2.Woke up in a fictional world

~~Lucia~~

When I opened my eyes again, I expected to hear the beeping of a hospital heart monitor. Or, if I was dead, I expected to see two angels waiting to welcome me to heaven.

But I saw neither.

Instead, I found myself staring at a beautiful, well-decorated ceiling.

What the hell?

My head hurt so badly that I had to press my hands against it as I slowly pushed myself up on the bed. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the pain to ease before looking around.

And damn!

The room was gorgeous. Everything looked expensive, from the beautiful furniture to the thick curtains hanging over the windows. Even the bed I was sitting on looked like something straight out of a billionaire's mansion.

I blinked several times, wondering if I was still dreaming.

Then I quickly looked down at myself.

I was still fat.

Well, at least that hadn't changed.

But where the hell was I?

I looked down at the gown I was wearing. It was made of soft silk, and even without knowing much about expensive clothes, I could tell it wasn't something an ordinary person could afford.

My eyes widened.

The last thing I remembered was the blaring horn and the headlights of a speeding car coming at me.

Wasn't I supposed to be dead? There was no single injury in my body. That should have confirmed it.

I threw the covers off and scrambled out of bed, nearly stumbling as my feet touched the floor. Dead people werent supposed to have legs.

My eyes searched the room until they landed on a large mirror standing against the wall.

I hurried towards it, my head still pounding, and stopped right in front of it.

The moment I saw my reflection, a loud gasp escaped my lips.

My eyes. I had brown eyes. Why were they hazel now?

And my hair! It was now blonde instead of its usual dark color.

I leaned closer to the mirror, staring at my reflection in disbelief. And my face—I looked beautiful. Like, really beautiful.

I touched my cheeks, then my nose, as if doing so would somehow help me understand what was going on.

Was this really me?

Before I could figure anything out, a knock sounded at the door.

I quickly turned around, but before I could even tell whoever it was to come in, the door opened.

“Good evening, Mrs. Chloe.”

Who was this woman calling Mrs. Chloe?

I opened my mouth to ask her what was going on, whether I was dead, and why I was in a strange room. But before I could get a word out, she spoke again.

“Mrs. Chloe…” She bowed her head respectfully. “Your husband asked me to prepare you for the gala.”

My husband? When did I get married?

And who would marry someone like me? The last time I checked, people were always telling me to find a man who was my size, as if love came with a weight limit.

After hearing that shit so many times, I'd practically given up on love altogether.

“Husband?” I repeated, my voice cracking. Even my voice sounded different. “Who's my husband?”

She looked at me as though I'd suddenly grown two heads before quickly forcing a nervous smile onto her face.

“Mr. Jeffrey,” she answered. “He asked me to prepare you for the gala.”

Jeffrey? Wait a minute. The name sounded familiar. My heart began to pound as I searched my memory. Then it hit me.

Holy fucking shit!

Jeffrey was a character in the book I'd been reading!

And the Gala? I had been reborn to the exact day he humiliated her in the Gala together with her step sister!

I shook my head, letting out a disbelieving laugh.

I was going crazy. That had to be it. Maybe I'd hit my head so hard that my brain had decided to play some sick joke on me. Because how the hell could I have ended up inside a fictional world?

That wasn't possible! People didn't just die and wake up inside books.

“Mrs. Chloe?” the lady called, her voice uncertain. “Are… are you alright?”

I turned to look at her.

For one crazy second, I wanted to tell her everything. That I wasn't her Mrs. Chloe. That I was Lucia, a woman who had been hit by a car and somehow woken up in a stranger's body.

But what good would that do?

She'd probably think I'd lost my mind and call a doctor. And if I really was inside that book, I had no idea what my so-called husband would do if he found out his wife was acting crazy.

For all I knew, he could have me locked up.

Nope. I wasn't taking that risk.

I needed to think. I needed to figure out what was going on before I did anything stupid.

“I'll be fine,” I said, forcing myself to sound calm. “You can go. I'll send for you when I need you.”

The lady hesitated. I could tell she wanted to ask more questions, but thankfully, she didn't.

She simply nodded and left the room.

The moment the door closed behind her, my knees nearly gave way.

I stumbled over to the bed and sat down, staring at my trembling hands.

What the hell was happening to me?

I'd been hit by a car. I remembered it clearly. The horn, the headlights, the fear that had gripped me when I realized I couldn't get out of the way in time.

Could it be that I'd actually died, and fate had decided to give me another chance at life?

But why put me inside a book? Of all the places in the world, why a fictional universe where the female lead was treated like shit?

I pressed both hands against my face and let out a shaky breath.

This had to be a nightmare. A very strange, very cruel nightmare.

Another knock sounded at the door before it opened again.

I dropped my hands and stared at the person walking in.

The man who walked in was tall, with broad shoulders and a body that looked like it belonged on the cover of a romance novel.

He should be my husband. Well, who knew even the devil would have such a pretty face?

When he saw me, a sweet smile spread across his face.

“You're not ready for the gala yet?” he asked.

I stared at him, completely confused.

Wait a minute. Wasn't my husband supposed to be the bad guy? The cold, cruel man who treated his wife like she was nothing?

In the original plot, the female lead's husband came in and even hit her.

If this man wasn't the husband I knew from the book, then who was he?