Ch-2

June 15, 2024.

Laughter and the soft clinking of champagne glasses filled the grand ballroom of the Bandillon Expression Event Center.

It was an exclusive high-society event. Chandeliers sparkled above, casting golden hues on the elites of the business world.

Dressed in an elegant, midnight-blue gown, Vanessa King moved through the crowd with practiced grace, her every step exuding power.  

Yet, beneath her poised exterior, her mind was set on something far more pressing.  

In four days from now, she would be presiding over the King Group board meeting she had requested a few days ago-one that would change everything.

Eric had to be removed as Chairman. His betrayal ran too deep.  

First, the revelation that Adina's son wasn't biologically his-from the flash drive left behind by Benjamin Anderson, the late lab technician from Pacific Grand Hospital whom she had met by chance after he was attacked. She had tried to save him, but he died on the way to the hospital.

Knowing that he got to be the chairman of King Group by virtue of having a child with Adina.

Then, the financial discrepancies-the embezzlement, the offshore accounts and other hidden accounts.

And worst of all, Mabel's complicity in Adina's mental suffering. The lies, the gaslighting, the cruel manipulations that had driven her into a mental rehabilitation center.  

Vanessa had confronted Mabel directly during her visit with Eric and Caleb to her place two days ago. She couldn't hide her disgust. Not when it affected her granddaughter.  

"I know what you did to Adina," she had said, voice low, steady. "I will expose them all for the world to see and do what's necessary for her sake."  

Mabel had smirked, barely fazed afterwards. 

"We'll see to that." She had said.

And now, even in the midst of people smiling and chatting as if everything was fine with her, Vanessa's mind remained stuck on how Mabel had reacted-cold, dismissive, as if she were powerless to change anything.  

Then-Thwip!

A muffled pop echoed through the air-sharp, and sudden.

Conversations died mid-sentence. Glasses slipped from hands and shattered on the floor.

Screams tore through the hall.

Vanessa jerked as a searing pain ripped through her chest. The force knocked her off balance-she stumbled, then collapsed onto the marble floor with a sickening thud.

Warm blood spread beneath her, soaking through her blouse, unstoppable.

Panic exploded around her. Heels clicked in frantic rhythm, chairs screeched across the floor, voices overlapped in chaos.

Everything blurred-shouts, gasps, footsteps pounding toward her. The world spun, sound warping in and out, like she was sinking underwater.

Tears welled in her eyes as she lay unmoving on the ground, but they weren't from the pain of the bullet lodged in her chest. They were from regret.

Regret for trusting the wrong people. For believing that longtime friendship and loyalty were the same.  

She had been happy, believing Adina was in good hands-marrying the son of her late father's childhood friend, someone she once considered family.

She had ignored Maxwell's warnings-her only son-before he left for that trip, the one he never returned from.

He died in a car crash, and even after his death, she never thought to reconsider his words.

Every concern he had raised, every suspicion he tried to voice...She dismissed it all because she was too broken by his death, too unwilling to face the possibility that she might have missed something important.

And now, she was paying the price.

With every weakening heartbeat, tears slid down her cheeks.

"If only I had another chance... Adina..."

"Oh, Adina... my poor Adina..."

Her vision blurred, the edges of the world darkening. The pull of darkness was inevitable.

And then... she saw nothing.

----

A sharp gasp tore from the lips of the lone figure draped in hospital linens as her eyes snapped open.

White ceiling. Bright hospital lights. The smell of antiseptic.  

Vanessa's hands flew to her chest, searching for the wound, for the blood.  

Nothing. No pain. No bullet hole.  

Confusion gripped her like a vice. She wasn't dead?  

Just about then the door swung open. Her PA, Jeremy and a doctor walked in, holding three files.  

"Ma'am, here are your routine health evaluation results," the doctor said, setting them down.  

Routine?  

Vanessa's breathing grew shallow. Her fingers gripped the hospital sheets.  

"How did I get here?"

"Ma'am... We came in yesterday. Oliver brought us. He's in the car waiting to take us back to the hotel we lodged in." Jeremy said with furrowed brows, confused by her question.

"Erm... what... day is it today?" Her voice was rough, barely a whisper.

Jeremy and the doctor shared a quick, puzzled glance before Jeremy spoke up.

"January 5th, 2016, Ma'am. Are you feeling okay?" He paused, eyeing her with a mix of curiosity and concern. "You always did your full health evaluation during the first week of the new year."

Vanessa froze.

January 5th, 2016?

The world seemed to tilt, her gaze blurred for a moment.

This was the month before everything had gone wrong-before Adina's IVF. Before she uncovered the truth about what they'd done to Adina through Benjamin's flash drive.

Before the gunshot. Before she died on that floor.

But... how?

Her mind scrambled, grasping at the impossible.

This couldn't be real. It couldn't be happening.

Yet, as she looked at the concerned faces of Jeremy, her PA, and the doctor-still watching her, unsure-reality hit her like a crushing wave.

She had been given a second chance.

But how? Who had made this possible?

Her mind raced, a blur of unanswerable questions.

And judging by the looks on Jeremy and the doctor's faces, they were starting to wonder if something was seriously wrong with her.

But if this was a second chance-if this was truly her chance to live again-it had to be an answer to her final prayer.

A chance to save her granddaughter from the vipers lurking in plain sight, the smiling faces hiding sharpened knives.

•~•~•

Present Day... March 10, 2016.

The car hit a slight bump, jarring Vanessa back to the present.

Her fingers curled into fists in her lap, the tension building in her muscles.

Through the rearview mirror, her driver, Oliver's eyes flicked toward her. She had made a sound-something between a sigh and a whisper.

His gaze lingered, trying to read her, searching for any hint of what weighed on her mind.

Vanessa stayed silent, her face a mask of unreadable calm.

Everything that had happened still felt like a dream. Yet here she was, in 2016, making decisions with the knowledge of a future that hadn't happened yet-but that she had already lived.

She had promised herself she would never trust blindly again. She would take control. She had to.

Because this time-this time, she would not fail her late son and granddaughter.

She had to protect her no matter the cost.

"Oliver, take me to Randolph Avenue, I need to see someone there immediately."