Chapter 2: The Girl in the Mirror

A sharp gasp escaped Raine's lips as she stared at her reflection. The hospital bathroom's dim fluorescent light buzzed overhead, casting an eerie glow on the stranger's face staring back at her.

Dark, wavy hair. Hollow, stormy gray eyes. A face both unfamiliar yet unsettlingly familiar.

Her fingers trembled as she touched her cheek, the coolness of her skin confirming that this wasn't a dream. This wasn't Asteria Vale's face—this was someone else.

I'm alive. But I'm not me.

Memories flooded in, disjointed and chaotic. Faint recollections of a different life. The name Raine Vesper echoed in her mind like a broken record.

Then, pain. A searing headache that sent her gripping the sink, her vision blurring as fragmented images surfaced.

Asteria's death. The betrayal. The laughter. The cold pavement beneath her body.

Raine clenched her jaw. No. She wouldn't break. Not again.

If fate had given her another chance, she would use it.

She turned away from the mirror, a new fire burning in her chest. If they thought they had silenced Asteria Vale forever… they were dead wrong.

This time, she would rise again—and she would make them suffer.