Reborn for Revenge: The CEO’S True Bride

"The doctor said the digitalis has been building up for over six months now, and it is going to look like a stress induced cardiac arrest," Jude whispered. "No one is going to suspect anything. And an autopsy won’t be needed. You’ll die of natural causes." I wanted to scream, to bite off the finger he was using to stroke my hair. Those hands once held me with tenderness. I took those same hands like a goat heading to its own s*******r, but my throat was useless. The private room in St Jude memorial hospital was drenched in a dim and depressing gray light, but I didn’t need the light to recognize who they were. It was Jude my husband, and my sister Victoria. "You really were an i***t Jules, did you really believe I married you for your personality?" Jude giggled. "You were just a boring plain Jane who only knew how to work, it was either estate portfolios or tax filings, gosh you bored me to death. I’m so glad I’m finally rid of you. You were so naive." "No need to be so mean Babe," Victoria said, walking over to my bedside. Her sickeningly sweet perfume mixed with the pungent antiseptic, creating a nauseating smell. "We ought to thank her for her naivety, how else would she have handed us the entire Sterling Estate and commercial district on a silver platter." Handed them the entire Sterling Estate? What is she talking about? When? How? "Tax reforms? Remember?" Jude smirked How could I forget the papers Jude made me sign on our wedding day, He created a massive fake venue emergency right before the ceremony, frantically begging me to sign a stack of tax forms. And like a fool, blinded by wedding jitters and his frantic performance, I signed them, without reading them or suspecting anything. He was my husband, and she was my sister. How could I ever have known? Tears began to furiously fall down my face. "Don’t cry Jules, no one’s dying here, except you," Jude chuckled, wiping my face with the back of his hands. "Don’t worry, I’ll handle business and I’ll take very good care of your sister." I could hear the wet sound of their lips joining together right beside my head. And with the last bit of strength I was able to muster, I grabbed onto Victoria’s hair and I started pulling it. "Ahh! You b***h," Victoria screamed. "Let go you wench!" I refused to let go, pulling even harder. Jude yanked my hands off Victoria’s hair and slapped me across the face. "How dare you touch her, die you witch," he said while choking me. I tried to fight back, to claw his hands away, but I was too weak, too useless. I have always been weak. "Stop it babe, she’s supposed to die of natural causes remember?" Victoria said. Jude let go of my throat, but all the air in my already failing lungs had been sucked away. "How much longer do we have to wait?" Jude said. "Once this monitor flatlines, we will call the family lawyer and by tomorrow night, not just the downtown towers, her mother's trust will belong to us, and we won't have to hide anymore." "Five long years," Victoria whispered. "Five long years of playing the innocent little sister while you slept in her bed." "I only slept in her bed to keep her stupidly compliant," Jude said. "You’re the only one I care about, you know that." My heart gave one last, agonizing convulsion. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They had been together this whole time. Before Jude and I’s wedding. During our honeymoon. While I was busy pulling all nighters in order to fix Jude's bankrupt accounts, they were laughing at me behind closed doors. Victoria bent down. Her lips brushed my earlobe. "Goodbye, big sister," she hissed. "Don't worry, we’ll take care of your business and each other." The heart monitor line went straight. I could feel my world fading to black. I was dying. I was dying with so much pain and hatred and resentment in my heart. I did not deserve this. I will never forgive them. I have always given out second chances even when people didn’t deserve them, that is what got me in this position in the first place. If anyone deserves a second chance at life it is most definitely me. If anyone is listening, I demand a second chance. I will show them both what despair and agony truly feels like. Ice cold water hit my face like a slap. I bolted upright, coughing violently, air instantly flooding my lungs. I grabbed my throat, expecting the plastic tube, the hospital gown, and the smell of blood. Instead my fingers touched some soft, expensive lace. "Oh my god, Miss Julianna, I am so sorry." A maid was trembling beside me, holding a dripping silver bowl. Maya. She was my family’s old maid who had retired four years ago. "My hand slipped, please forgive me, I’m so sorry," she said, bowing frantically. I sat frozen. What was going on? Just a minute ago I was dying in the hospital with Jude and Victoria laughing at me. I looked around me, and there was no bleach smell, no heart monitor. Instead the room smelled of fresh white roses, heavy jasmine hair mist, and hot wax candles. I turned slowly toward the three way floor mirror on the left. The pale, dying woman from the ICU was nowhere to be found. Sitting in her place was a girl in her early twenties with sharp eyes, full lips, and pitch black hair pinned up with pearl hair clips, wearing a custom six foot wedding gown. My phone buzzed out on the glass vanity, pulling me out of my deep shock and thoughts. I grabbed it, my hands trembling so violently I almost dropped my phone. My eyes instantly darted to the date: OCTOBER 1, 2021 : 10:30 AM Five years ago. On this day I married Jude Cross. On this day, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I was frantic, I couldn’t believe it. I was really given another chance. I took the remnant of the water from earlier and splashed it on my face once more. Maya backed up on the wallpaper, staring at me like I had lost my mind. "Miss, should I get Victoria?" Maya whimpered. "She’s downstairs with Mr. Jude checking the guest list." "No!" I immediately yelled, my hands smoothing down the front of the white silk gown. I caught a glimpse of my hands, noticing that the IV scars were completely gone. "Let her stay downstairs," I said, a slow ugly smile forming at my lips. If I had truly been given a second chance, I was not about to waste it. I must take everything that was stolen back from me. Jude and Victoria won’t know what hit them until it is too late.