REWRITTEN FATE

CHAPTER ONE : DIAGNOSIS AND BETRAYAL

Time Doesn’t Wait. It Haunts.

Paulina Whitney stood in front of the hospital window, watching the rain smear the skyline of Manhattan into a blur of grey and glass. Her reflection stared back at her from the glass pale skin, dry lips, dark circles under her eyes, and a thousand yard stare that hadn’t left her face since the doctor told her.

"Stage Four."

"You have less than a year, Mrs Whitney."

The words had replayed in her head for hours, clawing at her mind like nails on glass. She had imagined this moment so many times before her death, freedom from the cruel world she'd been living in, but never like this. Not from an illness. Not so quietly. She always thought James would be the death of her. In some twisted way, that thought had brought her comfort.

Now, she was going to die anyway. Quietly, slowly, forgotten. Maybe this is easier and peaceful.

The words of her doctor still rang in her ears. Unconsciously, she clutched the paper in her hand, the test results so tightly that it crumpled, veins bulging on her wrist. The cold air in the hospital felt like fingers wrapping around her throat. She needed to breathe. She needed to scream.

But all she could do was stare.

“Mrs. Whitney?” the nurse called softly from behind her. “Your driver is here.”

Paulina nodded without speaking. Her voice had stopped working. She walked out in a daze, the marble floors echoing beneath her heels. As the elevator doors shut behind her, she realized she hadn’t cried. Not once. Shocked, helpless, relieved, all these were the emotions she was feeling. There was no room left for tears.

Paulina Whitney a twenty-nine-year-old beautiful, blonde-haired with deep drowned eyes and a curvy lady. She is the manager of REYNA COUTURE, and a model too.

The Whitney's penthouse gleamed like a palace perched above the chaos of New York City. Too perfect. Too cold. Just like the man who owned it.

Paulina pushed the door open, the silence inside pressing down on her like a weight. The housekeeper was gone for the evening. The lights were dim. The scent of rosewood and James’s cologne hung heavy in the air.

" He's back? " Paulina said in a whisper.

James Whitney is a businessman and the CEO of The Whitney Textile Industry.

The marriage between James and Paulina is not the ideal love-filled marriage in movies or romance books. Their marriage is disastrous, toxic.

James Whitney just wants Paulina as his tool that satisfies his s****l urges and a trophy wife with a degree that he can parade around showing his possession.

That fame, that Ego, that Pride is all he wants.

Obsessed, Selfish and A Narcissist.

To the World, they're the perfect couple.

Taking off her heels, she padded towards the master bedroom. Her heart thudded, how was she going to tell James about her diagnosis, or maybe she shouldn't, but he deserved to know, even if he didn't care.

A chill spread through her as she climbed the stairs, her fingers brushing the railing.

From the hallway, muffled laughter echoed from behind the bedroom door. A woman’s laugh.

Paulina froze.

Who could that be? Can't be Evelyn James’s mother, her voice was sharper, colder, like broken glass.

Stepping Closer, the voice sounds familiar. Getting to the bedroom door, it was slightly ajar. The sound of a moan, low, intimate reached her ears.

Her blood turned to ice.

She pushed the door open slowly.

And there they were.

James.

Alexis.

Her best friend.

Her husband.

Skin on skin.

James’s hands tangled in Alexis’s blonde hair, their n***d bodies twisted on the very bed Paulina had once thought she only shared with James.

The world tilted, time slowed. Paulina felt immeasurable pain in her chest.

Alexis gasped and tried to pull the sheets over herself.

James looked up, startled, his eyes met Paulina’s.

For a moment, no one spoke. The room went silent.

Paulina couldn’t breathe.

“Paulina” James started, rising from the bed, voice thick with frustration and anger, not guilt. “I didn’t expect you back so early.”

That’s what he said." I didn’t expect you back so early!"

No apology

Not “This isn’t what it looks like.”

Not “I can Explain.”

Paulina felt her knees buckle, but she stood her ground, her heart cracking open in slow, sharp splinters.

She knew James could be possessive, insulting, toxic and hit her, but a cheat she never added to the list of what her husband could do.

She stared at Alexis, whose wide blue eyes were now filled with fake remorse.

“You were supposed to be my best friend,” Paulina whispered.

Alexis didn’t respond.

"How could you do this, Alexis? It could have been anyone, not you". Paulina said with tears streaming down.

The silence was so thick, she felt the betrayal and walls closing in on her.

“I have cancer,” Paulina said flatly with a small laugh. “Terminal. Less than a year.”

Another Silence.

James didn’t flinch. Alexis gasped, but she knew that was not from sympathy.

“That’s not my problem,” James muttered under his breath, reaching for his robe. “Don’t make this dramatic.”

That was it.

That was the last thread holding her together.

Paulina stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face. The sound cracked through the air like a gunshot. James faced her looking straight to her eyes, stunned, then furious.

“You think you can touch me like that?” he growled, eyes darkening.

“After what you did?” she shouted. “After everything I gave up for you? You ruined me! You took everything, James!”

"You do not use that tone on me Paulina, "he shouted.

"You're despicable, James. I hate you "

“You were always weak,” he said, grabbing her arm. “Always so pathetic.”

“Let me go!” she screamed.

Going back and forth in a fight, James shoved her back.

She stumbled, her arms flailing, she could feel the wind blowing her face so harsh, with a piercing loud scream, everything turned black.