"This is impossible." Penny looked at the marriage certificate in between her fingers. "Since when did I get married?"
Penny studied the printouts in her hand. The woman in the certificate was definitely her, but this man… Penny couldn't recall ever meeting him. The man in the certificate had a well-proportioned face with symmetrical facial features. He had a strong, defined jawline, adding a masculine look to him. His long, sharp, deep-set eyes were dark but very captivating.
As Penny wondered about this situation, her phone rang.
"Heya! How's the wedding?" asked the person from the other end of the line.
"Well, turns out I'm married."
"Congrats!"
Penny frowned, thinking Yugi didn't get what she was trying to say. "Yugi, can you look up this man named…" Her eyes veered to her 'husband's' name. "Zoren Pierson."
"Who's that?"
"That's what I want to find out. I'll call you again later." Penny ended the call and gazed at the certificate once again.
All her life, she had been waiting for this day to come. The day she could marry herself off and leave her household. It was no secret that Penny had been wanting to get out of the family. It was for the best for everyone, especially for herself. However, no one knew Penny had another big secret.
This wasn't her first life.
She promised that in this lifetime, she would live it on her own terms. But now, that plan was slightly shaken by the man registered as her husband.
"I don't know if this is a good thing, but what I know is I have to fix this," she whispered as her eyelids drooped. "I can't afford to make the same mistake I did in my first life."
Her first life ended in a tragedy. Thinking about it, Penny told herself she couldn't afford a mishap in this lifetime.
*
*
*
[How her life ended and started.]
"I… didn't do it."
Penny looked at the man seated on the other side of the glass. The first thing she noticed was his untrimmed beard, his messy hair, and the dark bags under his eyes. This was her eldest brother, Atlas, the once-admired CEO of Global Prime Logistics.
"Brother, just this once… please." Penny planted her hand on the glass as her eyes brimmed with tears. "... please, believe me. I didn't do it. I'm innocent. It wasn't me."
Atlas slowly lifted his olive-brown eyes, the natural allure in them still present. However, it paled in comparison to the helplessness and hopelessness within them.
"Innocent?" he repeated quietly. "Penny, you wouldn't be behind that glass if you were innocent."
"No." Tears flooded her face as her entire body and voice shook in desperation. "I am innocent. Please… help me."
"Even if it's true, Penny, it's over." Atlas smiled wryly. "You did what you did, and now we're paying the price."
A whimper escaped her tightly sealed lips as she shook her head in denial.
"Hugo's dead, and Slater… his career's dead too." Tears formed in the corner of his eyes as he gazed at the once beautiful Penny, who seemed to have aged in prison just months after her trial ended. "Our lives are over, Penny. People see us as terrorists, enemies of the country, corrupt to the core. You proved that when you made your confession."
"But I only did that so they wouldn't arrest you too —"
"Enough!" Atlas slammed his hand against the glass between them, grinding his teeth angrily. "I know you hate us, but you… you took it too far. Even after being proven guilty, you still claim you're innocent."
"Because I am!"
"No! Shut up!" he roared, making her flinch. He drew a jagged breath as he leaned forward. "Penny, you listen to me. Just… tell me, why did you do it? I just… want to know."
Penny's heart sank as she bit her quivering lips, tasting her own tears and snot. Looking at her desperate brother, she didn't know what to say anymore. She had already told him everything from beginning to end, but alas, he wouldn't believe her. He never believed a single word she said.
"I'm already on death row…" she hiccuped, placing both her hands on the glass separating them. "And yet, I was still hopeful that for once… you would side with me, your real younger sister. Just this once."
Her breath hitched as her tears blurred her vision. She wasn't asking him for too much. She never asked them for too much. All she wanted was to be accepted by her brothers and treated as family. But alas, even at this moment, he still couldn't give that.
Very well.
"I hate you," she whispered, her voice shaky but clear. "I hate all of you… there you go. You heard my reason. Did that give you enough peace now? I might be in prison now, but I'm not the only one going down. You, your brothers, and that pretentious little sister you so adore!"
Atlas scoffed as he staggered back. "I knew it… you're jealous."
"Yes, I am jealous!" Penny yelled her frustrations out. "I was swapped even before my mother could embrace me! I grew up with an abusive aunt who would sell me for anything! And when I thought I was finally going to have a good life since my family found me, you, Hugo, and Slater never failed to make me feel I didn't belong there every single day! You never failed to make me feel you would prefer to have this person who isn't your real sister as your family over me, who is your flesh and blood!"
"I did everything, Atlas. Everything. I worked hard and studied hard ten times more than anyone in hopes you'd like me. I enrolled in all martial arts classes to have common ground with Hugo and even studied music and arts so there's something I could talk about with Slater!" Her voice cracked as she balled her hands on the glass. "So, yes, I am jealous, because Nina didn't have to do all that for you guys to like her!"
"You really are something." Atlas couldn't help but laugh in ridicule, shaking his head in disbelief. "I knew it. I knew you were bad news when you came into our house that day."
He took a deep breath, trying to process what he heard. "Well…" he ran his tongue across his inner cheek, speechless. "At least now, I understand."
"Atlas…"
"I heard your execution date is set." He offered her a bitter smile, rocking his head. "I… don't know what to say, Penelope. I just finished Hugo's funeral arrangement, so… I'll get you a good resting place, but it won't be in the same place as our parents and Hugo's."
After saying his piece with great difficulty, Atlas turned his back on her. Penny just sat on the same chair listlessly even after he was gone.
Everything she told him was true, but it was just a fraction of it. The truth was, with her desire to be seen by her brothers, Penny believed a malicious person. She was so blinded that she thought she was doing the right thing, only for her brothers and Penny to be accused of a crime they never committed.
To make amends, Penny took all the blame. Even so, her confession only saved her brothers from getting behind bars. She couldn't stop the repercussions that struck their family business, her brother's reputation, and their lives and careers.
That was the first and last visit Penny had until her execution day.
*****
Dragging her feet to the place that would be her last stop, Penny kept her eyes downcast. She had already lost track of time and her will to live was almost gone. When she sat down on the metal chair, she glanced at the officers who were strapping her body to the chair. Once they were finished, they all left her in a small square room with only a mirror across from her.
This was the first time she had seen herself in months. She looked… horrible, pathetic, and helpless. It reminded her of Atlas and how he looked the last time he came to see her.
"We'll start with the process now." Suddenly, a voice from the speaker attached to the upper corners of the execution room caressed her ears. "Is there anything else you want to say?"
Anything she wanted to say?
The corner of her lips twitched a little as she whispered, "If I ever get to live in my next life, I'd rather be an orphan than become their sister." Penny almost didn't finish her last words as electricity traveled from her brain to the end of her toes.
It hurt like hell, but she couldn't scream. All she could do was clench her teeth as she seized. She didn't know how long it took, but she could remember the scent of burnt flesh before succumbing to the darkness.
******
The sound of a soothing lullaby caressed her from her deep slumber.
'So warm…' Penny immediately frowned before she could open her eyes. 'Why… am I waking up?'
As far as she could remember, she should've been electrocuted to death. There was no other expectation after that! Her story should've ended with that! Confusion clouded her mind before a sudden conclusion crossed her mind that silenced all of her chaotic thoughts.
'Don't tell me the electric chair broke down and I have to do all of that again!?'
Penny gasped in horror, about to push herself up on instinct. But alas, she immediately realized she couldn't move her arms and legs.
'Am I strapped?' she wondered, opening her lips to make a sound. Much to her horror, what she heard was a baby coo.
Huh?
'What in the world —' Penny froze when an unfamiliar face hovered over her. Only then did she also realize there was a warm lamp over her.
"Hi, baby," said the nurse in a small voice. "Your mommy will pick you up in a bit, hmm?"
Penny looked at the woman in horror, looking around her surroundings while wiggling herself out of the blankets wrapped around her.
'Baby decorations, warm lights, small transparent tubs…' She was flabbergasted at the sudden conclusion in her heart. 'Am I... am I do I think I am?! Holy shi—'
"Hik… hik… wah!"
Her train of thought stopped when she heard a baby cry, which she quickly realized had come from her. Before she knew it, the rest of the babies in the nursery took her cries as a challenge and also started making noises until they cried like a choir.