Chapter Four

Liora didn’t think that she remembered what the city looked like at  dusk.

Her memory of the evening sun was at most hazy and fuzzy, Liora didn’t remember the last time she had noticed it.

She relaxed into the backseat, her entire posture lazy and curious at the same time as she stared outside the window. 

The streets looked alive and busy, at its peak even. The traffic was slightly heavy, the cars moving at various paces, people crossing the cross walks and lining up the sides of the roads going home. 

In her last life, she couldn't afford this kind of luxury, if she wasn’t rushing through traffic, it was either hurrying somewhere or hurrying from somewhere.

In her previous life, she had never gotten an experience like this. She had never left the office early.

Leaving by 8pm was the earliest she had ever left the office. At this time, she would usually be buried under files, having meetings, fixing mistakes that were hers, reworking pitch decks and proposals, solving the small and big crises. 

She had very much enjoyed it, enjoyed working to her bones, working herself out because she believed that she was easing the burden of her parents, making their work less stressful, more easier. 

Liora shook her head with a laugh.

She had been so foolish, so foolish. Her lips curved slightly in a sad smile and in bitterness. 

“It’s fine” she whispered to herself, “You have another chance” she added before turning to the driver. 

“Mr Stanley,” she called and the driver immediately slowed the car down. 

“Yes Miss Morgan” he replied. 

“Has the highway been repaired?” She asked and the driver glanced at her through the rear view mirror. 

“Yes ma’am” he replied after a brief pause. 

“Please take the high way” she replied and Mr Stanley looked taken aback. 

“That’s a longer route” he informed her and Liora smiled, nodding.

“Yes I know it’s the longer route. Please take the high way” she confirmed and the older man took another look at the girl in the backseat before making a turn for the highway. 

“Yes, ma’am.” The driver muttered, trying to fix his eyes on the road and yet trying to take a glance at the lady in the backseat.

He was so confused. It was enough that the Eldest Miss had asked him to come and pick her up at that time; he had thought she had another meeting but was shocked to discover that she was going home. 

Home? At 5pm?

Liora leaned back watching as the car drove onto the highway trying to enjoy the scenery.  Less than thirty minutes later, the car pulled up in front of her apartment and she got down from the car. 

“Thank you very much Mr Stanley, you may retire for the day” she said and Mr Stanley froze for a few seconds. 

“You no longer have any engagements for the day Young Miss?” He asked and Liora burst into laughter. 

“No. Good night” she replied and then walked into the house. 

The house lights came on as soon as she walked in. She quickly took a shower, changed her clothes and then got to her table. 

The photo frame on the table caught a gaze. It was a family picture, her Dad, Mom, Seraphina and her. They were smiling so brightly like the world belonged to them, at the moment of the picture, they truly did.

It was a picture they had taken on one of their many vacations. She hadn’t been able to go with them the day they left and had joined them on the third day, Seraphina had been so excited and had pulled their parents to take a picture with them.

She hadn’t ended the vacation with them and had to leave after one day to fix a problem with a warehouse. 

Her gaze softened for a brief moment and then hardened the next second. The picture used to bring a lot of  joy to her face and that was because she had once believed that she was the luckiest human being in the world to have such parents and sister, her family was the best in the world.

What a joke.

She grabbed the photo frame and threw it into the bin next to her. 

She grabbed the calendar on the table and a new notebook from the drawers. She had gotten a new chance at life and it was her duty not just to live properly but to also get revenge on the people who had hurt her the most. 

Her family.

She pushed the warmed dinner to the side and she tried to remember the events of her past life. A lot of things had happened and she was having a hard time remembering them all. 

She had already started her revenge journey by teaming up with Damien Frost. She leaned back in her chair and sighed softly. 

She didn’t know if it was a good idea asking him to marry her. She barely came across him in her past life, all she knew about him were things she could find on G****e but it was too late to regret now and besides, he was the only one who could help her.

He was her golden finger, the big thigh she was going to use to destroy the Morgan family. 

She leaned forward back to the table as she spoke, “Let’s begin.”

She flipped to the first page and started writing in it. Her handwriting was neat and crisp like always. 

Her brain was having a hard time processing everything. There were too many things to jot down, too many events she had glossed over like nothing,  too many signs she had missed. 

But what Liora was the most bothered about were the events that led to her death in her past life.

The embezzlement, the murder of Director James,she didn't even know how or when he died, the money launderin for the cartel, she didn’t know how it happened and she needed to find out why. 

She could still remember the way they had looked at her. The way her lovely parents had looked at her, like they could erase her from the world, the way Seraphina had burst into tears and accused of things she knew nothing about, the way Leonard, her supposed fiancée had abandoned her to comfort her sister. 

She chuckled and shook her head, “This time around, I refuse to be a lamb waiting to be slaughtered”

She was yet to continue writing when her phone rang.

The sharp sound nearly startled her and as Liora turned to the phone, she froze. 

The caller ID was familiar, Seraphina with too many love emojis, that was how Serephina herself had saved it.

Liora’s fingers curled unconsciously, her heart beating faster. She had intentionally avoided going to the family house to avoid seeing Seraphina and her family.

Her past life memories were still very fresh in her head, the way she had looked down at her and taken credit for everything she had worked for and pinned crimes on her head. 

The phone stopped ringing and then started ringing again the next second, Liora knew better, Serephina would not stop calling until she answered the call.

She gritted her teeth, grabbed the phone and then picked the call.

“Liora!” Seraphina’s bright, cheerful voice burst through the line.

“Oh my God, you finally picked up! What took you so long to pick up your phone?” She whined.

Liora’s expression didn’t change, “I was working”

“You workaholic, I’m going to tell Mom and Dad that you refused to listen to them and that you still work late” Serephina continued and then laughed. 

“But that’s fine, you better make time for me tomorrow evening. We are attending the Dawson family annual ball tomorrow!” She continued, her voice high pitched and excited.

“And everyone is going to be there. It’s going to be so much fun and you absolutely cannot say no okay?” 

Liora froze, “The Dawson family ball?” She asked. 

“Liora come on, I’ve been talking about this for weeks. You cannot say no,” Serephina replied and Liora smiled. 

The Dawson Ball.

How could she forget?

One of the most humiliating experiences of her life. 

Seraphina continued talking about the ball and Liora patiently listened, not interrupting her.

“I’ve already started planning my outfit,” Serephina gushed.

“You know how important this is. It’s the perfect opportunity to show those snubbish people that we are still very much the Morgans. And we’ll go together, like always.”

Liora almost laughed but she managed to hold it in and responded.

“Alright, no problem. I’ll go ahead, I trust you” she paused and then added, “Like always.”

“Yayyyyy!” Seraphina said with excitement. 

“And don’t you worry, you suck at picking out excellent dinner dresses, I’ll help you pick something. Actually, scratch that, I'll pick you something and send it to you, when I was going through Zara’s website; I saw the perfect dress for you.” She added and Liora’s fingers tightened slightly around the phone.

“I know you have excellent tastes. I trust you” Liora replied, her smile turning grim.

“The gown is so gorgeous, Liora. You’ll look amazing,” Seraphina added sweetly.

“Thank you Seraphina, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Great! I’ll send it over tomorrow. Love you!”

Liora didn’t reply and ended the call immediately. She folded her arms and burst into laughter.

If she hadn’t been reborn, with all of Seraphina’s excitement on the phone, she wouldn’t have believed that the latter wanted to hurt her intentionally, and wanted to turn her into a joke. 

“The perfect gown. Gorgeous gown” Liora repeated and then laughed again. 

“How kind of you Seraphina. How kind of you” she continued. 

The memories of that ball night rushed into her head. Seraphina had gotten her a nice gown truly but it wasn’t her style but not to dampen Seraphina’s excitement, she had worn it in good will. 

Most of the children from the rich families had changed their attitudes towards her when Seraphina had been brought home, at first it wasn’t that bad but after a while, even her so-called friends started to despise her and that night made everything worse. 

Until they got to the ball, Seraphina had asked her to go in first and that she had something to do. 

She had stepped into the ball looking perfect, she  had thought it was perfect until the whispers started.

“Isn’t that last season’s design?”

“Outdated.”

“Even my house maid wouldn’t wear that”

“Where did she even get that?”

“She really can’t escape her roots, after all…”

Liora remembered being so embarrassed that she ran to hide in a toilet. She couldn’t believe that Seraphina had made such a mistake.

She had stayed in the restroom trying to gather her thoughts but by the time she managed to stabilize her emotions and come out, everyone were already dancing.

Leonard, her fiancée, who was supposed to be her partner was dancing with Seraphina, whose gown was so beautiful that it outshone every other person at the ball, they were both looking dazzling on the dance floor that everyone made way for them and when they were done dancing, everyone was clapping for them including her. 

After the ball, the gossip blogs wouldn’t let it rest, talking about how Seraphina had been the star of the show and how Liora had been a laughing stock.

Serephina had apologized profusely and Liora had immediately forgiven her, people made mistakes. 

It also wasn’t a big deal that Leonard had danced with Seraphina instead of her. 

She had been such a fool.

Liora shook her head, “I must have been blind” she muttered and then smiled. 

“If that’s how you want to play it…” she murmured, “I’ll just have to play with you”

“This time around, let’s see who gets to lock themselves up in the restroom” .