled faintly. "You first, Lyra. I'd hate to step on your pride."
Her stepsister glared, but couldn't retort — not here. Not in front of cameras.
Inside, the gala hall was all elegance and steel. Screens projected holograms of the latest technology. The air buzzed with power and money.
And there, at the center of it all, stood Damien Vale.
He was exactly as she remembered — tall, broad-shouldered, wearing an expression carved from stone. His eyes were cold, calculating… but as she entered, his gaze shifted, landing directly on her.
For one heartbeat, the world went still.
He didn't know her — not in this life. But there was something in his stare, a flicker of recognition that shouldn't have been possible.
She curtsied politely. "Mr. Vale."
He inclined his head. "Miss Voss."
His voice was low, smooth, dangerous. "You're… very young to be attending a corporate gala."
"My father believes I should learn early," she said, perfectly calm. "And I prefer learning from the best."
Something in his eyes darkened — amusement, perhaps. Or curiosity. "Flattery is a dangerous currency."
"Then I hope to spend it wisely," she replied.
Around them, the music swelled. But for a moment, the gala faded — and it was just the two of them, the future empress and the man who would either crown or destroy her.
Damien's lips curved faintly. "You have your father's ambition."
"And my own secrets," she said.
"Secrets can be expensive," he murmured.
"I can afford them."
Their eyes met — steel against flame — and for the first time, Elara felt it: the shift of destiny, the invisible pull between two souls tied by time itself.
This was where everything began again.
________
That night, as the gala ended, Damien watched Elara leave with her father.
He turned to his aide, his expression unreadable.
"Run a background check on Elara Voss," he said. "Something about her feels… familiar."
The aide blinked. "She's sixteen, sir."
Damien's gaze lingered on the doors where she'd disappeared.
"Yes," he said softly. "That's what bothers me."
________
Back in her room, Elara poured herself tea and opened her journal.
Operation Rebirth: Phase One – Progress
• Secured Finn Calder as digital ally.
• Attended Vale Gala — first contact with Damien Vale established.
• Begin acquisition of minor shares in NovaTech.
She closed the journal, her reflection flickering in the candlelight. For the first time in years — or perhaps lifetimes — she smiled.
This was the beginning of her empire.
The world didn't know it yet, but the girl who once died quietly had returned to rewrite history.