REBORN INTO A CROWN OF LIES

002:A Gift From Death

Tessa's POV

"She's awake."The voice cut through before anything else did, and I regretted opening my eyes immediately — the light hit like a slap, white and merciless, and I groaned and shut them again before trying a second time, slower."Ma'am, you're finally awake."A face hovered close. Round cheeks, wide eyes, a smile that looked like it had been waiting a long time for this exact moment."Who are you?" My voice came out cracked, foreign, like it belonged to someone else. "Where am I?"The girl blinked. "You're in your room, madam. We're your maids." A pause. "Don't you remember us?"I sat up too fast and the room tilted. I yanked the IV out of my arm without thinking twice, ignoring the sting, and looked around properly for the first time.This wasn't my room. This wasn't anything close to my life.The bed alone could have slept four people. Silk sheets. More pillows than any one person needed. Gold trim on furniture that looked like it belonged in a museum, and paintings on the wall that seemed to watch me the longer I looked at them."Don't call a doctor," I said, sharper than I meant to.Because none of this made sense. I'd died. I was sure of that the way you're sure of your own name — except apparently I wasn't sure of that anymore either."The will reading starts in an hour," one of the maids said, practically vibrating with relief. "Thank goodness you woke up in time. Lady Amelia will be furious if you're late again."Will reading. Coma. The words rattled around in my head without finding anywhere to land."What will? What coma? Somebody explain this to me right now."The maids exchanged a look I didn't like."Your father-in-law, Rowan," the first one said carefully. "His will's being read today. He passed a month ago.""And you," the other added, gentler, "you were in the accident. On your Oscar night."For a second my mind just stopped."Bring me a mirror," I said.It was in my hands a moment later, and when I looked into it, the breath went out of me — not in a scream, just in something quiet and enormous, like the floor dropping out from under a building.The woman looking back wasn't me.I touched my side automatically, searching for the wound that should still be there, the one that had ended me. Nothing. Not even a scar. Smooth, flawless skin where a knife had gone in seven times.Sharp cheekbones. Green eyes. Dark hair that fell like something out of a shampoo commercial. Beautiful. Not mine."What the hell," I whispered."Madam? Should I get the doctor?"I remembered everything. The wedding gown. The trophy. Nancy's voice in my ear, Leo's hands on my face like he was closing a casket lid. I remembered dying.And somehow I was here. In someone else's skin, in someone else's life, breathing air that wasn't supposed to be mine to breathe anymore.Mom. You actually heard me.A second chance. A way to make every single one of them pay for what they did.My eyes drifted across the room and caught on the wall behind the bed — and stuck there.Awards. Not a few. Dozens. Best Actress in a Leading Role. Global icon. Names I half-recognized from magazine covers I used to flip past in waiting rooms, never once imagining I'd end up wearing one of those faces myself.I reached up and touched my cheek again, slower this time, like I could feel my way into understanding it.This body. This life. Was mine now, whether I'd asked for it or not."Ma'am, we really do need to hurry," one maid said, glancing at the door like it might open on its own. "Madam Amelia hates lateness."Mother-in-law. Right."And your husband isn't fond of waiting either," another added.Husband. The will reading. Of course.I let out a breath and stood, my legs unsteady under me, and let the maids strip the nightgown and dress me in something black and expensive that fit like a second skin."Wait," I said. They froze. "What's my name?"The question sat heavy in the room."Madam—" one started."My name," I said again, calmer now, but with an edge underneath it I didn't bother hiding. "Tell me.""Tessa Lynn Voss," she finally said. "Daughter-in-law of the Voss family. Mother to Carolyn. Wife to Mr. Hardin Voss."Tessa Voss. The actress. The name everyone in this world apparently knew, and I hadn't even recognized my own face in the mirror twenty minutes ago.A different name. A different face. A completely different life dropped into my lap like a loaded gun.I almost laughed. Then the next thought killed it dead.If I was Tessa Voss now, where was the real one?"Tell me something," I said slowly, watching their faces. "What kind of person was I? Before."Silence. Then, carefully: "Strong, ma'am.""Confident," another said. "Ambitious.""Very strong," the third muttered, like it wasn't entirely a compliment.Great. So she wasn't easy to replace and she wasn't easy to like. Noted.The door burst open before I could ask anything else.A woman swept in with a little girl trailing at her side, and the air in the room changed the second she crossed the threshold — like the whole house had been built to make room for whoever she was. Tall. Diamond heels clicking against the floor. Blonde hair, ice-blue eyes that swept over me head to toe and found me lacking before she'd even said a word."Well," she said, lips curving. "Look who's finally awake from the dead."