Charmaine stared at the young woman in the round mirror she was holding. She wasn't crazy, right? Her mind is sound! But her reflection in the mirror clearly indicates that she's her young self again! Was she able to turn back time?
Her name is Charmaine Song. Aya and James Song's daughter. But everyone in the family called her Xiaomin as her late Chinese grandmother used to call her. It's because he couldn't pronounce her name very well. In Charmaine's mind, she already sailed through the up coming eight years of her life and it was scary. Should she believe it? Or just treat it as a month long nightmare that finally ended? Was it a dream? A premonition? Or was she reborn to correct her past mistakes?
From what she remembers, the first person who visited her in her dreams after she woke up from a coma was her mother. She told her something about her sister. She wondered if something like that will happen today. She can still remember her dreams clearly as if all of it really happened. If it's true that she had been through all of this once, then she'll do everything to change what's to come.
When the clock strikes four, the door of Charmaine's room swung open. A woman came in and rushed to her bed. "Xiaomin, you're alright!" she exclaimed, hugging the girl who was sitting on her bed. "I'm so glad you're awake now. I was very worried about you!" she said as she wept.
Charmaine hugged her back and caressed the woman's hair. "I'm okay mom. Please don't cry anymore." she consoled her. Aya has always been a cry-baby. She hated it the most when she sees her mom crying. "Don't cry anymore. Where's dad?"
Aya let go of her daughter and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She calmed herself down before engaging to a conversation with her daughter.
"Your dad left for a business trip. He'll be home after a couple of days." she replied. "How are you doing? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Charmaine lowered her head. "You're lying... right?" she whispered. In her dream, Charmaine's father didn't see her after she woke up either. Her mom told her the same thing: that her dad was on a business trip. But later, she found out that he was looking for Jienna. She runaway from home while Charmaine was unconsciously lying in the hospital. "What happened, mom? Jienna.... what did she do?"
Aya stared at her daughter with wide eyes. She was wondering how the girl saw through her lies. "Well... Leo told us about what happened between the two of you and... we all agreed to have your wedding early. It'll be after your eighteenth birthday. Of course we all hoped you'll wake up these first three months. However Jienna disagreed and did something beyond our expectations. She... slept with Leo."
Aya glanced at her daughter's face but all she saw was a cold expression. She didn't see pain in her eyes like she expected. There was no sign of surprise in her face nor even a bit of disappointment. "She thought if she sleeps with Leo, then she'll have a chance to marry him. But his grandfather despised her even more." Aya continued. "She runaway because she couldn't accept this. And I asked your dad to look for her." she confessed.
Charmaine sighed. This is exactly what happened in her dream. If everything in that dream will be repeated, then Jienna will return after a month claiming she's pregnant with Leo's child. In that same dream, grandpa Ji insisted that only Charmaine Song was fit to marry his grandson and so Charmaine married Leo after her eighteenth birthday. She had been too greedy and it destroyed her relationship with Jienna. Leo took custody of their child and that gave her sister opportunities to see Leo. It was so chaotic that her feud with Jienna only ended after she died. Yes, her sister Jienna died three years later... and she died in her hands.
"Mom... I wanna go home." she muttered.
***
"Aren't you going to visit your fiancee in the hospital? I heard she already woke up.", Jun asked from behind.
Jun has been watching Leo for a while now. He was just standing on the balcony with his hands in his pockets, staring at the passing clouds as if something was troubling him. When he heard his half-brother's voice, he turned around to see him standing behind him with a smile. Before he came, Leo was indeed thinking about Charmaine.
"What for? She might have already heard about what happened between me and her sister." he replied.
Jun shrugged his shoulders. "So what? You were drunk! Jienna was the one who took advantage of you! It's not your fault!"
Leo sighed. He was indeed drunk that night. He was so devastated about Charmaine's car accident that he started drinking every night, thinking it'll help ease the guilt he was feeling inside, but Jienna took advantage of his drunken state one night and things got out of hand. It wasn't his intention to sleep with her. He can't even remember a thing!
"Tell me the truth brother! If you could choose on your own, between the two sisters, who would you marry?" Jun asked with a teasing smile. Everyone knows that Leo is a filial grandson. He would marry anyone his grandfather choose for him. But what about his personal choice? Jun was so curious about this.
"No one." he coldly answered. "They were just the same." The two women have always been competing with each other; very determined to possess him. Wasn't it because he's the future heir of the Ji family? Everyone knows that whoever among the Songs marry the Ji heir will automatically be the heiress of the Song family. But if they all will be stripped off of their positions, maybe...
Maybe... Leo would choose Charmaine.
Jun stared at Leo's face but couldn't read anything through it. He too, likes the girls. Whoever Leo wouldn't take, he will gladly have. "Then tell me, will you be marrying Charmaine? If so, I'll start chasing Jienna!" he stated. It doesn't matter who it is. As long as it's a Song, he has a chance to advance and be the Ji's next family head. Afterall, he's still the eldest son although he was an illegitimate one.
Leo took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I'll be marrying Charmain Song. he declared.