The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy!-Chapter 767: The Third

"Henrik Bellemonte... and Hugo Bennet."

"Huh?" she blinked. "What does that mean? Hugo died in the first — I mean, the third timeline. Even Atlas knew that—he even facilitated his funeral."

That was something she knew from both Penny and Slater. Although neither of them had seen Hugo’s corpse and had only relied on Atlas’s word, they knew without a doubt that the first person to die among the Bennet siblings was Hugo.

So why was this man saying otherwise?

The man nodded. "Of course, you thought he was dead. But the man was a stubborn fool who clung to life until the very end. And thanks to Henrik, he was rescued before he could die from his injuries. And together, they tried to covet the secret society."

Lola was rendered speechless, her mouth opening and closing in utter shock.

Now, she had even more questions. There were so many that she didn’t even know where to begin.

The first two timelines had sounded like stories to her—stories that had nothing to do with her, stories she could dismiss as nonsense.

But this third life... this was different.

This was something she remembered. It was her previous life. The life she, Penny, Slater, Finn, and Zoren all remembered.

"I was very close," he breathed out. "I closed all the loops. I made the Zorken sisters turn against each other. I ruined the Bennet family. I even manipulated Zoren to the point of madness."

He drew in a slow breath.

"I was very close to keeping our church safe, even if it meant retrieving your body from the morgue, where your family left you to rot. I stopped you from meeting him at all costs. I cut off every possible reason for him to start another meaningless war."

This time, the air around him felt colder—darker. She couldn’t deny the shiver that ran down her spine.

"But I quickly realized that dealing with all of you wouldn’t be enough," he continued, his voice growing firmer. "Even if the Zorken family and its Shadow Order fell into complete destruction, greed would still exist. Or rather, greed would stretch further within the Secret Society. And without the Zorkens, the other families would have even more room to rise."

"So in this timeline, I vowed not to make any mistakes," he said under his breath, more like a promise than a statement. He pinched her chin. "Even though... there were unexpected hiccups here and there."

He didn’t need to elaborate. She understood perfectly.

The "hiccups" were the others who had woken up remembering their past lives—Penny, Slater, Finn, Jonathan Pierson, Nathalie’s butler, Zoren... and eventually, Lola.

"It would’ve been perfect," he muttered. "If only the natural course of events had followed the nature of the previous life. It would have been... if not for the fact that Penelope Bennet remembered her third life and interfered in this one."

"Or if Jonathan Pierson hadn’t interfered on Nathalie’s side," he added. "Or if Slater Bennet hadn’t remembered and used his previous life’s training to join hands with Homeland Security."

"If Finn Davis had just stayed still and let things unfold... instead of giving that young woman’s life another chance," he continued, unaware that his grip on her chin had tightened.

Only when she let out a short whimper did he snap out of it.

"Ah," he muttered, blinking as he refocused on her. "Apologies. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just... thinking about how they’ve been disrupting my plans is irritating."

He withdrew his hand from her chin, still kneeling on one knee.

"And if you hadn’t remembered the previous timeline, you wouldn’t have caused me such a headache," he sighed. But unlike his tone when speaking about the others, his voice softened. "Still, I accept that. After all, I think it’s only fair that you change your life and cause me trouble—for everything I’ve done to you, even though you never deserved it."

"I didn’t do anything to you," she whispered, trying to peer beneath the hood that still partially shadowed his face. "Aside from meeting Atlas—and loving him over and over again, no matter the circumstances—I don’t think I did anything in any lifetime to trouble someone like you."

"You didn’t directly... but the people around you did."

"What?"

"Vito. That sneaky brat," he hummed. "His obsession with you—and the madness fueling him—has caused me problems."

Lola’s eyes trembled, her brows knitting together. "Vito?" Confused, she blurted, "What did he—"

"Ravah," he cut in. "You gave him access to Ravah. Farah told me Vito treated you well, that I shouldn’t worry about you in his care. But he’s uncontrollable. We had no choice but to cut him off. Instead of letting it go, he’s caused us endless trouble in Ravah—and that’s because you gave him the access he needed to wedge himself into it."

For a moment, Lola’s mind buzzed with everything he was saying. It was too much. And considering she was already overwhelmed with worry over Yuri’s situation, she felt as though her head might split open.

"Lola," he called, pulling her back from the spiral. "It may not have been your intention, but your very existence sets all of this into motion. Whether you want it or not, everything you do creates consequences."

Her breath hitched as her eyes widened.

"And even though I believe you are my karma—that every decision you make, big or small, inevitably returns to me because of what I’ve done to you—I cannot allow this to continue," he said. "I am exhausted. Living through this cursed loop, watching everything I believe in burn to the ground because people cannot overcome their corrupted souls."

"The heavens bestowed this gift—or rather, this curse—upon me to stop this world from descending into another devastating war," he added quietly. "This time, I cannot fail. I have a feeling this is my only chance. I hope you understand."

Silence fell between them so heavily she could almost hear the faint crackle of candle flames and the soft drip of melting wax.

Her lips parted slowly, her gaze fixed on him.

"Have you... ever considered that this might not be a curse? Or a gift?" she whispered, reaching up and grasping his hood. "What if it’s a punishment bestowed upon you by the heavens—for trying to play God?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she pulled down his hood and revealed his face.