MISIC RECOMMENDATION: ANOTHER LOVE PIANOUS.
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The sweet smell of cranberry and lavender wafted through the air. A soft inhale broke the silence, and the figure on the bed stretched, her movements gentle and tentative, like a flower unfurling after a storm. Her mouth opened to a yawn.
The scent in the room still lingered, warm and familiar, surrounding her like a cocoon, and she felt her senses awaken, one by one.
She blinked slowly, her vision adjusting to the dim, hazy light. Everything seemed new, yet there was a strange familiarity in the comfort surrounding her. The plush bedding, the faint warmth of morning light streaming through the window, the gentle breeze that carried the aroma she had once loved. Cranberry and lavender her favorite scent.
She was in heaven...
Harlow Hurried out of bed, feeling so happy. She could move with her feet, there was peace in her mind. She could finally see her son and parents again. Her real family...
She wondered what the heaven laws were.
The world she would face outside of these door. She looked around the room and paused. Harlow was lost in her thought for a moment as she wondered why was her room so familiar to the one in the villa?
Was God trying to test her?
Did he want to remind her of the pain she just went through?
Shouldn't your heavenly mansion be something else?
Something different from the earthly mansion?
Isn't that what heaven is about?
It's meant to be a place of solace, a place of joy....
Just yesterday she had been brutally murdered by the same people she once called her family. Her eyes moistened as she recalled their brutality. But she felt no pain anymore. She was free now. They would get their Karma soon.
She had read a few books and she's learnt angels sing every hour in heaven, why was she not hearing any music?
Her bare feet moved on the floor as she tried to concentrate on her surrounding to at least hear the music but she couldn't hear a thing. Maybe the singing section was far from her room. Her assigned angel should be here any moment now to dress her up and take her to the singing section. There she would find her family.
Harlow smiled at her thoughts as she walked back to seat on her bed awajting the arrival of her angel.
A faint knock sounded at the door immediately, startling her. She jumped out of bed, catching a glimpse of herself in the reflection on a nearby mirror. Her eyes were wide with wonder, so it is true...
When you die and go to heaven, you appear younger than you were on earth. Oh how she missed this face.
Her skin smooth and unmarked, her face aglow with an innocence she hadn't known in years. Her hand drifted to her cheek in awe, feeling the warmth beneath her fingertips, the softness of unbroken skin.
Her dark hair was a little disheveled. Harlow smiled. Even in heaven God has decided to give her dark hair as punishment because of her desperate life on earth. Back then because Alanis didn't like her red hair, she had dyed her red hair to black just to please him.
"Miss Harlow," a gentle voice called from the door, hesitant but filled with care. "Are you awake?" The voice sounded hauntingly familiar. Harlow's breath hitched as she recognized it. It was the voice of the maid who had once joined the Hamiltons in plotting against her.
Did they kill her too?
She opened her mouth to respond, and her own voice surprised her. A soft, clear tone, untouched by bitterness or despair.
"Yes," she replied, her voice like a melody she'd forgotten.
The door opened, and a familiar face peeked in. "Good morning, Miss Harlow. How are you feeling today?" The moment the maid stepped inside, realization dawned. Harlow knew that face all too well. She knew this day. This was the morning after her marriage. Alanis hadn't spent the night with her yet, but he would be there at breakfast, along with his entire family, to go over the agreement she was to sign.
They had all acted so kind that day, knowing their futures depended on her. And now, she was here again, on the very day she'd unknowingly surrendered herself to their scheme.
Had she… been reborn?
Harlow looked at herself again, her eyes brimming with disbelief. She raised a trembling hand and slapped her cheek, feeling the slight sting. She was no ghost. This wasn't heaven. She was back, back to five years ago, before her son was born. Before her miscarriage. Back to a time where she had the chance to change her fate.
Her heart began to beat faster, but this time it wasn't out of fear or despair. She had been given a second chance. And this time, she would make sure that the Hamiltons paid for every tear they'd caused her to shed.
"I am feeling wonderfully well, Jane." Harlow's voice was calm but firm, and Jane stared at her, clearly taken aback. How did the new madam know her name?
"I… I haven't told you my name yet," Jane stammered, her confusion plain.
"Oh, you don't want to know the other secrets I know about you," Harlow replied, her lips curling into a gentle smile. She saw the maid hesitate but nodded when Harlow asked, "Are you here to dress me up?"
Jane nodded, still looking perplexed.
"No need for that. I can dress myself for breakfast," Harlow said smoothly, dismissing her.
In this life she'd be different, She would waste no time being the obedient wife they'd molded her to be. Today, she'd reclaim the pieces of herself she'd once lost.
At her thoughts, she brushed her black hair before the mirror and stepped out of the room in nothing but her night dress. The Hamilton's were at her mercy now, they wouldn't mind their daughter in law is a little clumsy today. Harlow smiled.