Rewriting Fate I’ll Never Love You Again

I’d been in love with Cassian Cross—my brother’s best friend, the one and only mafia boss in the NYC—for as long as I could remember.

On the night of my twentieth birthday, my brother promised me a surprise. I didn’t expect that surprise to be a very drunk, very kissable Cassian.

One reckless night. One baby boy.

Cassian agreed to marry me after giving birth.

But the day I gave birth to Leo, Cassian said nothing. He just packed up and vanished to France for nearly five years.

Then he returned with Alessia. His first love.

And when she saw Leo and me, she ran away and disappeared.

After that, Cassian never left my side. Like he was trying to be the man I needed all along, that we were finally going to have our chance.

But fairytales are lies wrapped in pretty paper.

On Leo’s sixth birthday, we were driving to dinner. The brakes failed. The car spun onto the highway, flames licking at the engine.

Cassian got out. And then he locked the door. “If it weren’t for you, Alessia would still be by my side. Now? It’s your turn to suffer.”

It wasn’t until that moment I understood—Cassian had never loved me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at my twenties birthday. Cassian was in my bed, exactly where I’d left him in the past.

This time, I didn’t hesitate. I ran. And on my way out, I made the call I should’ve made the first time.

To Alessia.

1

Isadora’s POV

Cassian was sprawled across my bed like a fallen angel, half-conscious, his shirt rumpled and fingers reaching out to me with a drunken slur of my name.

“Isadora?” he murmured, eyes barely open. “Why are you standing so far away?”

The sound of his voice—so familiar, so heartbreakingly intimate—made my chest tighten.

I froze.

This was it. The moment everything went wrong in my past life.

Cassian smiled, slow and lazy, as he tugged at the buttons of his shirt. “Come on, Isadora.”

He looked like sin and temptation and everything I used to want.

But I knew better now. I didn’t move closer. I took a step back instead.

In my past life, Damian—my brother—had handed me that glass of whiskey tonight with a knowing smile. He knew I had a crush on Cassian, his dangerous, untouchable mafia friend.

He’d poured Cassian a drink. Said it was to loosen him up.

“If he doesn’t love you,” Damian had whispered, “What’s the harm in a one-night stand?”

Back then, I’d been naïve. I’d believed Cassian and I were the perfect match.

He was the ruthless king of the mafia world. I was the daughter of Manhattan’s most powerful casino mogul.

Together, we could’ve ruled New York.

So I went along with my brother’s plan, got myself overwhelmed by the fantasy that Cassian actually wanted me. I’d let him—when he kissed me, when his hands slid under my clothes.

One night. That’s all