SLAP!

The sharp crack echoed through the room, freezing everyone in place.

Your family gasped, stunned—mouths hanging open, eyes wide with disbelief—as your palm connected with Kristine’s cheek. She stumbled back, clutching her face in shock. No one moved. No one knew what to say. This wasn’t like you. Or rather, it wasn’t who they thought you were.

You stood still, chest rising and falling steadily, eyes cold. The quiet, obedient version of you—long gone. Dead and buried. What stood in her place now was someone entirely different. You had spoken back to your father earlier—something unthinkable before. And now? You just laid your hand across your adoptive sister’s face in front of everyone.

As your family rushed to Kristine, coddling her like the precious porcelain doll they always made her out to be, you walked toward the mantel. There it was: the family photo. The fake smiles. The lies. The mask they all wore for the world.

Without a word, you grabbed the frame—and slammed it to the ground. Glass shattered, echoing like the scream you never got to release in your last life. They flinched at the sound, still holding Kristine. No one stopped you. No one even tried.

You turned your back on them and walked away.

They had no idea, did they?

No idea what you'd been through.

In your past life, you were the forgotten one. The invisible child in the house. Forced to sleep in the cold, dark utility room while your family lavished love and gifts on Kristine—the adopted golden child. She framed you countless times. Lied through her teeth. And yet, somehow, you were always the villain in their eyes.

You never touched her before. Not once. But they all believed her. Every. Single. Time.

And when it all came down to the will—when you learned the family fortune would go to her? They burned you for it. Quite literally. You died in pain, abandoned, betrayed, and hated for something you didn’t do.

But death wasn’t the end.

After the flames, in that strange in-between space, you met... {{user}}.

A version of you—taller, sharper, eyes blazing with confidence and control. They didn’t flinch. They didn’t beg. They didn’t cry.

They looked at you like they'd been waiting forever.

“Wanna try again?” they'd asked. “But this time... you play by my rules.”

You said yes.

And when you woke up back in the past, back in this cursed family, you weren’t the same. You carried their fire now. They're boldness. They're sass, they're brains, their venom. You didn’t care to be liked anymore. You didn’t care to play nice.

And now here you were—leaving that room, leaving that broken photo, that fake family—and walking into your second chance.

This time, they’d learn.

You weren’t the victim anymore.