CHAPTER 2: NORA ROBERT
My name is Nora Roberts, and I'm twenty-two years old. I'm the second child in my family. My life changed forever when my mother, the first wife of my father, Mike Roberts, passed away when I was just four. After her death, my stepmother took over, and I felt more like a maid than a daughter in my own home.
At fourteen, I made the tough choice to leave my father's house. I wanted to find work and gain some independence. It wasn't easy for a girl my age to get a job, but eventually, I was taken in by Old Madam Grace Herbert as her maid. That's where my life started to change, but not always for the better.
By the time I was sixteen, everything shifted when I met Drake, Old Madam Grace's grandson. One night, while I was mopping the floor, he stumbled in, clearly drunk. He was twenty, and I was just a naive girl of sixteen.
"You look so good today; I need you to warm my bed," he slurred, grabbing my hand and pulling me close. Before I could react, he pushed me against the wine shelf and kissed me forcefully. I screamed for help, but the other maids just stood there, frozen in shock.
He slapped me for my outcry and dragged me into his room. Helpless and terrified, I wished for my mother to come back and save me. He threw me onto the bed, pinned me down, and began to remove my skirt. I cried out, but no one came to my rescue. My first experience was filled with pain, not love.
After he was done, he handed me a handkerchief to clean myself. I stood up, tears streaming down my face, ready to leave.
"Pick up the bedsheet. It already stinks," he ordered coldly.
I felt a surge of anger and despair but obeyed. As I ran to my room, the other maids stared at me, their eyes filled with pity. I locked myself in and cried for hours. I wanted to tell Mrs. Herbert, Drake's mom, but my colleagues warned me against it.
"Nora, I know how you feel, but Mrs. Herbert won't do anything," one of them cautioned.
Despite their warnings, I approached Mrs. Herbert, but she looked at me with disdain, as if I were nothing but dirt. I felt humiliated and powerless. That was the day I decided to quit working for the Herberts and leave their mansion.
That night, I found myself sleeping on the streets, lost and alone in the cold, until a car pulled up beside me the next morning.
"Nora, what...?"
"Nora, why are you here? Your family has been searching for you for two years," Aunt Emily snapped as she stepped out of the car, looking stunning yet cold.
"Aunt," I whispered, feeling small.
"You smell awful. Do you even bathe?" she sneered, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"My dad, your brother, died today. I'm going to the hospital to see if what Rachel said is true. You're a chief mourner; it would be right to have you there," she added sharply.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go," I replied, trying to walk past her.
Before I could escape, two men grabbed my arms and shoved me into a taxi headed for the hospital.
Inside, I saw my stepmother and my stepsister, Rachel, their faces turned away from me as if I were a ghost.
"She stinks," Rachel hissed.
I stood at my father's ward door, staring at his lifeless body. Despite all the pain he caused me, I never wished him dead. At sixteen, I became an orphan.
Returning home meant living under the same roof as my stepmother and half-siblings. Those five years were brutal. I juggled part-time jobs just to survive, never touching my parents' money except for the room in my father's house.
Then, one day, my elder half-sister, Rachel, pushed me down the stairs, leaving me in a coma, all to get rid of me.
"Erica… please… get revenge for me."
Nora's voice trembled.
Now, I, Erica, a spirit from 1890, am trapped in her body. I found myself speaking to the real Nora Roberts, who is dead.
"Erica...please...revenge me," I whispered with my fading breath.
"As I live for you, I will take over everything," I whispered, my voice echoing in her mind.
With my strength and cunning, I would finally have the chance for revenge against those who wronged her. Together, we would reclaim her life and make sure that Rachel, my stepmother, and others would pay for their cruelty.
I smiled at Nora as her last tears fell and her breath stopped. Then, I took over.