Novel Full Chapter 109: What If
Chapter 109: What If
Rebecca’s POV
Kaden didn’t answer immediately.
The room became strangely quiet, the only sound being the faint drip of water from the bathroom. His green eyes stayed locked on mine, unreadable and intense, burning into me with a weight that made it hard to breathe. For some reason, the silence made my heart beat even faster.
Finally, he leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression shifting into something dark and distant.
"When Rebecca wakes up," he said slowly, "then Rebecca wakes up."
My stomach twisted painfully. Of course. What else had I expected? The reality of my situation slammed into me like a physical blow. When the five days were up, Rebecca—the real me—would return to that frozen medical bed. And Stephanie would get her body back. She would go back to being his maid, the girl he clearly cherished, and I would just be the hated prisoner again. Everything would go back to normal.
Wouldn’t it?
A horrible, burning jealousy flared up in my chest. I hated how much it hurt to think about him looking at Stephanie this way forever. I forced a tight, fake smile onto my face, trying to swallow the lump in my throat.
"I see."
But Kaden’s eyes narrowed immediately. He had noticed the sharp drop in my expression. He had caught the raw sadness in my voice. Of course he had—he was an Alpha.
"Why are you asking?" he questioned, his brow raised.
I couldn’t look him in the eye. I looked down at my hands, tightly gripping the edge of his expensive sheets. "No reason."
"Stephanie."
The way he said the name made me completely uncomfortable. It sent a strange shiver down my spine. The word sounded forced on his tongue, like he didn’t truly believe the name belonged to the person sitting in front of him.
I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I was just wondering what would happen."
Kaden stared at me for a long, quiet moment, studying the way my shoulders shook, the way I couldn’t even look at him because of how envious I was of my own friend. Then, something strange happened.
A small, mocking smirk appeared on his lips. "You’re jealous."
I nearly choked on my own breath. "What?!"
The smirk widened, turning into something deeply amused. "You think I want Rebecca."
Heat rushed straight to my face, my cheeks burning with a mix of embarrassment and fury. He thought I was jealous of myself—well, a version of myself that he supposedly hated. "I never said that!" I snapped, my voice cracking.
"You didn’t have to," he murmured.
Moon Goddess. Was I really that obvious? Was the jealousy bleeding out of me so clearly that he could read it like an open book?
Kaden stood up from his chair and slowly walked toward the bed. My heart immediately began pounding loudly against my chest.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Each movement was predatory and slow, until he was standing directly in front of me, towering over the mattress. His massive frame blocked out the rest of the room, trapping me in his shadow. I looked up nervously, my breath catching in my throat.
"Alpha Kaden—"
"Let me make something very clear to you," he interrupted. His voice dropped even lower, becoming dangerously soft, vibrating right through my skin.
He leaned down, and his long, warm fingers gently tilted my chin upward, forcing me to stare straight into his glowing green eyes. Every single instinct inside me screamed that I was losing a battle I didn’t even understand. I was so fiercely jealous of the woman he thought he was protecting, it made my blood boil.
"The woman I jumped into freezing water for wasn’t Rebecca," he whispered.
My breath caught.
"The woman I kissed until she gasped for air wasn’t Rebecca."
My pulse completely exploded.
"The woman I carried back to my bedroom and put under my own covers... wasn’t Rebecca."
His thumb moved, brushing lightly, agonizingly slow against my swollen cheek. His touch was so tender it made my eyes sting with hot tears. I envied Stephanie so much it felt like a sickness in my gut. He was giving her everything I secretly craved.
"So stop worrying about Rebecca," he murmured, his face inches from mine.
My entire body froze.
For one terrifying, heart-stopping second, the world completely stopped turning. The way he looked at me... it didn’t feel like he was looking at Stephanie at all. It felt like he could see straight through me. Straight through Stephanie’s face. Straight through the ancient magic, straight through the massive lie, and straight into my actual soul.
Then, just as quickly as the moment came, he stepped back. He let go of my chin, pulling his warmth away as if he hadn’t just turned my entire world completely upside down.
"Get some sleep."
I sat there on his bed, completely speechless, my heart hammering so loud I was certain he could hear it.
He walked into the master bathroom, closing the door behind him. A second later, the loud sound of rushing water filled the silence as he began taking a bath.
The moment I was alone, a heavy sob escaped my lips. I pulled Stephanie’s small knees up to my chest and buried my face in them, letting the hot tears finally pour down my cheeks. My mind was completely broken. My heart was shattered. I couldn’t handle the agonizing jealousy of being invisible inside my own best friend’s body anymore.
Every single touch from him, every burning kiss, every fierce word of protection—they were all meant for Stephanie. I was just a ghost haunting her flesh, forced to watch the man I was falling for love a version of me that didn’t exist.
But then, through the haze of my crying, a sudden, chilling thought pierced through my grief.
Are you absolutely sure Kaden doesn’t know?
I froze, my breath catching in my throat as my mind replayed his words.
The woman I jumped into freezing water for wasn’t Rebecca...
I shook my head violently, trying to clear the terrifying idea from my brain. No. No, that was completely impossible. If he knew the truth, he would have said it by now. Kaden was an impatient man. He didn’t play cat-and-mouse games with secrets like this. If he knew his hated prisoner was hiding inside his palace maid, he would have ripped the truth out of me the very first second.
But then, another voice whispered in my mind, sending a shiver right down my spine. Rebecca, don’t be stupid.
What if he really did know? What if his hatred for me ran so deep that this was his sick way of torturing me? Making me believe he was falling for Stephanie just to break my spirit? The way he had looked at me just a moment ago... it hadn’t felt like he was looking at Stephanie. It felt like he was staring directly at my soul.
The uncertainty was suffocating. The walls of his grand bedroom felt like they were closing in on me. I couldn’t guess anymore. I couldn’t keep drowning in this confusion.
I need to speak with Helen.
She was the only one who could guide me through this nightmare. I needed to close my eyes, force my exhausted body to sleep, and pray with everything I had that Helen would be waiting for me in the dream world.