The Day the Tragic Heroine Chose Herself Chapter 08

The Day the Tragic Heroine Chose Herself Chapter 08

“Every time you reached out to me, it was always about Elias. That’s how I knew.”

“A system wouldn’t care. But you did. You couldn’t let go of him. Or your father. Or Leo.’

[I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…]

The system was crying.

And piece by piece, the real story fell into place.

The real Celine had survived that car accident. Her body had, anyway. But her soul was already

gone.

She became the system itself. All-seeing, powerful, and unable to change a single thing.

She couldn’t let go. Not of her father. Not of the man she’d loved since childhood. And especially not of the son she’d nearly died to bring into the world.

Leo was still a baby. Her father was falling apart. Elias was drowning in the power games of

Ravenwood’s syndicate.

But she couldn’t face them. Not like that.

She knew the truth about the accident. She knew what her father and Elias really wanted.

So she used the last of her power. Reached across billions of timelines, found me, another dying girl, and made a deal she knew was selfish.

[I watched you take over the mission. Watched you become Celine completely. I thought your love

could fix them…]

[So I ran. I left you there, and I ran.]

[It wasn’t until I saw your despair, how deep it went, how endless it was, that I saw what I’d really done. I was wrong… I threw an innocent person into hell and called it a mission. I failed you…]

Her power was almost gone. The world she’d held together through sheer will had two hours left.

I shook my head. I didn’t blame her. Without her deal, I’d still be dying in my own world. No healthy body. No seven hundred million dollars.

Besides, that world was almost gone. Every grudge, every wound, every betrayal would vanish with

[He doesn’t have long.]

The system’s voice was barely holding itself together. [He’s dying, and he won’t let go of your body.

I think… I think he understands now. What he lost. Would you go back? Just to say goodbye?]

My first instinct was to say no.

But then I thought about the goodbye I never got.

Might as well finish what I started.

The pull came fast. That same familiar tug, dragging me through.

When I opened my eyes, Ravenwood City was in ruins.

Elias was lying in a pool of blood. They’d broken his arms and legs after he tried to take my body back. He looked like a discarded ragdoll.

Leo was beside him, shaking, refusing to leave.

He saw me first. His entire body went rigid.

Then he scrambled to his feet and threw himself at me, locking his arms around my body.

“Mom, is it you?”

“You came back! I knew it. I knew you wouldn’t leave me. Mom, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t

have listened to Hazel. I should never have doubted you.”

He was sobbing so hard he could barely breathe, his face buried in my shirt, his hot tears soaking

through the fabric.

I smoothed his hair. My voice came out softer than it ever had.

“Leo, it’s over now.”

“I was hard on you. I know that. You were born into a world where half this city would be yours someday, and I pushed you to be ready for it. I pushed you to be ruthless. Pushed you to grow up too fast. And I forgot that you were still just a kid who needed someone to be gentle with him.”

I crouched down and looked him in the eye.

“But I’m gone now, baby. So promise me something. In your next life, if someone loves you the way a mother does, don’t throw it away.”

I let go of him. He was screaming behind me, but I kept walking. Toward Elias.

He was lying in his own blood, barely conscious. But when he saw me, something sparked in those fading eyes. Then his mouth twisted into a broken, pathetic smile.

He let out a wet, rattling breath. “I must be dead. There’s no way… you’d be here otherwise…”

He tried to reach for me. His arms wouldn’t move.

“Celine… I’m sorry… don’t wait for me… wherever you are… just let me… rot in hell alone…”

“I’m not Celine.”

I said it quietly. He went still.

“I’m from another world. I was sent here to save you. All of you.”

“And for a while, I thought I had. I loved this life enough to give up my own. But you hurt me too

badly for me to stay.”

“I’m home now. Back with my real family. And this world is about to disappear.”

I watched the shock move through his eyes. Then confusion. And then, at the very end, something I

didn’t expect. Relief.

He smiled. Blood frothed at the corners of his mouth.

“So that’s how it is… as long as you got to live… that’s all that matters…”

“Good… that’s good… you get to go home…”

His hands went slack. And then he was gone.

The second his heart stopped, the world started coming apart.

The villa crumbled upward into light. Ravenwood City dissolved, piece by piece, into the sky.

Leo held on to me until the very end. As he started to fade, he whispered, “Mom, I’m sorry. If I get another life, I’ll make it up to you.”

“I’ll be better. I promise I’ll be so much better.”