Ella stood in the quiet of her shop, taking in the stillness after a long, bustling day. The grand opening had been a success—far more than she'd ever imagined. The shelves were nearly empty, and the jingling of coins in her pouch was a comforting reminder of her hard work paying off. But as she looked around at what she had built, her thoughts drifted back to a place she rarely allowed herself to visit: her old life, her old world.
In a flash, she was there again, standing in the doorway of her childhood home. The house was grand and immaculate, but it always felt cold, like stepping into a museum. No warmth, no laughter—just endless silence and the ticking of a clock that marked the passing of time in a place where love never grew.
Her parents were always distant, always focused on their own ambitions and appearances. They never cared about what Ella wanted, only what she could do for their image.
"You waste too much time with those books," her mother's voice echoed in her memory, sharp and dismissive. "Why can't you be more like the others?"
Her father hadn't been any better. He never looked at her with pride, only with impatience. "You'll never amount to anything if you keep hiding behind those fantasies," he would say, as though the worlds she escaped to in her books were nothing more than distractions from his carefully crafted plan for her future.
Ella had excelled in school, always top of her class, always the smartest in the room—but none of that mattered. Her intelligence had only made her a target. The other children envied her, teachers placed her on a pedestal that only isolated her further, and her parents saw her as nothing more than a tool to be molded. An only child, alone in every sense of the word.
She'd spent so many nights locked away in her room, not because her parents punished her, but because it was the only place she felt safe. It was where her books were. She could lose herself in their pages, in the stories that transported her far away from the sterile, loveless life she knew. One book, in particular, had become her sanctuary. A historical romance novel, set in a world where characters lived and loved fully, where she could imagine a different life, a better one.
It had been during one of those long nights, after yet another argument with her parents, that Ella had wished for nothing more than to escape. She clutched the book to her chest, her only comfort, and closed her eyes, imagining herself anywhere but there.
And then, she had opened them in this world.
She never questioned it—why would she? The novel had been her home long before she found herself living in it. There was nothing, no one, from her old life that she missed. Her parents? They barely noticed her absence. Friends? She had none. Here, she could be more than the girl who was too smart, too different. Here, she could build something that was hers.
Ella's mind wandered further back, recalling her days in school—days that were supposed to be filled with friendships and laughter but were instead marked by loneliness. Being the smartest in her class hadn't earned her any friends. In fact, it had only made her a target.
She could still see the sneering faces of her classmates, their whispers carrying across the room like poison. "Look at her, always perfect," one girl had muttered, loud enough for Ella to hear. "Thinks she's better than everyone."
It didn't matter that Ella had never flaunted her intelligence, never tried to make anyone feel less. It wasn't her fault the teachers always held her up as the shining example, the one who always knew the answers. "Why can't the rest of you be more like Ella?" one teacher had said after she'd aced yet another exam. It was meant as praise, but it only deepened the wedge between her and the other students.
They avoided her, mocked her behind her back—or worse, to her face. Lunches were spent alone at the far end of the cafeteria, her books spread out in front of her like a protective shield. The sting of their rejection still echoed in her heart, though she'd tried for so long to pretend it didn't bother her.
She'd withdrawn, retreating further and further into the world of books. After all, fictional characters couldn't hurt her. They didn't whisper cruel words or turn away when she sat down. They didn't see her as competition or a threat. In those stories, she could be anyone—brave, loved, free.
Her favorite had always been the historical romance novel, the one with sweeping landscapes and a heroine who carved her own path. She'd spent hours getting lost in its pages, imagining herself in that world where anything seemed possible, where love was something real and true—not a transaction like it had been in her parents' house.
It was ironic, in a way, how the book she'd clung to as an escape had become her new reality. But Ella didn't see it as ironic—she saw it as fate. After all, why would she want to go back to a world where she'd never belonged? Where her only companions were the characters in her novels? Here, in this world, she could build something meaningful. She could be the person she'd always dreamed of being, without the weight of others' expectations dragging her down.
As she thought back on those years, Ella's chest tightened. There had been too many days where she felt invisible, or worse, like she stood out for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't the kind of isolation that anyone noticed—it was the kind that gnawed at her slowly, day by day, until she no longer cared about making friends at all.
With a quiet sigh, she shook off the memories. She was here now, in this world where she had finally found her place. The loneliness of her old life had faded, replaced by the purpose and sense of belonging she felt every time she stepped into her shop. This was her home now, not just because it was where she lived, but because it was where she'd found herself.
Looking around the shop, she smiled to herself, feeling the warmth of satisfaction fill her chest. Here, there were no whispers, no jealous classmates, no parents to please. Just her—and the life she'd built with her own hands.
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A/n- sorry for the short chapter just wanted you guys to see what her life before was like. Most likely would be dropping two chapters Monday.