"Grandma, I'm hungry," a weak voice spoke, directed at an elderly woman sitting nearby.
The woman shot a cold glance at the girl, her face hard with anger. "Wait! You are not allowed to eat! You disgrace," she snapped, her voice sharp.
"I'm sorry! I don't want to marry him! Why are you making me?" The girl cried out, her voice breaking with pain. Tears flowed down her cheeks, but she didn't try to stop them. "Why, WHY are you using black magic on me...?"
"I-" Yuki tried to speak, but her words caught in her throat. The pain in her chest felt unbearable, as if her heart was being torn apart by something far worse than just the magic. She could barely breathe as the world around her began to blur.
Before she could say another word, her eyes shut tightly, and she crumpled to the ground. Her body fell limp, motionless, like a doll with its strings cut. Her mind went dark, the last echo of her cry fading into silence.
***
"Yuki, dear?" a warm, gentle voice called, as if trying to wake her up. Yuki felt her eyelids heavy and struggled to open her eyes. When she finally did, she saw her mother and brother looking at her.
"Sister! Hurry up and get dressed! We're late because of you!" her brother said, sounding no older than five with his childish tone. Yuki couldn't help but stare at her brother, who seemed so 'innocent'. Yuki barfed at the thought of innocent. Innocent My Foot!!!
This was the same disgusting brother who was a drug dealer! And this mother of mine?? Oh! She just loved him so much!
She didn't remember him being so young, probably because they were only a year apart. Yuki squinted at her mother, who was holding a Barbie dress.
"Come on, get changed or we'll be late," her mother urged.
"Is that dress really necessary?" Yuki asked, feeling a pang of regret that she hadn't been reborn earlier. Her mother just gave her a 'smiling' look and replied, "Yes."
But her look clearly said, I spent hours finding and ironing this dress. If you don't wear it, I'll make you regret it.
"Okay, I'll get changed," Yuki said, sensing her mother's growing anger. She didn't want to argue with her at that moment, so she reluctantly gave in.
Yuki went to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. She had been reborn! How was that possible? This had to be a dream. She thought and pinched her cheek. OW! Not a dream!
She had died in the car crash and was now reborn. And with the way her mother was acting, it seemed like they were going somewhere. But where? Oh right! Mom and Dad were still married—actually, they were newlyweds!
So this incident... Shit.
This moment was the turning point of Yuki's life—everything that went wrong in her past stemmed from what would happen today.
"Yuki! Get out!!" her brother's sharp voice snapped her out of her daze. Startled, she hurriedly left the house and climbed into the car. Her thoughts were scattered, but there was no time to process them now.
Her brother sat on their mother's lap in the front seat, babbling excitedly, while her father drove. Yuki slid into the back seat, gripping the edges of her dress, her mind racing as she stared out the window.
This wasn't just any day. This birthday party would change everything. After they returned home, her mother would discover the truth—that Grandma had been performing black magic on her. The confrontation that followed would lead to a catastrophic argument between her parents. She knew exactly how it would end.
Her parents would get divorced.
Yuki bit her lip, her chest tightening at the memory of the fallout from that fight in her past life. Her mother would leave, and she would be left in the clutches of her grandmother and aunties. She remembered how they'd made her life a living hell.
They'd stripped away her freedom, her dreams. They'd stopped her from continuing school after high school, saying education was pointless for a girl. They'd forced her into an arranged marriage with a man twice her age—a man she despised.
But her so-called mother? Yuki doubted she cared at all. In her past life, her mother had made it painfully clear—she thought Yuki was nothing more than a burden, a curse. Yuki was certain her mother still hated her, even if she was hiding it better this time around.
The memory of her wedding day burned in her mind. Desperate and terrified, she had turned to her mother as a last hope, hoping for even the smallest sign of love or support. "Mom, please…" she had whispered, her voice trembling. But her mother had looked away, her expression cold and indifferent.
When Yuki needed her the most—when she was about to be forced into a life she didn't want—her mother abandoned her without a second thought. It wasn't just neglect; it was betrayal. That day, Yuki's last shred of hope had shattered.
And her father? He was no better. He was a spineless puppet controlled by her grandmother, marrying woman after woman and discarding them just as easily. Each time, her grandmother demanded it, pulling the strings to suit her twisted schemes. Yuki had lost count of how many stepmothers came and went, each one left broken by her father's indifference and her grandmother's cruelty.
Her grandmother—the matriarch of their family—was the root of it all. A manipulative, vindictive old hag who thrived on power and control. She didn't care who she hurt as long as she got what she wanted. Yuki remembered how her grandmother's sharp tongue and iron grip ruled the household, turning it into a living nightmare.
The memories brought a wave of anger and sadness. Yuki had been treated like an unwanted object, discarded and ignored, while her grandmother plotted, her mother resented her, and her father complied with every cruel demand.
She remembered the loneliness, the tears, and the desperation. But above all, she remembered the anger.
This time, she wouldn't let it happen. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as a cold determination filled her heart. She had been given a second chance, and she wasn't going to waste it.
Yuki wouldn't let them win again. This time, she would rewrite her story. She would rise above their hatred and manipulation, and she would make them pay for every tear, every scar, and every moment of pain they had caused her.
They thought she was weak. They thought she would bow down again.
But they were wrong. This time, Yuki would fight. And she would win.
"I want to eradicate all of you," she muttered under her breath, her voice low but filled with venom. Her eyes burned with a thirst for revenge, a fire she had never felt before.
Yuki wasn't the helpless girl she had been in her past life. This time, she would fight back. This time, she would win.
"Were here!" Her father's joyful voice snapped Yuki back to reality and she looked outside the window. She saw a bunch of familiar faces, all with bad memories but her eyes stopped wandering as she locked her gaze on the boy.
"Haru.." Yuki said with gritted teeth.