In a dimly lit room, the air was heavy with tension. Muffled sounds seeped through the walls, but inside, chaos reigned. On the bed, a figure struggled desperately, her movements weakening as a strong hand wrapped mercilessly around her neck.
"Is this what you wanted, Aurora?" The man's voice was low and venomous, his gritted teeth betraying his fury. "Are you so desperate to sleep with me?" Alexander's other hand tore at her clothes, his rage blinding him to the fact that something was amiss. The woman beneath him went still- to still – but his rage consumed him, leaving him oblivious.
"Master!" a frantic voice cried from the doorway. "Please, I beg you, spare the young madam!" It was Maria, the head maid, trembling as she stepped forward. Have you forgotten how she saved your life?"
The words seemed to pierce the fog of anger that was clouding Alexander's mind. His grip loosened slightly and in that moment of hesitation, everything changed. Suddenly, his wrist was seized in an iron grip. Before he could react, a sharp twist resounded in the room, followed by the sickening crack of the bone.
Alexander's eyes widened in disbelief, his pain drowned out by shock. A forceful kick sent him hurtling across the room, slamming into the wall with a loud thud.
The room fell into eerie silence.
On the bed, the woman gasped sharply, sitting upright as she clutched her throat. Her disheveled state spoke of her ordeal, yet there was a strange fire in her eyes- something new, something unfamiliar.
Maria stood frozen in place, her hands trembling. "M-Madam?" she whispered, barely able to believe what she had witnessed.
Alexander, shaking off his disorientation staggered to his feet. His expression twisted with rage and disbelief. "Aurora, have you lost your mind?" he roared. "How dare you strike me!" Aurora turned her gaze to him, her breath still ragged. She looked at the man –his chiseled features, his cold, piercing eyes –and felt an odd sense of detachment. Who is this man? she thought, her mind a whirlwind of confusion. I've never seen him before in my life....
Alexander, however, was too consumed by his fury to notice her bewilderment. "Do you think playing hard to get win my affection? You're pathetic Aurora; he spat, his tone icy and detached.
"You disgust me. Sign the divorce papers and get out of my life immediately, I don't want to see a trace of you in this house by nightfall." Without waiting for further response, he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Aurora remained seated, her expression blank. Maria rushed to her side, concern etched across her face. "Madam! Are you alright? Why did you strike the master? How will you win his favor now?"
The woman slowly turned her head to look at Maria, her gaze steady yet distant. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice was cold and hollow.
Maria recoiled, her confusion matching her fear. "Madam, it's me Maria. Are you feeling unwell?"
Aurora didn't answer. She pushed herself off the bed, unsteady on her feet, and walked toward the bathroom. Her tattered clothes hung limply from her trembling frame.
"Madam! Where are you going?" Maria called after her, but Aurora ignored her, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
She stood before the mirror, gripping the edges of the sink for support. The reflection staring back at her was unfamiliar. The face was dusky, round and unremarkable, framed by disheveled hair. Her features plain and round, her body overweight and unappealing. Who is this? she wondered, her thoughts a tangled mess.
Memories flooded her mind in sharp, disjointed fragments, overwhelming her senses. Slowly pieces began to fit together. She wasn't herself –or rather, she wasn't who she used to be. She was Aurora Smith. The unwanted step daughter of the powerful Smith Family. Scorned by her step-father, unloved by her mother, and ridiculed for her appearance, Aurora had lived a lonely and miserable existence.
Her only solace had been Alexander. The first warmth she ever received was the day he helped her when she was bullied in the school when they were kids. Later, fate had allowed her to save him from a terrible accident. That moment had sparked a desperate infatuation within her, one that had led her to manipulate his ailing grandfather into arranging their marriage.
But Alexander had never loved her. To him, she was an opportunist –a woman who schemed her way into his life and now, with his grandfather gone, he no longer felt compelled to maintain the marriage.
Aurora Smith is dead, the woman thought, her gaze steely as the truth settled within her. She was not the pitiful woman Alexander despised. She was someone else entirely. The thought hit her like a punch to the gut. The memories of another life surged forward –the life she had lived before waking up in this body. A brilliant researcher; a woman on the brink of a medical breakthrough. A life snuffed out in an explosion, only for her to awaken here, in this pitiful shell of a body.
The corners of her lips curled into a bitter smile.
A Second chance, is it?