*There's a reason for the way she acts. I promise it will all make sense once you learn more about Lola and what happened to her.
...
I'm falling to my death.
I never thought I would say those words.
I should be afraid but I'm not. All I feel is sadness and anger.
They betrayed me and I should have seen it coming.
My dad was right. I should have never trusted Liam Smith.
Oh, and my best friend? Olivia Maxwell? A total bitch. I can't believe I never saw through her.
All I can do now is hope they get caught.
I don't want revenge. I just wish I had been a little smarter.
I regret letting myself forget who I truely am. I pretended to be someone else for too long.
I should have never tried to change for him.
Unfortunately it's too late for regrets.
...
My eyelids feel heavy as I struggle to open them.
Is this hell? It can't be heaven. I've always been a bad person.
I can hear voices but I can't quite make out what they're saying.
When I finally manage to open my eyes I'm greeted by the sight of a familiar face. One I haven't seen in years.
"M-om" I choke out. My throat feeling like sandpaper and my eyes welling up with tears.
"Honey! She's awake!" She yells over her shoulder as she embraces me.
"My baby! How do you feel?" My father says worriedly as he runs to my side and scans my face for signs of pain while my mother holds a glass of water to my lips.
I take a slow sip of the cold liquid as I look at the two people who love me most in this world.
My father looks younger and my mother is alive. It doesn't take a genius to understand what's going on. I went back in time.
"What's the date?" I ask as I struggle to sit up with the help of my personal assistant, Poppy.
"It's June 7th 20XX." Poppy says respectfully.
15 years! And this is the day I lost my wings.
"How are my wings?" I ask quietly. I already know but I have to pretend not to.
"They're severely injured. It will take a lot to fix them." My mother says worridly as she examines my broken and bloodied wings.
My eyes widen in shock. They can be fixed? That's not what they said last time.
No! I hadn't woken up yet last time. I woke up in the middle of the night. There were only doctors around.
And Olivia.
She must have done something while I was out.
"If you fix-"
"Stop." My mother interrupts.
"But we all know she's the best!" My father protests.
"I'll do it myself." I say softly. If it was before I would have never said this. Liam likes dumb girls. He didn't want someone capable he wanted eye candy. I was fully committed to being his dream woman so much so that I was willing to give up my power for him. Even of it meant losing my wings.
"For real?!" My mom asks in excitement and disbelief.
"Why wouldn't I?" I ask feigning confusion as I channel my magic into my wings. A golden light shines as my wings heal at a visible speed.
Just like I said before. I don't want revenge. I'll just pretend not to know them. Without Liam I would have used my gifts and talents for myself and those I care about. I would have never become a quiet housewife.
...
We left only a few hours later as my wounds had already healed with the help of my magic. I didn't see Oliva and I have no plans to ask about her.
Instead I lay here on my bed, online shopping with my dad's debit card. It's been so long since I've done some shopping for myself. Of course I'm much too lazy to leave the house so of course I order things from the internet.
$600 later, I have dozens of packages coming in the next few days.
Not long after I put down the laptop and curl up under the covers, Poppy knocks on the door and I tell her to come in.
"Young Miss the Master and Madam have guests over. They seem to be trying to arrange an engagement." Poppy says respectfully. I have long had her reporting to me about things that happen in this house.
I search my memory and remember who came here. It was the Winters family. They wanted me to be engaged to their 7th son.
His public image is almost nonexistent but in a few years it's revealed that he is actually the chairman of Eclipse Corporation and a hidden trillionaire.
The only person other than his assistant who knew the truth is his grandmother. The very woman seated in the reception room.
I remember that my parents refused the proposal because I was injured and deeply in love with Liam Smith. They felt it was wrong to force a marriage between us when I clearly wanted no part in it and it would be unfair to have an innocent man marry a woman who was in love with someone else.
Especially if I had just fallen into depression over the loss of my wings.
After a moment of thought I climb out of bed and walk out of my room leaving Poppy surprised and a little panicked as she watches me walk down the stairs in a long t-shirt and shorts. My hair is down and I look like I just rolled out of bed. Of course that's because I just rolled out of bed.
My wings are tucked into my body because It's a secret that we have them and I know for a fact our guests don't know the truth.
When I walk into the room Old Madam Winters pauses mid sentence as she catches sight of me. Her eyes scan my body from head to toe. My long slender legs, thin waist, large chest, and angelic face. The more she sees the more satisfied she seems with my appearance.
I begin to feel a little uncomfortable under her scrutiny and I turn to look at our other guest.
Dylan Winters. The 7th son of the Winters family.
Our eyes meet and I feel a sudden urge to be close to him. To feel his skin on mine and run my fingers through his hair.
Feeling the strange pull I force myself to look away and I stare intently at my parents who are starting to look a little guilty.
"What's going on?" I ask my mother, although I already know the answer.
"Well, as you know my father, your grandfather was good friends with the old man from the Winters family." My father explains slowly. He's clearly stalling for time.
"Get to the point." I say impatiently.
"What your father is trying to say is that the two old men arranged for you to be engaged to Dylan. It was their dying wish." My mother says avoiding eye contact.
"Poppy?" I call and she immediately appears behind me.
"Yes, Young Miss?" She asks respectfully.
"I'm going to dishonor the dead." I say before attempting to leave only to be grabbed by the back of my collar.
"Unfortunately, I must prevent you from doing so. There are documents that require your signature in the office. If you leave now you are unlikely to return until I forge your signature and sign them myself." Poppy says emotionlessly.
"I quit." I say stubbornly.
"The chairwoman can't quit." Poppy says simply. I knew that wouldn't work. I've tried to quit hundreds of times
"I'll give you a bonus." I say pleadingly.
"How much?" Poppy says hesitantly.
"15- No 20% of your salary." I say hopefully.
"25." She negotiates.
"Deal." I say as I run to my father, having finally escaped her grasp.
"About the engagement..." Old Madam Winters says clearing her throat to draw the attention of everyone in the room.
"All jokes aside, I actually don't care. Do whatever you want. If he's an asshole I'll just kill him." I say plainly. From my words you can feel my blatant disregard for human life.
"Lola!" My father says warningly.
"What? Mom had the same plan I'm just being more direct than she was." I answer in annoyance. My mother clears her throat awkwardly and turns her head to avoid my father's eyes guiltily.
"Really Vivian?" My father asks in shock.
"Ahem. About the engagement. It's probably best we allow the children to get to know one another before the wedding. I say they get engaged now and get married in a year. We can have the ceremony after they are officially married. The date can be left to the children." My mother says, changing the topic back to the engagement.
"I agree. The children can work things out for themselves later. For now it's best to start with the engagement. We can have the engagement party next week so it doesn't seem too rushed." Madam Winters replys with a small smile. I can see in her eyes that she's a little less enthusiastic about the engagement after everything she saw and heard but she still seems excited nonetheless.
"Lola, why don't you show Dylan around? We have a lot to discuss and it could take a while. You should use this as an opportunity to get acquainted." My mother requests but I can tell from the look she gives me that she wasn't really asking.
"Follow me or don't." I say before standing to walk upstairs.
Dylan doesn't say anything but he does follow me.
"Wait here." I say when we reach my room. I don't say anything else as I walk inside and close the door making sure to turn the lock. I walk to my closet and pull out a dress at random. I end up wearing a short blue dress with an open back.
Almost all my clothes have an open back for my wings. I only wear custom clothes and things that were altered to allow me to use my wings.
I can't be bothered to find matching shoes so I just leave my room barefoot.
There, standing outside my room is Dylan who's eyes widen when he sees my change of clothes.
"Let's go." I say without slowling down as I head to another staircase leading down.
"Where are we going?" He questions curiously as he moves to walk beside me.
"Garage." I say simply. I don't elaborate as I lead him to my private garage.
When I open the door a pair of black sandals are waiting for me. I always keep them there for times when I can't be bothered to put on shoes.
I slip them on as I walk and grab a set of keys at random. I click the onlock button and a sparkling red sports cars lights flash.
It's pretty far from the door. There are probably hundreds of vehicles in here. There are rows of cars lined up perfectly, looking freshly cleaned and mostly unused.
I almost never drive myself anywhere. I would either fly or a driver would take me. My cars are all basically new.
"Why do you have so many cars? Do you even drive them?" Dylan asks and I can hear a slight disgust in his voice. I purse my lips as I look around, contemplating my answer.
"Well, that one is from my mom for my 3rd birthday. That one is from my grandpa when I won a spelling bee in 2nd grade. That one is from dad because he thought I would like it. That one is from a suitor. That one, that one, that one, and that one are also from suitors. All of the ones at the end were from my uncle. The 3 over there are from my cousin. That one is a gift I got for my aunt that I haven't sent yet. And that one I bought for myself when I got my license." I explain, pointing to each car as I tell him where they came from. He shows a look of understanding and nods in acknowledgement.
"What about the one we're going to take?" He asks as I open the driver's side door and climb inside.
"I don't remember. I think it was from another heiress. I just can't recall which one. I have too many now to remember who gave me what. I've only bought myself 3 cars before and the rest were gifts." I explain with a shrug as I start the engine, having already buckled in myself and seen Dylan do his.
...
As we drive Dylan keeps glancing at me clearly not knowing where we are headed.
That's normal though as he's probably never been to the Moonlight Flame. Most people haven't. It requires a membership that most people don't have. You need the recommendation of another member and to pass the background check before you can get your own membership. Even then you have to pay millions every visit. Only the truly wealthy can afford to go there.
"Where are we going?" Dylan asks as he stares at me. I just smile a little as I think about what his reaction would be if he knew what the Moonlight Flame was and the fact that I'm the owner.
"Moonlight Flame. Trust me, you'll love it." I say with a smile. My mood suddenly lifting for some reason.