chapter Two

The first thing I felt was pain. A dull, unbearable pain spread through my entire body. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt too heavy.

Then I heard a steady beeping sound beside me, I tried to move my hand.

Nothing.

I tried again.

This time, my fingers moved slightly.

A nurse noticed. “Doctor!”

Footsteps rushed into the room.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Everything was blurry.

White walls.

Bright lights.

A strange ceiling.

I tried to speak, but my throat felt painfully dry.

“Water,” I whispered.

The nurse quickly helped me drink.

“Don't try to move,” she said. “You've been through a lot.”

I stared at her.

“Where... am I?”

“In the hospital.”

I frowned.

“How long?”

The nurse looked at the doctor before answering. “You've been unconscious for three weeks.”

Three weeks?

My eyes widened.

The last thing I remembered was driving home from my lawyer's office.

Then the car.

The crash.

The pain.

“What happened to me?”

“You suffered severe injuries. The doctors weren't sure you would survive.”

I slowly looked down at my body.

Bandages covered my arms, and my entire body felt weak.

Then I remembered my husband.

“Where is my husband?”

The nurse became quiet.

I looked at her.

“Did he come to see me?”

Nobody answered.

My heart began to beat faster.

Then the door opened.

My best friend, Sophia, walked into the room.

The moment she saw me awake, she froze.

Tears immediately filled her eyes.

She rushed toward me and held my hand.

“You're alive.”

I stared at her.

“Why wouldn't I be?”

She couldn't answer.

“Sophia, where is my husband?”

She looked down.

“There's something you need to know.”

“What?”

She took a deep breath. “Everyone thinks you're dead.”

My heart stopped.

"What?”

"The accident destroyed your face so badly that the body couldn't be identified. You had no identification on you.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

"So they think the dead woman is me?”

She nodded. "And your husband?” Sophia's eyes filled with tears. "He believed you were dead.”

I swallowed.

“What did he do?”

She hesitated. "He married Vivian.”

My entire body went cold.

“When?”

"Two weeks ago.”

I stared at the ceiling.

Two weeks. He had mourned me for barely a week before marrying the woman he had been cheating on me with.

But Sophia wasn't finished.

"They're living in your house now.”

I closed my eyes.

Then Sophia leaned closer. “There is something else.”

I opened my eyes. “What?”

She lowered her voice.

“The accident wasn't normal.”

My heart skipped. "What do you mean?”

She looked around the room before answering.

“The police think someone may have caused it.”

I stared at her.

Suddenly, the accident began to look very different in my memory. The car that had followed me around that day.

The sudden impact.

The vehicle speeding away.

I clenched my fists beneath the blanket.

If someone had tried to kill me...

Then my husband might know more than I thought. And if he was involved, I needed to know one thing.

Who else was helping him?

Sophia pulled a chair closer to my bed.

“Before you start asking questions, you need to understand something.”

I looked at her.

“What?”

“Everyone believes you died in that accident. Your funeral has already taken place.”

I stared at her.

"My funeral?”

She nodded slowly.

“Your husband held it himself.”

My chest tightened.

I couldn't believe how quickly he had moved on.

“What happened to my belongings?”

Sophia hesitated. “He took control of almost everything.”

My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Your house. Some of your accounts. Several properties. He claimed he was handling your estate because you are no longer"

I interrupted her.

“Because I'm dead.”

She nodded.

I turned my face away.

For weeks, the world had been mourning a woman who was still alive. And while everyone thought I was lying in a grave, my husband was enjoying everything I had left behind.

“What about Vivian?”

Sophia's expression hardened.

“She moved into your house with him.”

I laughed bitterly, of course she will.

“Do they know about the money?”

“Some of it has already been transferred.”

My hands tightened around the blanket.

“Then we have to stop them.”

Sophia looked at me carefully.

"You can't go back.”

"I know.”

"If your husband discovers you're alive, everything changes.”

I looked at her.

“I don't want him to know.”

She remained silent.

“I want everyone to believe I'm dead.”

Her eyes widened.

"What are you planning?”

I stared at the ceiling for a moment.

Then I looked at her.

"I want to go home.”

“You can't go home as yourself.”

“I know.”

I reached for her hand.

“I need another identity.”

Sophia understood immediately.

She squeezed my fingers.

“Then we'll make sure the woman who died never comes back.”

I closed my eyes. For the first time since waking up, I felt something other than pain, I felt anger.

He had married my biggest enemy, moved into my home and spending the fortune he had stolen from me.

****************

For the next few weeks, everything was done in secret. I stayed in the private hospital room under a false name while the doctors treated my injuries. My face had suffered the worst damage, and even after the swelling went down, I barely recognized the woman staring back at me in the mirror.

Maybe that was a good thing. If I was going to disappear, I needed to become someone else completely.

Sophia brought me pictures of different hairstyles, clothes, and makeup styles. We chose a simple appearance that would make me almost invisible.

Someone nobody would pay attention to.

“Are you sure about this?” Sophia asked one evening.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

“Yes.”

"You'll be working inside your own house.”

“I know.”

“You'll see him every day.”

“I know.”

“And you'll have to pretend you don't know him.”

I turned away from the mirror.

“That won't be difficult.”

Sophia looked at me sadly. “You still love him?”

I was silent for a moment.

Maybe a small part of me still did.

But that part of me had died the night I discovered his betrayal.

“No,” I finally said. “I loved the man I thought he was.”

“I heard your husband is looking for a new maid.”

I stared at her.

“A maid?”

She nodded.

“The woman who worked there before left after your death. Apparently, Vivian has been complaining that the house needs someone to take care of it.”

A small smile appeared on my lips.

“So you want me to apply?”

“You'll be right under their noses.”

I thought about it.

It was crazy and dangerous, But it was the perfect opportunity.

I could enter my own house without anyone suspecting me.

“I'll do it.”

Sophia smiled.

“Then we have a lot of work to do.”

For the next few days, we prepared everything.

My new identity was created from scratch.

A new name.

A new background.

A new address.

A new phone number.

Nothing connected me to the woman everyone believed was dead. Sophia even found me a simple uniform and taught me how to behave like a quiet, ordinary maid.

We changed my hairstyle and covered the scars on my face with makeup.

Exactly what I needed.

Sophia handed me my new identification.

I stared at the name printed on it.

Mia Anderson.

From that moment on, Elena Sterling was dead.