Rebirth: Shattering My Sister's Facade Novels & Stories

I was experiencing a splitting headache. I opened my eyes and looked around at my familiar home. It wasn't the street where I'd been beaten and cursed at, nor the damp, filthy prison I'd been scorned in. It was my home! "Simone, you're such a good person. If it weren't for you, I would've been beaten to death by Luke." That familiar fake voice rang out. I turned around to look, and there was Tricia Tate, standing in front of me with tears in her eyes. It was only then that I realized I had been reborn.

He kept his head lowered, continuing to block me without saying a single word. I clutched my pocket knife as I warily asked him, "What the hell do you want?" He raised his head to look at me. He had a complicated emotion swirling in his eyes, and his voice was hoarse when he called out my name. I didn't say a single word in response. I wondered if he was going to beg me to empathize with Frank and Madison again. "You were reborn, weren't you?" My expression morphed into one of shock upon hearing his words. I whipped around and tried to make a break for it.

"Harmony, wake up and take your medicine. If you don't get up now, you'll miss the school anniversary," came a gentle voice by my ear. Someone lightly patted my shoulder, urging me urgently. I slowly opened my eyes, and what met my gaze was the delicate face of my twin sister. Instantly, my heart tightened. A rush of emotions including fear, unease, and hatred flooded over me. Looking at her holding a cup of fever-reducing medicine with a smiling face, I realized I had been reborn. I had returned to the day when she had schemed against me.

"Isla isn't breathing anymore! It's your fault that our daughter has lost her mother at such a young age!" Felix Zane's roar ripped through the winter air as he knelt by my best friend, Isla Kingsley's drenched, ice-cold body lying motionless on the riverbank. The onlookers watched his grief-stricken display with pity in their eyes. If I hadn't been reborn, I might have believed his performance too. …

She glared at me, eyes sharp enough to pierce through flesh, as if sheer willpower alone could carve me apart. "You really think being reborn changes everything? That you can go up against the Scott family and make it out alive? “One day, you won’t even see it coming—you’ll be dead before you know what hit you." I let out a soft laugh, the curve of my lips light, but there was no warmth in my eyes. "That’s not your concern. “Or better yet, why don’t you be the first to try? See for yourself what it really costs to kill me."

"What are you saying? It's not the hardship I mind, it's just that I'm scared for you..." "Scared of what for me?" With a tilt of his head, Anthony's face was suddenly close, his breath warm on my skin. My thoughts scattered to the wind. "I'm scared you won't make it back." Anthony paused, a look of surprise on his face. "Yasmine, do you believe in second chances at life?" I gazed deep into his eyes, feeling myself drawn in, and my hunch was spot on. Anthony had come back to life too.

“Of course I remembered how I fucking killed you but here you are making me do the same thing again. But this time I promise to do a clean Job and kill you for real. Don't worry, you won’t come back. You won’t have a chance to undo this.” I felt my knees wobble, my body threatening to collapse, how the fuck did she know about my rebirth? I thought it was impossible for anyone else to figure that out. “I… I am not… reborn,” I stammered, my voice weak, cracking. “I… I’m not…”

The banner had bold words condemning me printed on it. "Anna Anderson killed her own sister and abandoned her parents! Shame on her!" The moment they saw me, they rushed over to verbally abuse me. They were also holding phones to livestream, shoving my face right into the camera. "Anna, you heartless monster! You killed your own sister and then abandoned your parents! We worked so hard to raise you. "Now that you're rich, you refuse to acknowledge your mom and dad anymore. You truly have no conscience!" Some uninformed viewers in the livestream joined in attacking me.

Her voice… it was exactly the same. Warm. Soft. A lullaby I hadn’t heard since I was fourteen. “I miss you,” I choked. Her smile softened. “I know. But you don’t have to hurt anymore. Project Rebirth was created so you’d never be powerless again.” That word sliced through the haze. Rebirth. My breath shook. “Why are you here? What are you doing to me?” She touched my cheek and her fingers were cold as ice. “I’m unlocking you. The world hurt you, Elena. Betrayed you. Took everything from you.”