Her Second Life

The alarm buzzed sharply at 7:00 a.m., and I slapped it with a weary hand as I swung my legs over the side of the bed, wincing at the stiffness in my knees because I knew that another long day of standing and serving awaited me. I shuffled to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face, and stared into the cracked mirror. The reflection staring back looked tired and worn,skin that had learned the rough touch of exhaustion and hair tied back hastily into a messy ponytail. I shoved down a stale of bread after freshening up and dressed for work quickly. The supermarket where I work was only a twenty-minute walk away, but twenty minutes felt like an hour when your legs were already heavy from yesterday’s shift. As I reached the store,the manager was already there but he barely looked at me. I set to work immediately, arranging cans, sweeping floors, folding napkins, cleaning counters. I knew the routine by heart, but it didn’t make it any easier. The two girls at the counter were already gossiping when I arrived. “Aria, hurry up! What are you, slow?” “Always acting quiet like she’s special, meanwhile she’s the one doing night shifts.” Their laughter echoed around the store like nails scratching wood. I didn’t say anything or glance up. I arranged items neatly, making sure everything was exactly as the manager liked. Any mistake could cost me my hours and I had no one to complain to or defend me. Hours passed like slow torture as customers came and went, some were pleasant, some were grumpy and some were impatient. I smiled when necessary, nodded when asked, and kept my exhaustion tucked away behind a calm exterior. By the time my shift ended, my legs were as weak as my back screamed, and my arms ached from carrying boxes all day but there was no rest yet. I glanced at the clock. 10:45 p.m and yet another delivery. The bag was heavy and smelled faintly of yesterday’s goods. I slung it over my shoulder and stepped into the street which was dark and slick with remnants of rain. A motorcycle sped past me close enough to make my heart skip a beat. “Be careful!” I shouted instinctively as I clutched the bag tighter and unknowingly stepped into the road. Then blinding headlights appeared as a sharp and deafening horn blared. My body froze as my legs trembled from exhaustion, refusing to move and then crash. Everything slowed as pain exploded through me in waves. The bag slipped from my shoulder as it clattered to the pavement. I saw people screaming and faces blurring, shapes moving too fast and headlights growing larger. My vision streaked with bright colors, red and white and gray colliding in dizzying swirls as I couldn’t tell where the street ended or where the chaos began. My hands scrabbled at the asphalt as my mind screamed for something—anything—to stop this, but there was nothing. I just kept drowning in darkness as it all eluded me. Just then in few minutes: White. That was the first thing I saw—endless white stretching above me like the ceiling of a place that didn’t belong to earth. It was too bright and smooth. A cold stillness surrounded me, and for one terrifying moment, I wondered if I had died. Is this heaven? My mind was foggy, heavy, floating somewhere between memory and darkness. The last thing I remembered was the screech of tires,the blinding headlights, and that helpless moment right before the collision. I should be dead right. My body felt all wrong. My limbs were stiff and my head was pounding.I heard a steady beeping coming from beside me, and the scent of disinfectant made my nose twitch. A hospital. But why? How? I blinked slowly again but the white ceiling didn’t change as my heart felt slow, like it was waking up with me and everything was too quiet and unreal. My breath trembled as it left my lips. Maybe… maybe I was dead, and this was some sort of afterlife waiting. Yeah it should be. I let my eyes drift shut again, and maybe if I slept, I would wake up in my real life or… not wake up at all but for some moments, voices started echoing in my head. “Vitals steady.” “She should wake up now.” “Let’s reduce the sedatives.” The voices pulled me up from the darkness and someone touched my forehead gently, and then I gasped and opened my eyes and saw doctors leaning over me with their concerned faces. “Miss Bennett,” one of them said, “can you hear us?” Bennett? My heart stumbled because that wasn’t my name and before I could panic,my eye caught one man standing apart from the crowd, watching silently. He was… stunning with tall, broad shoulders outlined perfectly in a black suit that looked tailored just for him and his thick dark hair was neatly brushed at the top of his forehead. His jaw was sharp but his eyes cold.So cold they made my blood turn to ice. He looked at me like I was an inconvenience and like I was breathing his oxygen without permission. My breath caught in my throat. Who is he? A doctor leaned closer again. “Miss Bennett, can you speak?” “I— I… I can’t be here,” I stammered with a voice cracking. “I can’t afford this place sir.” The doctors exchanged confused looks but the cold man’s expression hardened like I had personally offended him by… existing. “Of course you don’t belong here,” he muttered under his breath. His voice was deep and colder than the room temperature and something in my chest tightened painfully,not because I knew him, but because my new body reacted instinctively with fear. Before I could process anything, the door burst open. “Aria!” “Sweetheart!” A woman rushed in, crying hysterically with her hands shaking as she grabbed mine and a man with a stern look followed behind her. I didn’t know them but they looked at me like I was their world. “My daughter,” the woman whispered, kissing my forehead through tears. “You scared me. I thought I lost you.” Daughter? Who are these people? “Who….are….you? Why I'm I here?” “It's me, your mother,honey.” The woman said as she hugged me. “N-no,” I whispered. “I think you’re—” “Aria Bennett,” the man said firmly, like he was correcting me. “You had an accident, that’s all. Don’t push yourself.” Aria Bennett. That wasn’t me, I'm not Bennett but Collins. A pulse of cold dread ran through me and the silent man in the suit finally spoke. “You’re awake.” His voice was sharper now. “Great. Maybe now you can stop causing chaos.” “Leon,” the woman snapped at him. “Enough.” So, his name was Leon. He barely glanced at her and every time his eyes landed on me, the hostility was unmistakable. What kind of relationship did Aria Bennett have with this man? I was still thinking when the doctor's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Do you remember your name?”One of the doctors asked. “Yeah, I'm Aria Collins.”I answered while looking up to the doctor. “Do you remember what happened to you?” He asked again. “Yeah, I was coming back from work and was hit by a car.”I answered again. The man and the woman looked at themselves The doctors checked my vitals. The woman cried again but the stern man asked me slow questions like I was fragile glass. Leon stood near the corner, checking his wristwatch every two minutes as if he couldn’t wait to leave. They kept calling me “Aria.” affectionately and kept touching and hugging me with familiarity. I wrinkled myself free as I ran into the bathroom of the ward and closed the door behind me. I inhaled shakily and walked to the mirror but the reflection staring back wasn’t mine. The hair was longer, darker and the skin was more perfect But the eyes looked lost like a ghost was staring back.I touched my cheek and the reflection touched hers. “Is this a reincarnation?” I asked myself while scratching my head. This isn't me, I'm not anybody's sweetheart or daughter or anything they claim that I am. What is happening to me? I was still putting the pieces together when a knock on the door dragged me out from my thoughts. “Honey,are you done?” It was likely the woman's voice. I came out from the bathroom and was taken to lie on the bed. The doctors started talking to the man and the woman. “Mr. and Mrs. Bennett,” the doctor said gently, “your daughter has suffered a mild head trauma and it’s caused temporary memory loss.” “Oh no,not my poor daughter.”The woman said as her face clenched with worry. “She’s stable now, but she’ll need familiar surroundings to recover. Please take her home and keep her comfortable. Avoid stress, loud arguments, or anything that may confuse her further.” The doctor said further. Memory loss?I remembered everything so the doctor's didn't know what they were saying. I grabbed an Ipad that was beside me and opened it. My hands trembled slightly as she tapped on the search bar. “Aria Bennett…” The moment I pressed search, dozens of articles exploded onto the screen.A high-quality photo of a girl with glossy hair, expensive clothes, and a cold expression stared back at her. Below it were headlines: “Heiress of Bennett Dominion Group Causes Another Scene at Charity Gala.” “Infamous Bennett Daughter Strikes Again.” “Aria Bennett: The Spoiled Princess of High Society.” “The tragic accident of Aria Bennett.” I felt my stomach twist as I scrolled. .“So… this is who I am now?” I whispered. I scrolled, and each article was worse than the last—stories of arrogance, fights, scandals, public embarrassments. People hated Aria Bennett,social media hated her and the comments were brutal but the biggest shock was the family introduction: “The Bennett Dominion Group: One of the most powerful private empires in the country, controlling tech, luxury estates, finance, and elite hospitality. Aria Bennett, their only heiress.” I froze as I read over and over again. A heiress? Of this? I wasn’t just in a new body but in the body of a hated, feared, powerful young woman whose life was full of enemies. My breath hitched as i whispered to herself: “…What kind of life did I reincarnate into?”