Revenge is Best Served… After Reborn

**A Fresh Start?**

Could everything really be wiped clean for a fresh start? It sounds like something out of a fairy tale, doesn't it? Yet here James stood, trying to keep Joseph calm. He asked, as patiently as he could, "What's your plan?"

"The girl from the Russell family, she's been reborn. And that guy from the Aldridge family? Probably the same," Joseph said, meeting James's eyes. "I've been hunting for the secret behind their rebirth, but I've come up empty. Maybe death is the key, but who's crazy enough to try that? The only way to figure this out is by finding the Devonport treasure. That's our ticket to starting over."

"Starting over..." James echoed. "Who'd buy into something so wild?"Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

"Well, I'm a living example," Joseph replied.

"You've been reborn?" James asked, skepticism in his voice.

"When your mother passed, I was lost, and I chose to leave this world with her. But when I opened my eyes, I was still here. Everything started over, but only to the last day of your mom's life. I couldn't change her fate, which led me to believe there was something beyond the natural world at play. So, I faked my death and left Burke International, staying in the shadows, searching for a way to bring her back."

As Joseph shared his story, he turned to James. "I later realized my rebirth happened because of a key."

"A key? What kind of key?" James inquired.

"A gemstone," Joseph answered.

"That sapphire was the key. I had put that ring on Rose's finger. After she died, crushed by grief, I felt my sout step out of my body, and time rewound. I found out later that the sapphire held an immensely powerful energy field. There are four gemstones in total, each held by a different family. Slowly, I pieced together the secret of the Devonport treasure."

Listening intently, James raised a brow. "How do you know the Devonport treasure's secret ties into these gemstones?"

Joseph, noticing James's relentless curiosity about the treasure, replied, "That's beside the point. You're my son. I'd never put you in harm's way."

Getting closer, Joseph said, "Last

time, when you ran after Sophie, I thought all my work was for nothing, and I wanted to end it all. But everything reset again, back to the day Rose died. This time, I won't let

the same heartbreak. We'll

be together again as a family. This is our shot, a chance from above."

"You've been reborn twice?" James asked, stunned. "Does that mean the ring can make you reborn indefinitely?"

"Of course not," Joseph chuckled, almost reflexively, but then he caught himself, realizing James was trying to get more information.

With a calm demeanor, Joseph said, "I know you have feelings for Sophie. If everything goes according to plan, I'll make sure you two can be together again." James stayed silent, absorbing everything.

Joseph, sensing the conversation

had run its course, added, "Let's head back F'll wait until the Russell girl is up to it before I ask her

anything. Don't worry; after wail ne

decades, a few more days is nothing."