Chapter 2 - New Beginning

Lucy Hale

“You were never meant to be permanent.”

No, please.

“You should’ve known your place, Lucy.”

Adrian!

I jolted awake, my breath ripping from my lungs in a harsh gasp. Another day, another nightmare of the same moment. 

Adrian’s cold, expressionless eyes staring me dismissively as he pushed me off the cliff at the heels of the majestic Hawthorne estate. 

I could still feel the wind screaming past my ears, the crushing force of the fall, and the freezing sea swallowing me whole. 

The weight of the water, the panic, the pain, even death wasn’t enough to erase it. 

My mind replayed it mercilessly, as if determined to remind me how tragic my past life ended.

My fingers instantly clenched the blanket, as though desperately clawing my heart from feeling the agony.

I lay there for several seconds, trembling, staring at the ceiling of my tiny apartment. My blessedly familiar apartment. 

And not the sterile luxury of the Hawthorne residence. 

Not the gilded prison Adrian built around me.

Here, the morning sunlight was soft, unfrozen. The air smelled faintly of the lavender candle I forgot to put out last night. 

The wooden floor creaked under the old heater. My plant by the window drooped pitifully, as it always did whenever I forgot to water it.

I was alive.

“I still can’t believe this…” I whispered, pressing a hand against my forehead. “A new chance. A real opportunity.”

My voice cracked slightly.

After everything, years of manipulation, isolation, and fear, I had opened my eyes in my younger body from seven years ago. 

Before the marriage. 

Before the quiet misery. 

Before I ever stepped foot into the world that destroyed me.

This life was a reset. A chance for me to change everything.

Yes. It was my last chance to avoid him.

I forced myself to breathe slowly, grounding myself in the present. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, situated near to the foot of my bed and I couldn’t help but feel melancholic. 

Recently, I found myself admiring the silhouette every time I caught my reflection.

A girl I barely remembered, young and unscarred. But why does my gaze seem similar?

Lifeless.

For a moment, I didn’t know whether to cry or smile.

Just as I was about to get lost in the wondrous thoughts again, my phone buzzed on the bedside table.

I froze. A cold sweat covered me like a blanket of nightmares.

Not because of the sound itself, but because I remembered exactly what day this was. 

Exactly what that vibration meant.

My heartbeat stumbled as I reached for the phone, dread swirling in my stomach. The screen lit up with a message from Mia.

‘Lucy, I’m so sorry. I’m really not feeling well today. Could you cover the store for me, pleaseee? I don’t think I can stand for long :(.’

My breath caught.

This message, today. 

This exact moment. 13th September.

The first domino, the day I met him.

In my past life, I had gone to the boutique to cover Mia’s shift.

And while I was reorganizing suits at the back of the store, the bell above the door chimed gently and lo and behold, Adrian Hawthorne walked in.

Immaculate. Polite. Charming.

A wolf wrapped in silk.

I recalled how softly he had requested help choosing a suit for a very special event.

 He’d visited more frequently than needed, presenting his tender smile to draw me in a way I was too naive to question. 

How nervous his usually dark eyes seemed, bored into mine, sheepishly inviting me as his plus one. 

How he tumbled between his words as he reasoned in needing someone to accompany him to avoid family drama.

The light blush decorating his face. 

I had wondered numerous times how things had escalated to calamitous.

And how I had dumbly agreed. 

How the small fairytale of a ‘yes’ destroyed my life. 

My hands shook as memories frustratingly flooded in. 

His initial gentleness, his subtle control, the suffocating expectations from the Hawthorne family.

 The cold resentment that grew over time.

My eyes closed tightly.

And my death.

“No,” I whispered, my throat tight. “Not again. I can’t let that happen again.”

I slowly fluttered my eyes open, trying to steady my frantic heartbeat. 

I wanted to help Mia, I really did. She was always kind and supportive of me. 

In my past life, I would have accepted her pleas without hesitation.

Yet, going to the store meant meeting Adrian Hawthorne. 

And meeting Adrian meant stepping back into the nightmare I fought so hard to escape.

Even reborn, fate was trying to drag me down the same path. I bit my lower lips anxiously.

I couldn’t let it be.

I stood and trudged towards the window, leaning my forehead against the cold glass albeit the heat from the sun. 

The street below was quiet, just a few early-morning joggers, a woman walking her dog, a bakery delivery van rolling by. Everything looked normal. 

Ordinary. 

Unaware of the storm that once swallowed my life whole.

In a way, I never thought a calm and common routine would be as precious. 

My hand formed into a fist as the fire inside me burned, fear and determination tangled fiercely.

“I won’t meet him,” I murmured, voice trembling with conviction. “Not this time. Adrian Hawthorne will never find me in this life.”

Even if Mia needed me. Even if I felt guilty. Even if saying no hurt.

My life mattered more.

Returning to my bed, I picked up my phone. My thumb hovered over the keyboard for a long moment. 

This choice. This tiny choice could change everything.

Finally, I typed.

‘Mia, I’m really sorry, but I can’t come in today. Something urgent came up. Next time, I promise I will cover for you!’

My thumb hesitated over the send button. My pulse hammered in my ears. 

This wasn’t just declining a shift, this was cutting a thread of fate before it could tie me up to that monster again.

With a slow, steady breath, I pressed send.

The message went through instantly. 

I huffed a relieved sigh, flopping back onto the bed, the squeaking sound from the mattress echoed through the walls.

A strange tranquil settled over me. Thin, fragile, but real. I had taken the first step. 

Maybe it was a small one. 

Maybe it was not enough for me to escape him entirely. 

But it was a step away from him. A step toward a life I could shape myself.

Staring at my phone, I whispered into the quiet morning.

“This time, I will rewrite my fate.”