Confrontation
1498 Words
The rain poured down on the city heavily. I sat under the bus stop with my soaking wet clothes, my memory continuously replaying the scene of Julian's kiss. He had chosen Nadira. As if I meant nothing at all.
But that's completely wrong, Helena! She instead made everything even more complicated for me to resolve.
And again, my score dropped to -13! I'm dead...
The holographic screen appeared before me. Ety's voice was softer than usual.
"Your luck has turned. What should have benefited you now actually harms you. Every choice becomes increasingly difficult."
I sat there, rainwater dripping in my hair. I wanted to scream, wanted to destroy this entire ridiculous story. But I was in Helena's weak and helpless body. If it was still Helena playing out this story, she would surely be crying over her fate.
But I am Kayla, and I must have 1001 ways to survive from worse than this.
"Oh yeah. Tell me something, Ety. Are there other people here from my timeline? Like other Players?" I coaxed her.
Pause.
"That information is restricted."
"That sounds like not an answer!" I crossed my arms, glaring at her irritably.
Ety didn't answer, so my attention was diverted by them coming through the rain. Oh crap! Deca and Magda. The people I didn't want to see right now.
"Helena!" Magda shouted. "What are you doing here, soaking wet like this?"
Before I could answer, Deca's hand struck my face. The impact made my ears ring.
"You shameless woman! Your husband is at home and you're out there playing around! The photographers already photographed it this afternoon!"
My eyes widened, 'Oh my God, seriously?!'
"The photographers captured that damn kiss of yours! The person you shouldn't have approached. Now, that kiss has spread throughout the social circles in this city!" Deca said irritably while Magda smiled cheerfully.
"Forgive me," I said with a face full of guilt. My hand touched my face, feeling the heat. But my mind acted otherwise. 'I wonder what my next planning is?' Although for now I had played this wrong, but I would try and keep trying.
"Get up! We'll take you home! Oscar's reputation is ruined and you're making it worse!"
My hand was pulled.
"Let me go," I said softly.
Magda ignored me, her nails digging firmly into my arm.
Now I have a plan so I must at least not resist them as they dragged me to the car.
The Padip house appeared in the middle of the rain. Deca and Magda pulled me inside, my wet footprints treading the marble floor.
Oscar was waiting in the living room. His face remained cold.
"Oscar," Magda said, "we found her at the bus stop. And you know, she was soaking wet like a damn w***e there!"
Deca approached Oscar and raised her phone. "And this! If only you weren't blind, you'd be far more angry! Your wife is cheating, my son!" Deca even sobbed.
The screen showed me kissing Julian, our bodies pressed together, looking very intimate.
Damn!
I hate Julian even more now!
"I'm sure the Padip name has been tarnished because of her!" Magda said again.
I stared at the photo, trying to guess who took it. Who had been waiting to capture this moment? And hey, wasn't that a good thing?
Oscar's jaw clenched tight. He said nothing, but the silence felt worse than screaming. He turned his face away as a sign of his rejection of me.
I should have felt relieved. Through this photo was my way out. With grounds for divorce, I would find freedom!
But when I saw the triumph in Deca's eyes and the satisfaction on Magda's face, I was sure they had planned something.
Magda leaned close to Deca, whispering. Then Deca's voice sounded rather casual: "So, what punishment should we give her?"
Those words shocked me.
I knew this dialogue. These words were exactly like those in the original story—the last thing Helena heard before dying.
Oh God! I have to act quickly! It feels impossible if I have to die in this sad story.
I displayed a sad face, "I have been wrong... Because the Padip name will be destroyed in everyone's eyes, Oscar should divorce me. Kick me out too and end this marriage."
I wanted out. I wanted to live long enough to return to my original world!
Ah, how nice to imagine that could happen!
Magda smiled like a predator. She leaned closer: "We don't need to kick you out, sister-in-law. We have a more profitable plan."
"Pro-fitable what?" I stammered.
This is where the real Helena died.
But I'm not Helena.
I smiled then slapped Magda's face hard until her head jerked to the side, her expression disbelieving.
"I won't let that happen, damn it!"
Before Deca could recover, I gripped her wrist as she tried to hit me.
Unfortunately Deca immediately attacked me. After Magda broke free, Magda threw a punch at my stomach. I spun and her fist hit my ribs instead.
"Damn! It hurts so much...." Pain spread through my side, but I shoved my elbow into her face.
Magda dodged then grabbed my hair from behind, pulling my head back. Stars scattered in my vision, but I pushed my elbow back hard. The elbow hit—her ribs until she flinched and released it.
I smiled, spun and caught Magda's wrist as she threw another punch, using her momentum to slam her into the furniture.
But they weren't done. Deca attacked me again, her face red with anger. She threw wild punches. I ducked under it and threw an uppercut. My knuckles hit her jaw. She staggered back, blood flowing at the corner of her mouth.
"You b***h!" she screamed, staring at the blood on her fingers. No one had ever fought back before.
I fought through the living room, overturning furniture so they would have difficulty finding me. I was sure I was winning.
Deca called the servants, and security. But I was already moving toward the exit.
They cornered me in the upstairs bedroom. When Magda lunged to take me down, I used the door as leverage, letting her momentum carry her inside. Deca followed, but I slammed the door shut and locked it.
Silence, except for the sound of pounding on the door and my gasping breath.
"Get her out of there!" Oscar's voice came from downstairs. "She's gone crazy. Lock her in the east wing and call the doctor. We'll take her to a mental hospital for psychiatric evaluation."
Damn!
They were going to put me in a mental hospital, declare me mentally unfit, and strip away all my legal status.
This was the power machine working to kill me slowly.
Hours passed and the room was like a prison because there was no way out.
"Ety," I finally said. "Are you still there?"
Come on, appear... "I need your help. Don't mess up your signal again!"
The holographic form appeared slowly, almost reluctantly.
"Your level has risen to -9!" A trumpet was sounded and Ety's smiley emoji was displayed there.
"That's still negative," I commented.
"But you've managed to delay your death."
"Isn't it during childbirth?" I asked.
"Everything is speeding up because you changed the story's plot. But with your cleverness, you finally survived."
"But earlier they planned to put me in a mental hospital."
"There's a way out," Ety said softly, "actually this breaks the rules."
I smiled broadly. "I'll repay your kindness!" I jumped for joy.
Ety looked far less prepared to listen. But she finally said, "On the east wall, right behind the wardrobe there's a servant corridor built inside the mansion. That corridor leads to the back garden and the back exit."
I immediately pushed the heavy wardrobe to the side, revealing a narrow door painted the same color as the wall.
The handle turned easily. The corridor behind it was dark and narrow, smelling of dust. I stepped inside, there was a servant corridor built so household staff could move unseen.
I moved through the dark room with confidence that I was sure Helena didn't even have the courage like this!
The corridor wound downward and finally reached the back hallway near the kitchen. A servant who was cooking immediately widened her eyes when she witnessed several features on my body—my face was swollen and my hair was messy.
"If anyone asks, please say you didn't see me,"
And when I remembered, she was the understanding servant throughout the story in the original book.
I found the back door and burst into the backyard.
The rain had stopped. I walked through the garden toward the back gate, each step taking me further from the Padip house and closer to something that could be called
Freedom.
I immediately climbed the fence.
"Almost there..." I was about to safely plant my foot on the asphalt
Unfortunately a phone sound shook my foot and I finally fell.
- Writer
