"Hey! Stop it! It's not my fault that your brother got infection from some stupid random lady!" A beautiful young lady with brown long and wavy hair, and blackened eyes screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to pry her hair free from her opponent.

Dressed in a flay dress that extended just beyond her knees, revealing her pale white skin, she seemed elegant and charming and yet, here she was, fighting like her life depended on it. It actually did. This was the everyday life of Katherine Flameborn, now Katherine Augustus ever since her marriage.

"Shut it, you vile being! If you hadn't been such a distasteful bitch, he wouldn't have gone out to cheat in the first place." This was Katherine's opponent, Stacie Augustus, the immediate younger sister of her husband.

Stacie's short black skirt and grey body hugging top gave her the ability to fight freely which was one of the two reasons why she had the winning hand. Her red lips wouldn't stop cursing at her sister-in-law even as she pulled at her hair. "You should just die! You deserve death!"

When calm, Stacie was as beautiful as any woman could be but once her mouth opened, she was the worse. "I know! I'll have Zeke divorce you and chase you out of our house." She continued as she pulled Katherine through the walkway with her hair. One of her eyes was also dark which showed that Katherine had managed to fight back. Even if it was just a little.

Katherine didn't appreciate the tone Stacie was using to address her but she couldn't do anything about it as she was carrying a child.

"But I already signed the divorce paper my husband brought this morning." Katherine responded with an angered look. She was clearly furious and extremely hurt having to sign a divorce despite being pregnant. They all knew it. The whole family knew she was pregnant and yet.   Yet none of them pleaded for her stay.

"Keep quiet!"

Bang!

A knee to Katherine's stomach was all it took for Katherine to go quiet. The pain was so unbearable that no sound could leave her opened soft lips. Her eyes rolled back and tears fell down her cheeks. The kick had almost forced her to pass out.

"Oh, I forgot to control my strength there. Sorry about that. And I hope the child is fine too." Stacie commented upon seeing Katherine's reaction to the kick.

Of course the reaction was expected. Taking such a direct hit from a trained fighter like Stacie would warrant such a reaction from any pregnant woman.

Then and there, Katherine was sure she'd lost the child. Her baby was no more. Four months of anticipation and joy was eliminated, just by that knee kick.

"Since you already signed the contract, you should leave our house." At this time, Stacie had finally succeeded in dragging her outside her family's small manor. Both parties were standing just outside, close to the road.

Stacie noticed a vehicle approaching from the left side of the road and smirked.

The driver, seeming to spot them, increased his speed toward the scene. His reason, unknown.

Stacie raised Katherine up and slapped her face so she could regain full consciousness after almost zoning out a few seconds ago. "Hey, wake up. It's about time you left our house. Return to your father's."

As she spoke, the anticipated car finally skidded to a stop just a few yards away. A male figure walked out of the luxurious vehicle. He was adorned in an expensive looking three piece suit of black leather. A large gold chain was wrapped around his neck. Black eyes that seemed good of emotions and black hair that matched his suit.

Slowly, he walked toward both parties with disinterest. "And what's going on here if I may ask?" The figure asked with a look that bordered on both satisfaction and exhaustion.

At the sound of the voice, Katherine's eyes quivered as she tried to regain full consciousness. The voice was very familiar. It was one she'd heard for years after all.

Just as she managed to open her eyes, she heard Stacie's voice. "Oh, nothing, Elder Brother. Just sending her back to her father's house since she's signed the divorce papers."

And then…

Pa!

Before Katherine could utter a word. Before she could even welcome the new figure. Before she could plead to him.

She felt herself pushed backwards, her legs slipping off the pavement and staggering into the main road.

As she regained her balance, her eyes met the man standing beside Stacie. His eyes weren't even glued to her. They were glued to Stacie's figure.

She was hurt. She always had been. He never cared about her and for once, just this once, she was hoping he would. Once again, she was disappointed. She was heartbroken.

Then she heard him mutter words that completely broke her heart. "Now that we're divorced and I'm no longer married to her, you can finally stop acting like my sister and give your husband a hug."

The words sounded like an explosion in her ears and at that moment, nothing else mattered. Her husband's sister wasn't really his sister. Stacie was never Zeke's sister. They were a couple. She was frozen. She was broken and above all, she was dead. Literally.

She didn't notice the incessant horns from the speeding vehicle. They didn't hear it. No one did. At least, none that mattered.

Then it happened.

She didn't feel any of it. Her feelings died the moment she heard those words from Zeke's mouth but…

Bang!

Everything stopped. Everything, all at once.

The windshield of the truck was dyed red from Katherine's blood. The vehicle skidded to a stop but it was too late.

"Ahhhh!!"

"An accident!"

"Oh my God!"

The few individuals passing by noticed immediately and screamed in terror, some rushing to the scene immediately.

"What?!" Zeke also noticed and turned to the scene. Although he hated her, he couldn't simply overlook a murder that happened in front of him.

Whether she was dead or alive, mattered not to him but he still needed to check. Or so he thought.

"Hold on a minute." Zeke let go of Stacie and slowly walked toward the spot ofthe accident. There were few people doing the same. Some ran towards Katherine's corpse as others sprinted toward the truck which had come to a stop.

When one of them confirmed that Katherine was indeed dead, Zeke frowned. He turned to the truck that refused to open as others surrounded it, demanding answers.

In rising fury, he stormed the place, pushing everyone out of his way until he stood in front of the door. He held the handle and pulled open the door. Mysteriously or not, the driver had vanished. No one saw him drop from the vehicle.

Zeke was terrified by what had just happened and then he saw a piece of paper on the driver's seat: Your Loss!

Maybe out of fear or panic or genuine shock, Zeke screamed. "What the fuck is this?!"

*****

"Gah!" Katherine jerked out of bed, cold beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

"What was that?" She asked herself as she sat up on the bed. She wiped off the sweat with a confused look. "A nightmare?"

The thought of that seemed plausible but then again, it all felt too real. She could feel it and above all, she remembered every bit of it.

At that last moment, she had seen the truck hit her. She'd seen a figure sitting at the driver's seat. She'd seen him smile at her frozen self and then a second later, she'd died.

She rose up from bed and then a wave of nostalgia hit her. This was exactly how her room had looked a few years back. Only now did she notice it. "Huh!" She scoffed. "My mind's playing games with me."

A large black bed, white walls and a red rug at the centre of the room. While the walls were white, all the furniture was black which made the room look simple yet attractive. 

Ring!

Her phone rang and she moved to pick it only to notice the difference. This was also a device she used years back. Rather than move toward the phone, she took steps backwards.

Coincidentally, the phone was placed on the cabinet by the bed and atop it was a large mirror.

"Huh?" One look in the mirror and she could tell an obvious difference. She was a hell lot younger. "What the hell is this?"

Now, she was beginning to worry.

The phone rang again and this time, she braced herself and walked toward the phone. Looking at the number, it was Zeke's. She frowned but she picked it up.

"Where the hell were you when I called the first time?!" The voice from the other side was just as she had expected. However, what she didn't expect was the tone of his voice. It sounded lighter than usual.

"Sorry, I was getting some things done." She quickly responded, still trying to get a hold of her mind and thoughts.

"Tch. Get dressed and meet me up at the Starlight Hotel. There's a meeting I need to attend and apparently, my goddamned wife has to be here too. So get your ass here this instant!"

Before she could even respond, Zeke ended the call.

Meeting at the Starlight Hotel that needed her presence?

"Didn't this happen like five years ago?" She picked up her phone again and checked the date.

Pa!

The phone dropped from her hand upon seeing the date. "How? How is this possible?!" She asked, slowly backing away from her phone in terror and panic.

"How am I five years back in the past?"

Ding!

"Huh?" The unexpected sound made her head turn, trying to locate the source.

{Requirement met! Host has realised the time difference.}

{Initiating System launch…}

{System Loading…}

{Loading complete! Host will now momentarily lose consciousness to integrate with the System.}

"Where the hell are those sounds coming from?" Katherine's eyes scanned the whole room but found nothing and then a wave of drowsiness crashed onto her.

"I guess I'll just…"

Thud!

She fell on the red rug that covered the center of her room's floor.