Chapter 0436

Hannah

I told him everything. Everything. Even the things I didn’t want to think about again. Over the next twenty minutes, I recounted my entire story to Noah—from the moment I saw my baby’s embryo in a puddle on the floor to this very moment in this courtroom.

I also told him about the three months of torture he and Zoe had inflicted on me before my death; about Zoe’s smear campaign, the nights spent crying myself to sleep, and my worsening body image issues. I told him about my pill addiction—how I was taking them to the point of self-harm.

“And… maybe I wanted to kill myself,” I whispered, my hands trembling as I toyed with the hem of my shirt. “Maybe I just wanted it all to be over, subconsciously, which is why I took so many pills. I still don’t even know if it was the diet pills themselves or the contraceptives in them that did me in.”

I swallowed hard and continued. “But when I saw my baby—our baby—on the floor, a little red clump of blood and flesh, I knew I wanted to live. I wanted to live, Noah. But it was too late. I was already dying… or so I thought.”

Finally, I told him about waking up on the bathroom floor three months before. The confusion, the uncertainty, the relief, and the terror. I told him how he stepped out of the shower, his dark hair falling into his eyes, and how I had thought he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, and yet I hated him for what he had done before I’d died. And I told him how, in those moments, I knew I needed to get away from him and Zoe if my baby was going to survive.

To my surprise, Noah listened. He didn’t interrupt once, didn’t mock me, didn’t challenge me. He just listened while I recounted everything I could remember over the past year.

When I finished, I was breathless and exhausted. Noah was still standing before me, his eyes wide and his face pale.

“And that’s my whole story,” I finished quietly, my voice trembling. “A year ago, I died after enduring three months of misery. But I came back. And here I am now. Alive and… changed.”

Noah was silent. But I could see disbelief creeping into his stunned expression, and panic rose in my throat. My hands began to shake, and I clutched at his arms, desperate for him to understand.

“Please,” I begged, “don’t think that I’m just messing with you or that I’m insane. I genuinely believe the Moon Goddess gave me another chance for a reason, although…” I paused, biting my lip. “I don’t know what that reason might be yet. Maybe I’ll never know.”

Without a word, Noah slowly sat down on a nearby bench, his eyes wide and unfocused. He remained silent for a long time, and with each passing second, my anxiety grew. The silence in the empty courtroom was deafening, broken only by the sound of my rapid heartbeat.

When he still didn’t speak, tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I’ll leave now. I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough.”

I turned to go, my cheeks burning with shame, but suddenly Noah caught my wrist. His touch sent a jolt through me, and before I could react, he pulled me back and kissed me deeply. His lips were warm and insistent, and I melted against him—or maybe my knees simply buckled with relief.

When we finally parted, I stared at him in shock, my breath coming in short gasps. “You… you believe me?” I asked, hardly daring to hope.

Noah hesitated for a moment but then nodded slowly, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. “I do. It’s… it’s hard to wrap my head around it, but I want to believe you, Hannah. Everything you told me… it makes sense, as crazy as it sounds.”

Chapter 0437