Unlike those books, Esther was not Ella’s half sister or step-sister. She was her biological sister. They grew up together and their memories were filled with nothing but good times of their childhood.
Since young, Esther was the one who would give her the better toy and keep the broken one for herself. So, Ella had thought that the world could turn its back on her, Esther never would.
Even after living and dying once, Ella could not figure out where it all went wrong. Then, how could her stupid self have known about it in her previous life?
Seeing Ella standing in a daze, more tears rolled down Ruby’s cheeks. Strands of her long red hair clung to her damp face.
"You were going through so much yet all that while, I only cared about myself," Ruby shook her head, "I was not in your shoes. I did not know how it felt to be cornered by everyone. I turned away from you just because of a few bad words. Yet, you did not abandon me that day. You got kidnapped because of me..."
Ruby trailed off when she felt a warmth on her head.
"Since you heard everything, you should know that I was their target, but I just happened to drag you in. What happened in the past was my fault as well. I just... was blind..." Ella patted her hair, "But, things are different now. If you can forgive me—"
Ella’s chest still ached with lingering heaviness. But before she could speak—’Bam.’ ’Crash.’
The noises made Ella and Ruby turn.
At the end of the hallway, Kade stood. With his sunken eyes, messy hairs, and pale face, he looked like a stressed out vampire.
His bag had landed near his feet on the floor. He was panting like a dog, as if he came sprinting there like his life depended on it.
But what was more remarkable was that his eyes resembled ostrich-eggs.
’’You... You..." Kade pointed his hand at Ella, his gaze fixated on Ella’s hand that was resting on Ruby’s head. It all seemed so intimate.
His brother. His poor loyal brother, "You infidel!"
Ella laughed coldly, "You idiot!"
Ruby: "_" This... What was happening?
Soon, it was the last day of exams.
After finishing the paper, Ella walked out with Ruby. But both of them bumped into Kade outside the class.
Kade looked at Ella suspiciously, "You look awfully happy."
"My bills are paid. My cards are not blocked," Ella blew on her nails.
Kade nearly spat a mouthful of blood.
His cards still remained blocked and his current poor lifestyle told him that his brother was not going to change his mind about this unless he made it to top 50 in the finals.
He glared at Ella, "I got to know about your bet with that woman but the last time I remember, you scored 0 in her paper. It couldn’t be that you really think that you can top in History this time, right?"
Before Ella could speak, Ruby spoke up on her behalf, "She will do well."
Of course, with the ’master weapon’ provided by Adrian, Ella was not going to fail for sure. But Ruby’s unshakeable confidence in her gave her a bad feeling.
"You are thinking too highly of her," Kade waved his hand and sauntered away. He had even copied her answers once thinking that she would do well. Tsk tsk.
She landed him in a solid zero.
Unless god descended to Earth and gave Ella the divine fruit of knowledge, what could possibly change her situation this time?
Later that night, Ella took a long shower. Despite feeling drained, she sat in front of the mirror to do her routine skincare.
Ella wondered why there was no product that could act as a replacement for all these steps of skincare. She could have just gotten done with it and gone to bed already!
While each layer of her skincare dried slowly, Ella pulled out her phone.
The past few days, Adrian had been quiet. She was also busy with her exams, so she had not reached out to him.
Ella typed a text and sent it.
Ella: [Baby, are you busy?]
In 0.1 seconds, there was a response.
She thought he was not texting her because he was busy. But now, it seemed was... his way of giving her space ?
And in Ella’s experience, this was something very new. Previously, Adrian would constantly be in her space, in front of her eyes as if he was paranoid that she was going to run away.
Even after she moved to dorms, it was not obvious but he constantly expected daily texts, calls and contact. Yet, now, he seemed to be weirdly tame.
Just at the thought of it, a strange visual popped in her mind. The sight of a sweet and docile wife waiting for her philandrous husband at the dining table.
Except, she imagined Adrian as the wife and the philanderer was... none other than her...
Ella shook her head and looked at the incoming text.
Adrian: [Done with exams?]
Seeing his question, a mischievous glint flashes across Ella’s eyes as she typed her text.
Ella: [I thought you don’t care much about my exams. You did not even wish me luck.]
Ella was bewildered. When did he wish her luck? She scrolled up the chat just to check if she had missed any text from the man.
Adrian: [In the car.]
A visual of her pecking him on his lips upon his demand flashed by her mind.
And suddenly, a warmth crept up on her face, making her flush.
Right then, there was another text from the man.
Adrian: [A goodluck kiss.]
Ella glanced at her phone like she was looking at an alien object.
She had been flirting with Adrian for months now but suddenly, she felt like... she was being flirted with?
Since when did Adrian get this! smooth? Weren’t her lines supposed to make him blush?
No no... How could it be?
Stiff as Adrian was, it took him efforts to squeeze out a smile? How could he flirt with her? That too... so slyly.
After wishing him good night and finishing her hour long skincare, Ella plopped on the bed like a dead fish.
It had not been hours since Ella dozed off when—
Loud knocks slammed against her door.
Ella’s eyes flew open.