Chapter 1: Die, Ella!

Darkness was all that Ella could see. 

And pain was all she felt. 

It had been 2 months 4 days and who-knows-how-many hours that she was locked in this dark cell where sunlight never seemed to reach. 

It was difficult to even distinguish day from night. 

The high-pitched squeaking of the mice constantly reminded her of the company she had inside the cell. 

They felt tiny to touch but they were quite the vicious ones. When they dug their large teeth in her brutally injured skin, a chunk of flesh would tumble out. 

It was painful at first. It still was. But to some extent, she had grown numb to it. 

Whoever locked her in the cell had left her in the company of these mice and a dagger, stating that she should kill herself when things got too painful. 

She picked up the knife and slashed it across her thigh where one can feel multiple cuts. 

2 months and 5 days. 

She would not die here in this place. 

Even if the whole world turned its back against her, there was one person who would not let her die. 

The sound of footsteps made her thoughts snap. 

''She hasn't died yet?" A familiar voice sounded. 

This voice was different from the person who had handed her the knife when she came here. 

''What is she thinking? She would rather torment herself than take her life?!'' The woman spoke in part disbelief and part amusement, ''Never knew my elder sister had such perseverance.'' 

Ella's body turned cold. The wounds on her skin suddenly tingled and burnt like someone rubbed salt across them, ''Esther...?" her voice croaked.

''It's me, sister...'' The woman giggled as if she could see her shock despite the darkness, ''Ah, tell me, why are you not dead yet?" 

Tears welled up in Ella's eyes. Betrayal stabbed her heart like poisonous thorns.

Inhaling a sharp breath, she muttered 4 words with all her strength, ''He will save me.'' 

These words sounded strange on her own tongue. 

''You are counting on Mr. King? Haven't you always shunned and hated him? That husband of yours was indeed obsessed with you at one point but that is the nature of all men. What they can't get, they must have. They like the chase. However, after a while, the game of chase dulls out.'' 

Ella also found it laughable. The man she had been running away from, for all her life, was the one she longed for on the verge of death. 

But it was probably the realization that the world could turn its back on her but Adrian never would. 

He was crazy but she was his only craze. He had proved it to her for a decade now. 

''Let me tell you this, sister. Your man is getting married to me in two days. So, you can die in peace here while I please him on our wedding night later.'' 

Silence descended on the place for a moment. 

Then, the sound of a maniacal laughter occupied the dark space. 

''You... what are you laughing at?!" 

Ella gasped for breath. Because of her constant screaming under torture, she had damaged her vocal cords so when she spoke, her voice was grating to one's ears, ''How desperate are you for Adrian, Esther? In two days, it will be his grandfather's death anniversary. He will marry you on that day? In your dreams!" 

''You... Even in this condition, you still want to humiliate me. Die, Ella!" 

'Bang' 'Bang' 'Bang' 

Following the sound of three consecutive gunshots, Ella dropped in the darkness. 

A peaceful smile was etched on her face. 

No more pain. Finally. 

Still, her heart was filled with regrets. 

Must I die like this? 

If... If there is a next life, I must avenge myself and I must live well. 

But, is there even a next life?

...

Ella gasped and her eyes flew open. 

The familiar scent of cedar and wine filled her lungs. But her mind was too muddled to understand anything.

She felt the force of a body and the roughness of someone's breath against her skin. 

As realization slammed into her, her heart turned to ice. No. No!

Didn't Esther kill her? Did she leave her alive to humiliate her further like this?

She must be dreaming. She has to be. 

'Ah!' The invasive pain told her it was not a dream.

With every ounce of her strength, she prepared to throw him off her.

But the moment she moved, she spotted a familiar profile through her hazy gaze and suddenly, her body stilled.

Even though he had his face buried in her neck there was no way she couldn't recognize him.

The man on top of her was no stranger. He was her husband, the person she never thought she would see again.

Everything in her consciousness told her she was dead. Then, what.. And why was he on top of her?

Her vision was blurry. A strange mix of pain and pleasure dominated her body as the initial pain came to pass.

In a daze, she reached out towards him, ''It couldn't…be…'' Her broken mind must be playing tricks on her.

A rough hand clamped over her mouth, "Shh. Don't ever forget who you belong to.''

Those words dipped her in ice, turning her cold from head to toe even as her body burned from within.

The man who had buried his face in her neck lifted it and she looked into a pair of bloodthirsty eyes. 

Ella was consumed in such sensations throughout her body that she could barely think straight.

"Why… why must you keep me?" she mumbled incoherently.

"Because I promised."

His voice was a cold cage, isolating her from the world.

A wild thought formed in her head and her head felt dizzy.

If she hadn't understood before, she did now.

Had she truly returned to the past?