Chapter 1 Rebirth
“Ahhh!
+5 Free Coins
Clarissa Chandler’s hair got yanked hard. Her head snapped back, and through the blur, she saw Selina Chandler grinning like she’d already won.
“Clarissa, George died in prison. Albert, the big–time actor, had his face wrecked and lost his mind. Samuel, your precious race car star, ended up crippled for life. Isn’t that just perfect?”
Clarissa started shaking.
George. Albert. Samuel. How had this happened to all of them?
“Oh, and your parents? Their car flew off a cliff. There wasn’t even a body to bury.”
“Selina! You did this! It was you!” Clarissa screamed, eyes full of hate. “They were your brothers, too! They loved you more than they loved me, their real sister! How could you?”
“Loved me? They always loved you more.” Selina’s smile vanished. Her voice dropped cold. “Do you know what it felt like. finding out three years ago that we were switched? When the Chandlers brought you back from that filthy village? It crushed me. Everyone laughed at me, the fake daughter. Even though Mom and Dad let me stay, I knew. They wanted you. Not me.
“Mom yelled at you, but she spoiled you behind closed doors. Dad gave you the best the company had. George, Albert, Samuel… they treated you like treasure. Whatever you wanted, they got it for you. If they couldn’t, they made me do it for them.
“That should’ve been mine. You, that bumpkin from the countryside, stole my life.”
Selina’s smile turned cruel. “Even when those doddering old fools were dying, they begged me on their knees to spare you. Even in their last moments, they were still thinking about you.”
Clarissa couldn’t breathe. Her tears mixed with blood as they ran down her cheeks.
She always thought the Chandlers didn’t care. Her parents were strict and cold. Her brothers kept their distance.
Selina poisoned everything between them.
Clarissa had trusted the wrong person. And now they were all gone.
“Enough, Selina. Stop wasting your breath on her.”
A man stepped up. His eyes were cold, his voice colder. But he slid his arm around Selina’s waist with care. “Don’t wear yourself out over garbage, alright?”
“Gregory!” Clarissa’s voice cracked with rage. “How could you do this to me?”
Gregory Gosling, her husband, gave her a mocking look. “What did I do? You ran off with another man and broke off our marriage. You really thought you were wife material?”
Clarissa’s heart felt like it split in two. When she first came to the Chandlers, lost and unsure, Gregory had been the only light. She fell for him. But her parents refused to let them be together. They pushed her to marry Jonathan Jefferson. She said no and ran away with Gregory. As a result, the Chandlers became a laughingstock across Imperia.
She suffered for him and gave him everything. Helped build his empire with her own hands. And he cheated on her with Selina. Then, he locked her underground and broke her piece by piece.
Watching her fall apart only made Selina more excited. She twisted the knife deeper. “You really ditched Jonathan for Gregory? Jonathan loved you. Even after you ran off, he didn’t hate you. He protected you. He even moved half his fortune into your account to make sure you’d be okay.
“When he found out you were missing, he flew back through a storm. His plane went down. He died.
“What on earth did he see in you, a country girl? What made him love you enough to die for you?”
1/2
7:55 PM PP.
Chapter 1 Rebirth
G
Jonathan Jefferson–so calm, so untouchable, so perfect–was now dead.
“It was you. All of you. You killed him!” Clarissa screamed, her voice broken.
“How is that our fault?” Selina’s smile was sharp.
D
+5 Free Coins
“Your brothers died because of you. Your parents crashed because of you. Jonathan died flying back to find you. You’re the one who killed them all. You were just too stupid,” she hissed. “I’m bored now. Greg, end it.”
“With pleasure.”
Gregory clamped his hand around Clarissa’s jaw and shoved the poison into her mouth.
It burned like fire as it tore through her chest and gut. Her body twisted in agony. Everything blurred.
The faces of her parents flashed in her mind. George. Albert. Samuel.
And Jonathan.
Hot tears slid down her cheeks, thick with regret. She wasn’t ready. She didn’t want to die.
She had ruined everything in this life.
If there was a next one, she would…
