i reincarnated into the past to get revenge!

i.

—

until death do us part

—

"a disgrace! drain her of her blood and throw her out on the eastern streets!"

"right away, sir."

"and surely you'll keep this a secret like what happened 10 years ago?"

"of course."

the hospital walls weren't white like arianna remembered. they were a muddy brown and blurry; probably because of the tears she was shedding. the pain sprouted around her body like growing moss and the beating she had received along with the consistent loss of blood was not helping at all.

at least the blood covering her face matched the red birthmark sprawled across her face.

"take her now!" her father yelled as her stepmother cackled. "it's about time we take the ferrer company under our control."

unable to speak, she was suddenly grabbed harshly and placed into a car to an unknown location. she had to think quick, but she couldn't bring herself to. she realized her mother's killers and now she was going to face the same fate. she scowled at how oblivious she had been. it should've been obvious from the start but she was too blinded by love for her husband, elliot.

she could recall the times she did her best to receive his love and acknowledgment, only for him to take it with just a nod and a night out with his true lover, layla, her step sister. it wasn't supposed to be like this, her mom had boasted about how much her daughter was going to fall in love and live a happy life and arianna thought she would with elliot.

she dreamt about having the perfect family with a loving husband and in-laws who would visit. she dreamt of her mother holding her child and crying from joy. but that's all it would be in this life: dreams.

with elliot, it was nothing but a nightmare, so why did she stay? was she truly that naive- that in love with him? or did she just have nowhere to go? no one to save her?

no, that's not true. one person did try to save her. and yet she rejected him, refused his help, threatened him, and accused him of murder.

oh jaejun. i was wrong. i'm sorry.

she should've directed all of that towards elliot.

and now, here he was, the man she treasured the most and loved unconditionally, holding the knife that was stabbed into her stomach. "w-why?" she cried out, blood rushing out of her mouth. the rocks were stabbing into her legs, scratching and reopening wounds. her surroundings were dark and blurry, not that it mattered. all she knew was that she was going to die.

"you have the nerve to ask why?" a sudden pungent scent filled the air, it was layla and her overuse of perfume. "you were in the way, that's why. i deserve the ferrer company more than you do."

"you were just a ploy to destroy the lee company," elliot added as he shoved the knife deeper. he threw her against the ground and scowled at the blood on his fingers. the floor was just as she remembered and constantly endured, hard and cold. he wiped her blood across her clothes and walked towards layla. "shall we?"

"aw, you shouldn't have!" she giggled as she took the knife from his hands and wiped it clean with a towel. "i'll remember this forever," she kissed him. arianna watched as they walked away, her vision blurring and shifting with black dots forming everywhere. closing her eyes suited her best anyway.

it was what she had done all these years. she closed her eyes to her husband's affair, shut them closed to the abuse, turned a blind eye to the obvious plan of capturing her mother's company, and now she'll never open them again. she was on the brink of death.

yet all she could think about was jaejun, the man whom she thought was the murderer of her mother. he was the only person on her side, constantly saving her from her attempts to exit the world, telling her that her family and husband had ulterior motives and that he wasn't the murderer of her mother.

she smiled self-deprecatingly. he loved her even if she hated him.

if there's a reset in life, i'll surely take the chance and love you, jaejun.

—

and finally, she opened her eyes.

she was in a bathtub, fully clothed and surrounded by bloody water. her white pajamas were stained with blood and her hair was wet from the water. "wha-?"

"ari!" she looked up, watching as jaejun entered the bathroom in a hurry. "ari, please don't do this," he pulled her up and wrapped a towel around her. "j-jaejun, i-" she tried. she remembers this. she was about to exit the world via drowning and slitting her wrists to drain her blood.

"you can hate me all you want, but please don't die. please," he begs as he holds her tight. ari could only nod. "okay," she hugged him back.

he led her into the room, bandaging her cuts and drying her off. she sat blankly as she tried to make sense of what was going on. didn't she die? how did she come back to this moment? did... did she get a reset? or was this a dream? if that's the case, she hopes she never wakes up.

this time, she'll do things right.

she looked up at jaejun whose face was focused on her wounds, carefully applying the bandage. he was the only one who cared to save her. she smiled softly. despite her appearance, he still wanted her.

"sister, i'll help you get rid of jaejun. here, just apply this makeup to make it look like you have a big and bad scar and surely he'll stop coming after you!" layla smiled as she applied red makeup on her face.

"ari, what happened to your face? who did this?" jaejun asked as he grabbed her face. ari pushed him away, continuing to cut her apple.

"ari, let's get married. let me take care of you," he asked for the nth time. ari looked over at him slowly before scoffing. "why would i ever marry you? the person who murdered my mother!" she screamed as she raised the knife at him. "stop asking me!"

ari opened her eyes after recalling the memories from her past life.

"jaejun, let's get married."

—