"Lena, Lena, Lena… How did you like the sight I greeted you with, take it as your gift for resurrection from the clutches of death," she said grimly with a smile, my eyes shifted to Tyler and as if he just recovered, his shocked expression changed to a scowl and it twisted with disgust.
"Lena…tsk,tsk,tsk, you poor thing, Why don't you just die already and move on? Leave us in peace, huh?" she taunted this time, grinning wickedly.
I wanted to slap that smug expression off her face, to scream at her, to get her arrested. I was done playing the nice daughter, the peacemaker in our messed-up family. Cara, my stepsister, had been a thorn in my side ever since her mother married my father after my mom's death.
It was a miracle I still had my inheritance intact after all the dirty tricks they played. But now this? How dare they, after all I have done for them? I stood by her when she faced backlash from the public just months ago, even foolishly paying different bloggers and news stations ridiculous and large amounts of money just to write good things about her, regardless of how she and her mother treated me when I was a child. I invested in her make up brand, even though I knew it was going to be a flop because she had no idea how to run a business properly, but still I did not care, because I considered her as family, I saw her as my younger sister, but this is how they treat me?
And Tyler, the man I could boldly say I trust with my life, oh what a fool I had been.
"You're shocked, aren't you? I told you I would win in the end," Cara said, her voice dripping with glee.
"Baby, come here," she cooed to Tyler, "Look at her. So weak, so pathetic. She thought she had everything. The youngest heiress in the world, owner of a multibillion-dollar empire. But it was all an illusion, my illusion. I made you believe all of it. Everything was fake. The company was never really yours. You were just a toy to me. Something to play with, you know? Just the same exact way dogs play with their food before they eat, that's what I was doing with you, I played with you, making you think you can finally have the happy family you always dreamt of since you were a little girl."
She turned to Tyler, and I watched, helpless, as she slid her fingers up his face and pulled him into a kiss.
And he kissed her back, without any hesitation, and now I saw it— how perfect they looked together, their mouths fitted together like they had been rehearsing for some time, and they were not new to it, and that made my chest burned.
My eyes welled up and this time, I couldn't stop the stupid tears from falling.
I had been so foolish and oblivious to their acts, how had this been going on? How long had they been together behind my back?
"It's unfortunate, really," Cara continued, voice low. "You're dying the same way your useless mother did. Poison. A little family tradition, you could say. My mom and I? We're quite good at removing competition."
She smirked, her lips curling up at the side till it turned to a full blown laugh, clearly amused by my expression.
"You shouldn't have gotten in my way. You signed your assets over to us, foolishly. You even signed over the power of attorney to us. And, the moment you die, everything you own becomes ours. Now, you are now is a broken, dying woman with nothing left, and very soon you would turn to dust, with nothing to your name, and nobody would even remember your name on this earth, I'll make sure of that, it would be you never existed on earth, bet me on that," she said with delight, her lips curled up as she pulled a syringe from her bag, the liquid inside a clear shade of blue.
"Well… since the poison Tyler gave you didn't finish the job, I'll go with Plan B," she said with a chuckle, walking over to my IV bag.
I watched, horrified, as she injected the contents into the IV bag filled with fluid, while my body laid on the bed unable to move, my tears rolled freely now.
How could they do this to me?
Tyler… the man I trusted above all else.
I signed everything over without even reading it, because I believed in him. Because I loved him.
How naïve of me.
Cara's grinning face filled my vision once again.
"This should work faster. It kills instantly. Bye—bye, Lena, see you at the otherside, but definitely not know, I still have to enjoy all that you have labored for and have kids with the love of your life," she whispered, waving her fingers at me like I was some joke.
Tyler stood still besides her unmoving, as he watched everything happen.
His expression remained unreadable , and he didn't even try to stop her.
Why would he? This had all been part of their plan to get rid of me.
I could feel it this time, closer, faster and more real than before.
I could feel death now, almost taste it even, my heart thrashed violently in my chest, like a wild creature fighting its final battle. Every beat echoed like a drum of death, heavy and urgent. My lungs burned, begging for air that didn't seem to come. My limbs convulsed, trembling uncontrollably as if my body knew the end was near. My eyes fluttered, pupils dilating and contracting rapidly, struggling to cling to consciousness.
Everything around me started to blur, sound, light and time even.
I was slipping.
Cara's wide, gloating smile was the last thing I saw, twisted with cruel satisfaction, seared into my mind.
And then—
Silence.
Stillness.
Darkness.
Not the kind that brings peace.
The kind that steals everything.
A void.
"System reboot in progress…"
What?
A sudden pulse of light flickered in the darkness of my mind, like roaming electricity crackling across tge empty void of my mind.
I looked round seeing my legs floating in the air, yet I could not feel anything as if the force of gravity had finally been unbalanced.
"Synchronizing neural pathways…"
The Voices came again?
No, not voices, one voice, one smooth voice.
"Analyzing vitals… Vitals unstable, fatal organs failure… Initiating Host Override Protocol."
My body couldn't move, as if I was glued to one place, but yet I remained floating, suspended in the air.
And then I felt it, like something blooming right in my head, then traveling down to my chest and forcing itself to come to life.
"Welcome, Host."
Suddenly, the electric light that had been moving flared, blinding and all-consuming, and in an instant, words and writing filled my vision.
Different words, lines, codes…
Poison resistance: 83%.
Combat effectiveness: Unstable and fluctuating.
"System Interface 005 has successfully bonded with Host.
Initiating emergency protocol… Retrieving Core Memory… Searching Identity Profile…"
I felt numb, unable to speak, where was I?
Was I…shit!
Did I make it to heaven?
But…but this did not look like the peace and calmness that was described, rather I felt nothing like that, but instead something soared in my heart, something that felt more or like the taste of Power.
And it felt Indescribable, but very much alive.
"Would you like to activate Revenge Mode?"
The voice came again, making a chill raced down my soul.
My lips couldn't move like as if they were sealed.
But my thoughts, they were damned and very clear.
"YES."
"Acknowledged."
The voice sounded clearer this time, and the world which I was suspended in hummed.
"System evolution commencing - Transmigration Protocol Engaged."
"Initiating Dimensional Transfer…"
"Warning: Host's original world destabilized."
"Host transmigration into another realm initiating…"