CHAPTER 2

~ROSE~

It all started on my twenty-first birthday.

The day that was supposed to be full of laughter, cake, and peace,turned into the beginning of my nightmare.

We didn’t throw a big party it was just me, Mom, and Dad, I never had friends anyway I was always that quiet, fragile girl everyone in school called “weak.”

I got used to it, or at least I thought I did.

That evening, Mom kept watching me like she was waiting for something to happen.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked again for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Mom,” I said, forcing a smile “Why do you keep asking?”

She exchanged a quick look with Dad.

His face was tense, eyes shadowed with something that looked like worry or fear... I didn’t understand why they were acting so strange,i told myself it was love.

They were just being protective, right? I was their only child, after all.

But later that night, during the little cake-cutting, everything changed.

One moment, I was blowing out the candles.

The next, my head started spinning.

The room tilted…my vision blurred. I could hear Mom calling my name .. Rose! Rose! and then everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my room my head was pounding, mum was sitting beside my bed, her face wet with tears.

Dad stood near the window, one hand over his mouth like he’d just seen a ghost.

“What happened?” I asked but the voice that came out wasn’t mine.

It was deeper… Colder.

Mom froze her eyes widened. “Rose…?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

But I couldn’t move,I couldn’t speak again, I was trapped, like I was locked inside my own body watching everything happen but powerless to stop it.

“Obviously this isn’t your precious daughter, Rose,” the voice said through my mouth “You can call me mrs Choice or whatever you want.”

My body moved on its own, rising from the bed, She or whatever she was walked straight to the mirror.

And there she was.

An old woman stared back at me.

Her hair was snow-white, her face covered in deep wrinkles, her eyes cold and tired.

It was me.

But it wasn’t me.

I told myself it was a dream, that I’d wake up if Mom slapped me but she didn’t, She just cried harder and I realized this was real.

******

Five months passed.

Five months of hell.

“Mom, it’s been five months since this started!” I screamed one morning, my voice echoing through the house.

“Five months since that night and you still won’t tell me what’s going on!”

“Rose, calm down,” she pleaded. “Your father and I are trying to find a solution and once we—”

“Once what?” I snapped. “Once I lose myself completely? You don’t understand what it feels like!”

My hands were shaking as I spoke.

“I have three faces, Mom!.

Three different people living inside me!” I cried.

“One is a little girl of around 12 years always scared, always crying in my dreams.

The second is that old woman the one who first appeared in the mirror that night.

But the third one…”

My voice broke.

“The third one looks exactly like me mum…same face, same voice but she’s not me, she goes out at night, to clubs, using my body however she wants, she drinks, she flirts, she does things I’d never do. And every morning I wake up exhausted, with lot of memory of where I’ve been or what she have done!”

I pressed my hands to my head, tears running down my cheeks.

“How do you expect me to stay calm when I’m losing pieces of myself every day?”

“Rose, please—” Mom tried to reach for me, but I pulled away.

“No! I’m tired, Mom! I’m tired of being weak, tired of people at work making me look like a trash, tired of living with this curse I don’t even understand!”

I grabbed my jacket and ran out the door, ignoring her calling my name.

The cold evening air hit me, sharp and heavy.

I ran without knowing where I was going, my heart pounding, tears burning my face.

“I didn’t ask for this!” I screamed into the empty street. “Why me?!”

A car horn blared, I turned just in time to see headlights flash.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” a man shouted, slamming his brakes.

I froze, my breath caught in my throat, the car swerved and stopped a few feet from me.

The driver stepped out a young man, maybe in his mid-twenties. “Are you crazy? You almost got yourself killed!” he yelled, but his voice softened when he saw me shaking.

I didn’t look up at first my heart was still pounding, my body trembling from the shock but then, when I finally lifted my head,my breath caught in my throat.

He wasn’t just anyone.

My CEO

He was tall and hot in a quiet, confident way.

His black shirt hugged his body, showing a broad chest and strong arms, his hair was dark and messy, like he’d just run his hands through it, and his jaw was sharp with a little stubble that made him look rough and sexy..his lips were full, his eyes gray and deep the kind that made you forget how to breathe for a second.

He looked angry at first, but then his expression softened.

“I’m… sorry,” I whispered, my legs giving way, I sank to the ground, trembling.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Hey, are you okay? You don’t look fine.”

I didn’t answer, I just hugged my knees, trying not to cry again.

He sighed quietly and walked closer. “You shouldn’t walk in the middle of the road like that, you almost scared me to death,” he said, his voice gentle now.

“It’s okay,” he said, taking something from his pocket, It was a small card, he handed it to me. “Here… just in case you ever need someone to talk to.”

I looked at it…Kelvin Halt.

His name was written in neat black letters under a company logo I knew too well.

But I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.

He didn’t even know I worked for him.

He gave a small smile, the kind that looked rare on his face and said, “Take care of yourself, alright?”

Then he turned and walked back to his car.

I just sat there, staring at the card in my hand.

Kelvin Halt.

The CEO.

The man who hardly spoke to anyone in the company except his PA… and tonight, he just spoke to me like he actually cared.

I watched his car drive away, my chest feeling tight and strange.