Hiraya blinked, her lashes fluttering againts the soft morning light streaming through a half open window.
A strange weightlessness lingered in her head. She couldn't help but frowned as her fingers brushed against the soft sheets beneath he.
Something's wrong.
The last thing she remembered was her car screeching tires, and Stella's twisted smile as they plunged into the abyss. Her body should have been burned, and unrecognizable now, yet here she was, laying unscathed.
Realising it, Hiraya sat up abruptly as her heart pounding very fast as she canned her sorroundings.
The room was familiar. Far to familia. Black colored walls, white lace curtains, a bookshelf cluttered with books and study guides. It was her room. Not the cold yet minimalist modern penthouse she had bought with her hard earned money when she is 22, but the cozy, youthful sanctuary she ahd called home I her teenage years.
Hiraya stumbled out of the bed, her legs unsteady beneath her. She made her way to the mirror hanging in the wall of her six square meters walk in closet.
The woman staring back at her wasn't the cold, polished, mature entreprenuer she had become, but a younger version of herself. Her skin was smooth and unmarked by the years of stress and lack of sleeps. Her silky black hair hung losely in her back and shoulder, and she is wearing a simple white pajama.
"This cant be.." - she whispered, voice trembling.
Hiraya raised her hand to her face, pressing her fingers against her cheecks as if to confirm the reflection was real. And it was. Her hands drop to her sides as her knees buckled as she sank into the chair by the desk. Her heart raced as memories flooded back. The sScholar System, her successful career, Stella's jealousy and betrayal. And the car crash.
"I'm back." she murmured, her voice barely audible as she went back to her bed, sitting on it.
Her gaze fell on the calendar at the top of her bedside drawer. The date circled in bright red ink made her heart skip a beat.
September 1st.
The first day of senior high school.
She had returned to the very beginning, the day it all started, when her life was still full of potential, untouched by the schemes and jealousy that would follow.
Hiraya couldn't help but clenched her hands into fists as her nails digging into her palms as she thought of the woman who had driven her to her death.
Stella Zhao.
The memory of her younger sister's mocking smile as she confessed to pushing their own mother replyaed in her mind like a cruel echo. The rage that surged through Hiraya was sharp and unrelenting, like a blade that twisting her heart.
"Why? She whispered. "Why did it have to be you?"
For years, she had turned a blind eye to Stella's scheme. Their mother had always pleaded with her saying, 'Stella is just a lost child. You're her older sister, Hiraya, so please be patient with her. Forgive her. She will also changed for the better.' and Hiraya listened. She had ignore the pranks, the lies and the sabotage, believing her mother's words, hoping Stella would change.
But she never did.
Hiraya closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She remebered their childhood, the equal allowances, the countless gifts Stella received, the way their preants had always showered her with love and attention, and giving her more pocket money whenever she ask for more.
It was Hiraya who had to stand on her own, who had worked hard to make her way in the world. But their parents attention and love was never enough for Stella.
"No more." Hiraya said, her voice cold and steady.
I don't have any fault in this at all, even their parents. It was Stella who failed to see what is in front of her. She never realize that the scolding and reminder that their parents always told her was because they cared for her, and worried for her.
While she never experienced those worries and reminder from their parents because she was always sensible and it was because she always like to focus her attention in books and study, that's why she never been short on money as she never went out and have friends to party and shopping, ect.
That's why her parents are not worried about her as they know that their Eldest daughter can stand on her own and already knows what she wants to do for her future. That's why they focus their attention on Stella. They saw her as naive and innocent daughter and that she was just led astray by her friends that's why they always told her to leave her friends and focus on her study instead, to get a good grades and so on.
Suddenly, there was a soft knock at her door, jolting her from her thoughts.
"Jie, are you awake?"
Hiraya couldn't help but tensed as the door creacked open, revealing Stella's famillair petire figure. She looked the same as her teenage past. Delicate features framed by long dark hair with bangs, her smile sweet and kind. But Hiraya saw it. She could see the flicker of malice in her younger sister's eyes. The same expression she saw on that car.
"Good morning. You slept in today. Are you feeling alright?" Stella said softly, steeping into the room but suddenly stop after tree steps. She remebers that Hiraya doesn't allowed anyone to enter her room in the past. And even them, her family members could only take at most three steps from the door.
Hiraya calmed her heart as she look at her but with the memories of her past life etched in her mind, she couldn't help but feel angry again. She wanted to lash out at her, asked why. But she couldn't.
Not yet.
It was not the right time.
"I'm fine." Hiraya said calmly, tone even. "Just a little tired, that's all."
Stella tilted her head, her smile widening. "You've been working too hard. You should take it easy, Jie."
Hiraya stomach churned at the false warmth in Stella's voice. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Stella, the sister who had sabotage her at every turn, who had confessed to pushing their mother into coma, was now pretending to care.
"Thanks for the advice." Hiraya said calmly, her voive remained even, hiding the turmoil inside her.
Stella lingered for a moment, her gaze searchng for Hiraya's face as if trying to read her throughts. Then with a nod, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
The second the door closed, Hiraya let out a shaky breath, her hands grip the edge of her bed. Her mind raced, connecting all the things she had see, eveything she remembered. And she realize something.
In their past life, Stella never came to her room in the morning of the first day of school. But this time, she came and the malice in those eyes that she keep hiding and supressing is real. Stella is reborn to. Just like her.
Realising this, A cold smile curved on Hiraya's lips, her eyes full of hatred and disgust.
"Stella, if you think you can beat me this time, your wrong." Hiraya whispered into the air.
She wants the same Hiraya who is forgiving, and let her younger sister taken advanatge of her. I had learned my lesson the moment i died, and I wasn't about to make the same mistake again.
"Stella, you could play your own games, spin your lies, and weave your schemes. But this time, I, Hiraya, would retaliate."
No more turning a blind eye. No more forgiveness.
In this second life of mine, I would definitely strike first.