Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 365: She planned this

Meanwhile, outside the ward, Daniel stood quietly, his back resting against the cool wall.

It had barely been a minute since Anna had stepped inside, yet an unfamiliar restlessness crept into his chest. He checked his watch once, then slipped his phone back into his pocket without unlocking it. Waiting had never been his weakness—but this felt different.

Collin had asked to speak with Anna.

That alone was enough to set something off inside him.

He told himself there was nothing unusual about it. People chose their listeners carefully, especially when truth was involved. Still, the unease refused to settle. It wasn’t jealousy. It wasn’t distrust.

It was instinct.

Daniel’s jaw tightened as his mind replayed fragments of the past—Collin’s silence, his calculated defiance, the way he had surrendered without resistance. None of it fit the pattern of a desperate man.

This meeting wasn’t ordinary.

It carried weight. Purpose.

And Daniel hated not knowing which direction that purpose was aimed.

He straightened when a nurse passed by, then relaxed again, his fingers flexing unconsciously at his sides. He trusted Anna completely—but trust didn’t erase danger. If anything, it sharpened his awareness of it.

Talk, Daniel thought grimly. But choose your words carefully.

Because whatever Collin was about to reveal, Daniel was certain of one thing.

It wouldn’t stay confined to that room.

***

***

"What do you mean Collin requested to meet Anna in person?"

Norma’s voice exploded through the line, sharp enough to make the nurse flinch and instinctively lower the phone from her ear.

"I—I wasn’t aware he would summon Anna specifically," the woman reported nervously. "But Daniel Clafford is with her."

That last part landed like fuel to fire.

Norma’s fingers tightened around her phone, her knuckles whitening. She had been expecting Collin to reach out to her. He always did. That had been the understanding. The arrangement.

Instead, he had called Anna.

What does that even mean? Norma thought darkly.

"Watch them," she ordered coldly. "I want to know exactly what Collin is trying to do."

The line went dead before the nurse could respond. She swallowed hard, glanced once more toward the ward, and quietly retreated from the secluded corner, following orders without question.

*** 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

[Inside the ward]

"You already know everything," Collin said, his voice cutting through the suffocating silence. "I’m after your family because they offended me."

Anna didn’t flinch, but she didn’t relax either. She leaned back slightly in the chair, studying him—his posture, his breathing, the way his fingers curled as if restraining something volatile.

"I know that much," she replied evenly. "But that’s not an answer. Why are you after them? What did they do to you to justify this level of brutality?"

Her gaze hardened. "Do you even realize someone died because of this?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly.

Collin’s eyes changed.

The pain she had glimpsed earlier vanished, replaced by something sharp and cold the moment she mentioned Kira.

"I didn’t kill Kira," he snapped, teeth grinding together. "She died on her own."

Anna stiffened.

"Died on her own?" she repeated slowly, disbelief creeping into her voice.

"Yes," he said firmly, almost desperately now. "I never laid a hand on her."

Her heart began to pound.

"That’s not what the reports say," Anna replied carefully. "She was found hanging in the place were you kept her"

Collin let out a bitter laugh. "Of course they did, but that’s not the whole truth."

He shifted uncomfortably, wincing slightly as he moved, then forced himself to meet her eyes.

***

[The night Kira died]

It had been days since Collin had taken Kira.

At first, she had screamed, cried, fought him with everything she had. She had cursed his name until her voice went hoarse, thrown whatever she could reach, demanded answers he refused to give. Those first days had been chaos—raw, loud, impossible to ignore.

Then something changed. She went quiet.Too quiet.

She ate when food was brought to her. Drank water without protest. Sat when she was told to. Even spoke when spoken to, her voice calm, her eyes lowered. She stopped asking questions, stopped threatening him, stopped crying herself to sleep.

Collin noticed it immediately.

Obedience didn’t suit her. It sat wrong, like a mask worn too carefully. But he had to keep her with him for the time being though he planned to elimate her after sometime.

Still, exhaustion dulled his instincts and he decided to play for a few more days until everything silenced. He told himself she had accepted reality, that fear had finally tamed her. That maybe—just maybe—things wouldn’t spiral any further.

That was his mistake.

The werehouse was unusually silent that night. Rain tapped lightly against the windows, the sound steady, almost soothing. Collin stepped into the adjoining room to answer a call, leaving the door ajar. It took no more than a minute.

When he returned, the room was empty.

"Kira?" he called sharply.

No answer.

His heart slammed violently against his ribs.

He rushed forward, eyes scanning the space. The restraints he had kept loosely fastened lay on the floor, cut clean through. His blood ran cold.

"She planned this," he muttered.

The back door stood open.

Cold air rushed in.

Collin bolted, sprinting out into the dark. The rain had turned the ground slick, mud clinging to his shoes as he chased after her. He spotted her near the edge of the property, breathless, hair plastered to her face, fear fueling her legs.

"Kira, stop!" he shouted.

She didn’t.

She ran harder.

"Don’t do this," he yelled again, desperation creeping into his voice. "Or else I won’t be easy on you" he warned.

"You are going to kill me anyways then why not die a dignified death"

She glanced back just once—eyes wild, unhinged—and that moment cost her everything.

Her foot slipped and time slowed.

Collin watched in horror as she stumbled backward near the stone steps leading down the slope. She reached out blindly, fingers grasping at air, trying to regain balance.

"Kira—!"

However her body tipped and she fell.

The sound of her head hitting stone was dull, final causing Collin to froze.

But then as if realization struck, he ran.

Collin dropped to his knees beside her, hands shaking as he cradled her head, turning her face toward him. Her eyes were open, staring at nothing. Blood pooled beneath her, mixing with rainwater.

"No... no, no, no," he whispered frantically.

He shook her gently at first, then harder. "Wake up. Kira, wake up."

Nothing. He pressed his fingers to her neck, searching for a pulse.

His breath hitched. There was none.

Panic swallowed him whole.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t part of anything he had planned. He hadn’t touched her. Hadn’t hurt her.

"She fell," he muttered. "She just... fell."

But he knew no one would believe that and it was then a memory from the past triggered him and he quickly worked on his act by dragging her back to the werehouse and staging her death as suicide only for the cops to find her body the next day.