Rebirth in Canaan, No Looking Back Chapter 01

Rebirth in Canaan, No Looking Back Chapter 01

After my rebirth, I never picked up any of Alaric McCall’s calls.

I’d glance at his messages before deleting them without reply.

Every night, I was out at the clubs with my best friend, surrounded by a rotating cast of handsome young men.

On the night of my eighth blackout, I staggered home to my apartment.

Alaric McCall was standing there.

“The man you were with tonight. Where did he touch you?”

I was still drunk enough to laugh.

“My hand. Dice don’t shake themselves.”

Instantly, his eyes darkened. He spoke to the men behind him, “Find him. Break his hand.”

A smirk tugged at my lips as I walked straight inside.

“Suit yourself.”

In the life before this one, I was his wife for eight years.

People called me the Queen of the Tables.

I won him the Olympus Casino.

I stood by his side as he clawed his way up from street thug to the king of the Las Vegas underground.

But as soon as his position was secure, he fell for a new dealer at the casino.

Her name was Chloe. She’d been sold to the casino, a girl who knew nothing about our world.

Alaric himself placed her in the VIP room, teaching her how to deal, how to read the chips.

Then I found it. Our marriage record had been altered in the casino’s internal system to show we were divorced.

When I confronted him, Alaric was ice.

“Chloe has no one. This title… it will keep her safe.”

“No one in this city dares cross you, Elodie. Why get upset over just a piece of paper?”

I stormed into the card room and slapped Chloe.

That night, they brought my younger brother, Leo, back to me. He worked for Alaric.

They broke his legs right in front of me, then dumped him in the alley behind the casino.

“This, Elodie, is the price for touching Chloe.”

I clung to Alaric, begging him to cease, but blood covered Leo’s face as he perished in front of me.

A hot gush of liquid ran down my legs. A tearing pain ripped through my abdomen.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back on the day I first discovered the altered marriage record.

This time, I didn’t make a scene. I didn’t ask questions.

I quietly sold off my jewelry collection and bought two plane tickets from a black-market broker.

All I wanted was to get Leo and get out.

Leave Alaric McCall.

…

After finding the altered marriage record, the first thing I did was drive to the county clerk’s office.

“Ms. Vale, the system shows that you are already divorced.”

Hearing the clerk say the words out loud confirmed it. None of it had been a nightmare.

The filing date was my birthday.

That day, I’d booked a table at the revolving restaurant atop The STRAT. I’d even arranged for fireworks.

I waited from sunset until after midnight. He never showed up.

So while I was waiting for him, he was signing his name on a different piece of paper, writing me out of his life.

When I returned to the casino, I saw Alaric’s black Maybach at the entrance.

In my last life, I’d rushed over to confront him right then and there.

He was afraid Chloe would see.

He kicked me against the wall before the girl in the passenger seat could even get out of the car.

This time, I melted back into the shadows of the portico.

The car door opened. Alaric got out first.

He rounded the car and opened the passenger door.

There was a strange, uncharacteristic gentleness to his movements.

A girl in a pale blue dress stepped out.

She stood beside the car, her posture stiff, looking completely out of place.

It was Chloe.

Alaric shrugged off his jacket, draping it over her shoulders before guiding her toward the casino entrance.

“Alaric…”

Chloe stopped, her voice a soft whisper.

“I have nothing now. Only you. I really can’t afford to lose this.”

Alaric pulled her into his arms, his voice a low, steady murmur.

“What are you afraid of? From now on, you’re the lady of this place. No one else is worthy.”

“If you don’t like it here, I’ll buy you land by Lake Tahoe and build you a vacation house.”

The same men who used to trail me, calling me “Mrs. McCall,” now bowed their heads to Chloe, calling her “ma’am.”

They formed a protective circle around her as she walked into the casino.

I pressed a hand to my belly, waiting until the last of them had disappeared inside before I finally stepped out of the shadows.

I wiped the tears from my face. Only one thought echoed in my mind.

I had to leave.