#2: My Rebirth Was Not In Vain

Ava:

I was out of breath when I woke up that morning. I struggled to breathe, feeling as though I’d just been drowning, not sleeping.

The headache I was having, that threatened to split my head in two made me disoriented. I had to place my palm on my head before I could make sense of my surroundings.

This was strange. I was in my room, my old room. This was the room I’d shared with Scott after our marriage, until he convinced me to have my own space to enable me ‘concentrate’ better.

A feeling of dread and irritation engulfed me right then when I remembered the different lies I’d been told, wrongly believing they had been trying to help me. They must have really thought I was such a fool, swallowing all their lies hook, line and sinker. Maybe I was, because now I knew the truth, it was almost embarrassing how glaring the lies had been.

I froze. The truth…

Was it possible?

The thoughts, images and memories all came flooding at once. Memories of the past, finding out I’d been betrayed and finally dragging myself to the hospital, only to be told I had a week to live. I could still remember the doctor’s face, the blood on my thigh, the nurses trying to keep me alive. I could remember the silence, and then the weird dream I’d had of my younger self.

Without wasting a second, I hopped off the bed and ran to the long mirror in the room, still holding my throbbing head.

What I saw made me forget about the headache.

I was beautiful…again.

The dark bags under my eyes I’d grown accustomed to had totally disappeared, along with my sunken cheeks which now had a plump glow to it. My formerly bony frame from months and months of depriving myself of food and other ‘distractions’ had completely morphed back into a healthy, slim thick body. The night dress I was wearing hugged my curves in all the right places.

I couldn’t stop staring at my reflection in the mirror. Anyone looking would have assumed I was obsessing over my looks with how often I turned, touched and peered into every single inch of my skin, realizing just how much of my life I’d allowed to be stolen away from me.

“There’s my sexy and talented moneymaker.”

The sad smile on my face turned sour at the sound of that voice. I whipped my head toward him as he walked toward me with his arms outstretched, ready to envelop me in a hug.

I didn’t have the time to think. All I could see was the horrible face of the man who had used and abused me and spat me out dead when I was of no use to him anymore.

“F*ck! Jes*s. Ouch!” He cried, doubling over in pain and grabbing his crotch where I had just kicked him hard.

The tears in his eyes were so satisfying to see, that I couldn’t help but smile. His entire face was pure red in pain, and his eyes were shut so tight he couldn’t look at me. He just kept groaning and cursing under his breath.

It was delightful to watch him hurt like this, to make him feel some of the venom that was brewing in me and let him know every control he thought he had over me was over, but that wouldn’t do.

This man had literally sucked away my essence, and slowly watched me die for years, and I was just going to pay him back with a few bruises which would be over in a matter of minutes? Of course not.

I had to be smarter than that, more calculating. If he figured out that I knew all of his sinister plans, then this would be all over immediately. Sure, I would still have my new life, but now that I did, I wanted more. Besides, I had way more to investigate. The details of my death were a bit sketchy to me and I needed to know just how far he and Belle were willing to go to hurt me. I didn’t think they had placed the tumor in my liver, obviously, but the more I thought about the past, the way I had been continually and vehemently talked out of going to a real hospital when I needed to, the herbs I’d been given to help me ‘sleep better’, how desperate he’d been to have me complete the projects within a year as if he knew I didn’t have much time left, everything. In fact, I was now suspicious of even the air I used to breathe in my office.

If I let the cat out of the bag now, he would lose so much money and power. He hadn’t called me his ‘moneymaker’ for nothing. I now knew how dangerous he was. He’d been willing to let me die even while I’d been making him money, then who knew what he’d do if I just walked out of his life.

As much as I wanted to make him suffer now, I knew I had to be smart about it. I would have to bide my time, act just as foolish and clueless as I’d been in order to make sure my revenge was lethal and final, and that my rebirth hadn’t been in vain.

When he stopped whimpering so much, I knew I had to compose myself immediately. I gave myself one last look in the mirror and donned my most innocent expression.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry baby,” I said, running to his side.

I felt like vomiting. Baby? Ewwww.

“I just woke up from sleep. You know I’ve been so stressed out. I didn’t know when I did that. Oh god. I feel horrible. Let me get some ice.”

It was almost laughable how easily the words fell out of my lips as if I meant them. I had to be as convincing as possible. I couldn’t possibly let him doubt me. I may have been way too gullible and accepting of him in the past, believing that everything he’d done was for my benefit, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t smart. If I gave him any reason to doubt me, he’d probably change tactics, and I couldn’t let that happen.

When he looked at me, I quickly got up from his side, muttering something about going to get the maid to get some ice. The truth was that I couldn’t trust myself not to burst out laughing at his reaction to the pain I’d caused him.

“Gemma,” I called out to the maid but she didn’t answer, only shot me an irritated glare.

Oh, I’d forgotten. I grimaced when I remembered how much of a people pleaser I’d been in the past, never acting upon my authority and letting everyone else think they could walk over me, that even the maids did not respect me.

It was one of the features Scott had told me he liked about me; my humility, which I had honed just to get his approval. But now I thought about it, it was more about my willingness to submit and accept whatever he brought to me without any protest.

“When you’re done sulking, go get some ice for Scott. He hurt himself,” I said in a sharp tone. I saw the surprised look on her face, but ignored her and went back inside without caring for a response or reaction from her.

As long as she knew it was for Scott, she wouldn’t be dumb enough to displease him. And even if she didn’t get the ice, what was my business? Watching him groan in pain wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Scott was still staring at me with a skeptical look I didn’t like.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, making sure a part of my body brushed against him slightly.

It worked. He tore his eyes away from mine and gazed at my boobs instead, which were fuller now and so obvious in the sheer material of the nightdress I was wearing.

I couldn’t help the disgust that washed over me then and I knew that if he tried to touch me, I’d break his hand without a second thought.

“It’s alright,” he said, smiling at me. “You’re just stressed out from overworking yourself. I’ll get Belle to get those herbs that always make you feel better.”

The frown covered my face before I could stop it.