"Goodbye…" Elise choked, taking her last breath.
In that moment, she looked so beautiful, so peaceful despite the pain. A small smile painted on her face because she had saved them. Even if it meant death for her.
The End.
Elise stared at the dimly lit screen of her phone, jaw hanging open. That was it?! The author just ended the story like that. No happy ending or closure. Not even a bittersweet ending.
Just a disappointing one.
If not for the fact her phone would cost a fortune to replace, Elise would've thrown it at the paper-thin wall in anger. How could everything end like that?! She wanted to throttle the author.
The story had so much potential for characters, especially the male leads, to grow and yet the author had wasted it. Instead, the author killed off the female lead by having her save the god awful male leads.
Who got no character development!!
"I hope this author gets writer's block forever!" Elise cursed aloud, flopping down on her bed. "How could you end things like that?! You made the female lead suffer so much!!"
She gazed up at the white ceiling of her tiny apartment studio, upset that the story had affected her so much. The story was meant to relax her after a long, draining day at work.
Instead, she got stressed and angry, hating what had happened. Perhaps, it was because the female lead had the same name as her. That was what piqued her interest in the story.
Then again, the female lead had suffered so much because of misunderstandings, Elise was hoping for a happy ending. One where the male leads groveled for the suffering they caused the female lead.
Sighing in frustration, she lifted up her phone and glanced at the time on her lock screen - 01:30 AM. Elise grumbled at the time. She had stayed up way too late to finish that horrible story and was now regretting it.
Should've just gone to bed instead of trying to finish this nonsense. Elise muttered to herself, getting up to get ready for bed.
She'd need to be up at 5 AM to catch the morning bus. Otherwise, she'd be late for work and her boss would get on her case. There wasn't time to continue complaining about the book.
After settling down in her small, single bed, Elise set her alarm and placed her phone on her nightstand before switching off the night lamp. She then pulled the bed covers over her and closed her eyes.
However, she could not fall asleep.
Her mind was racing with thoughts about the story, thinking of ways it could've ended better. The author had been too wasteful with the plot.
Save for the awful male leads, she quite enjoyed the whole omegaverse world-building. It was her first time reading about it and she was intrigued by the whole dynamic of it.
Too bad everything was toxic and stayed that way until the end. Perhaps tomorrow after work she could look for more in that genre. Hopefully, she'd find some more wholesome ones to cleanse her mind.
That thought seemed to ease her raging thoughts and soon she fell asleep, exhaustion winning over her mind.
***
Elise's eyes slowly fluttered open, warm sunlight shining on her face. She blinked at sunlight, the brain fog in her mind disappearing when she realized the sun was up. She was late for work!
She instantly sat up, only to get tangled up in the bed sheets and almost fall out of the bed. It was then that Elise realized something strange. Her pajamas were gone and she was not in her bed.
Fear clawed her throat as she gazed around the strange room she was in. It was bigger than the apartment studio she rented and reeked of wealth.
Even the air around her smelled posh and clean with a hint of pinewood, unlike that damp smell her apartment always had. Large French doors to her side of the bed had sunlight coming through them and seemed to lead to a balcony.
Gold lining decorated the walls and a crystal chandelier hung above the massive bed she was sitting in. The sheets around her naked body were silky soft, something she could never afford.
On the carpet floor lay a woman's handbag along with women's clothing. At least what used to be women's clothing. The dress looked quite torn up.
Where the hell am I?! Elise cried out in horror. I clearly remember falling asleep in my bed. Who's clothes are those?! Did someone kidnap me?!
She knew she should've pushed harder to get her landlord to fix that broken window. Now she had been kidnapped and who knows what was going to happen to her.
Something next to her shifted making her body tense up. She nervously turned her head to the other side of the bed and almost screamed.
Lying on his stomach was a massive man sleeping next to her. He was shirtless and had bed sheets tangled around his waist. Strands of dark brown hair framed his sharp face, making him look peaceful.
But that was far from what Elise was feeling. She slapped a hand over her mouth, panic setting in. What was this naked man doing in the bed?!
Nope, that wasn't the time to figure out what was going on. She needed to get out of this room before he woke up or worse something bad happened to her.
She moved to get out of the bed, only to face plant into the plush carpet. Her body screamed in pain, legs almost like jelly. Elise could barely move with her aching body.
Am I drugged up?! Elise thought to herself, trying to bite down on the panic threatening to spill over. Why is my body so sore?
[Confirming Host…]
[Loading: 10%... 24%... 68%... 99%]
Elise gazed at the sudden blue screen that popped up in front of her, unsure what to think. She had to be dreaming. The blue screen was just her imagination. There was no way any of this was real.
The screens suddenly disappeared for a second, only for a new one to pop up:
[Welcome Player to My Four Alphas]