Chapter 1: The Day I Died
"Surprise!!!"
Everyone screamed as the blindfold came off Anna's face. Balloons floated through the air. Blue, her favorite color, of course. Zayden knew her so well.
As her eyes adjusted, she saw him down on one knee and gasped, hands flying to her face.
"Will you marry me, my love?" he said.
Before her brain could catch up, her heart answered.
"I will."
The room erupted — applause, laughter, tears. Flashbulbs popping. Her father raised a glass from across the room, pride written all over his face. Zayden's mother clutched her pearls, smiling.
Lina, her best friend, hugged her tightly. Her perfume was too sweet. Too familiar.
"Wow! That's a big stone — that one!" she said, tilting Anna's hand toward the light.
"I know," Anna laughed, admiring the diamond.
She handed her a drink, and Anna took it without thinking. Why would she hesitate?
Then Lina tapped her glass —
Clink, clink, clink.
"To the future bride and groom!" Lina shouted, raising her glass.
"Cheers!" Everyone echoed.
Oh, Lina. She'd always celebrated like this. Every win. Every milestone. Loyal, loud, and loving. Anna used to think she was her other half — the sister she never had.
She drank deep. It was sweet. A little too sweet.
"This is my day. I deserve to get drunk," Anna said excitedly.
But then, something started to feel wrong.
Her fingers trembled. Her heart skipped. The lights blurred.
Was she dizzy? Or was the room spinning?
She tried to laugh it off, but the laugh caught in her throat.
"Are you okay, dear?" Lina asked — her voice a little too soft.
Anna turned to her. "I... I don't know. I think I need to sit..."
Her knees buckled.
The world tilted sideways. And there was Zayden — not moving, not rushing, just watching.
Sipping his wine.
Looking the other way.
Like he knew something.
Like he'd done something.
Lina bent beside her, gripping her hand, then slowly letting go.
That smile.
That cold, awful smile that said:
"Die already. I don't care."
Anna couldn't understand. It was happening too fast.
Then Lina leaned in close, her voice a whisper only death could hear.
"You don't deserve this life. I do. I hope you watch us from the grave. Because now, what was once yours will all be mine."
Anna tried to talk.
Tried to hold on.
But the darkness swallowed her.
And then—
Voices, distorted,
Loud. Confusing.
"Are you okay? Hello! Hello!"
Someone called
As she woke up in chaos — heat, dust, and confusion.
Her eyes snapped open to a crowd of strangers.
"She's alive! Thank God!"
"This drunk driver nearly killed her!" someone said.
She sat up, disoriented. Her skin itched. Her mouth dry.
"What happened? Where am I?" she kept asking.
A man pointed.
"You were hit on the road. But you're lucky. You're fine."
She looked down at herself.
Tattered skirt. Dirty white blouse. Hands covered in red clay. Bare feet.
She smelled like cassava and dust.
"What kind of sick prank is this?" Anna muttered.
"Dina! Dina!" a young girl called out, running toward her. She looked relieved and panicked at the same time.
"Mama's been looking everywhere! Did you get hurt? Mama needs her medicine!"
"Where were you? Did you fall?"
Too many questions.
The girl grabbed her wrist — her hands rough but oddly familiar.
"Who are you? Who's Dina?" Anna asked, panicked.
"I'm Anna Kingston. Not Dina. I'm the daughter of a billionaire. This... this isn't my life."
But no one cared. No one listened.
She followed the girl like a confused child. She didn't know where they were going, but it all felt strange. And somehow… familiar.
They arrived at a dusty old house.
An older woman hugged her tightly.
"Thank God, you're alright," she whispered.
"Go take a bath. We've had enough worry for one day."
Anna stumbled into a back room, heart pounding.
Her legs were shaking.
There — above a rusted basin — was a cracked mirror.
She looked into it.
And for the first time… saw a face that wasn't hers.
Her lips. Her eyes. Her skin. Her features — all gone.
This was someone else's face.
She slapped herself. Again and again. But it was real.
Then the memories hit.
The engagement party.
The wine.
The collapse.
The darkness.
She died.
But she wasn't dead.
She was alive… but not the same.
She was no longer Anna.
She was now Dina.
She gripped the basin, trying to breathe.
"What is happening to me?!"
She dropped to her knees, shaking, remembering Zayden. Lina.
Flashes of how happy
she was.
How perfect everything had seemed.
And how one drink ruined it all.
Broken and teary-eyed, she whispered,
"Lina... why? What did I ever do to you?"