Chapter 3 – Rebirth With Memories

Chapter 3 – Rebirth With Memories

“Welcome to your first day of school.”

Aarohi blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The classroom was noisy. Children were laughing, someone was crying, someone was already fighting over a pencil like it was property worth crores.

“Mera hai! (It’s mine!)”

“Nahi mera hai! (No, it’s mine!)”

Aarohi slowly looked down at her hands.

Small. Chubby. Clean.

Not the tired, rough hands of the girl who used to work late nights.

Her heart started beating faster.

She looked around.

Colorful walls. Cartoon charts. Small desks. Water bottles with superheroes.

“Yeh… school hai? (This… is school?)”

She quickly looked at the blackboard.

Class: 5th

Date: 12 July

Her breath stopped.

“Yeh… past hai. (This… is the past.)”

She suddenly stood up.

The whole class went silent.

Teacher looked at her confused,

“Aarohi? What happened?”

Aarohi sat down slowly.

“Nothing, ma’am…”

But inside?

Total system reboot.

Her mind was running faster than WiFi.

“Main… wapas aa gayi? (I… came back?)”

“Matlab… second chance? (That means… second chance?)”

“Matlab main sab change kar sakti hoon? (That means I can change everything?)”

Then suddenly one dangerous thought came.

“Matlab… main jeet sakti hoon. (That means I can win.)”

A slow smile appeared on her face.

Not a cute smile.

A revenge + confidence + genius level smile.

The girl sitting next to her moved her chair slightly away.

“Why are you smiling like villain?”

Aarohi turned to her and said sweetly,

“Bas aise hi. (Just like that.)”

But inside she was thinking:

“Ab maza aayega. (Now this will be fun.)”

That day she didn’t study.

She observed.

Who sits where.

Which teacher likes which student.

Who is topper.

Who is bully.

Who is useless.

Old Aarohi used to survive.

New Aarohi was planning to rule.

After school, she reached home.

Same big house.

Same cold feeling.

Same stepmother.

Same stepsister.

Meera said sweetly,

“Aarohi beta, school kaisa tha? (How was school?)”

Aarohi smiled politely,

“Bahut achha. (Very good.)”

Inside:

“Game start ho gaya. (Game has started.)”

That night Aarohi didn’t sleep early.

She sat with a notebook and started writing.

Things she remembers from future:

Stock market rise

Company names

Business deals

Land prices

Which companies fail

Which companies become big

Important events

She stopped and laughed softly.

“Agar yeh sab sahi hai… (If all this is correct…)

toh main already rich hoon. (Then I am already rich.)”

Then she added another list:

Things to change:

Protect mom longer

Don’t let brother hate her

Expose stepmother

Destroy stepsister ego

Never lose intentionally

Win everything

Build her own empire

She tapped the pen and said:

“Aur ek aur cheez… (And one more thing…)”

She wrote slowly:

Meet Arjun Malhotra.

She stared at the name for a second.

In her first life:

She never met him

Only heard about him

The boy who won everything

The boy her stepsister admired

The boy who never noticed her existence

She smirked.

“Is baar milte hain. (This time, let’s meet.)”

“Aur dekhte hain kaun jeetega. (And let’s see who wins.)”

Next few days, Aarohi started changing slowly.

First change?

She stopped losing.

In class quiz:

Teacher asked,

“What is the capital of France?”

Earlier Aarohi would raise hand, answer everything, then make mistake at last question.

Today?

She answered everything.

Perfect.

Teacher smiled,

“Very good, Aarohi!”

Whole class looked shocked.

Riya looked confused.

“Yeh kya ho gaya isko? (What happened to her?)”

Aarohi smiled sweetly.

“Bas thoda upgrade ho gaya. (Just got a little upgrade.)”

Then came running race.

Earlier:

Aarohi runs fast

Slows down at last

Riya wins

Today?

Aarohi ran.

Fast.

Faster.

Fastest.

And didn’t stop.

She crossed the finish line first.

Everyone clapped.

Riya stood second, shocked.

“Tumne slow kyu nahi kiya?! (Why didn’t you slow down?!)”

Aarohi looked at her and said calmly:

“Kyunki mujhe jeetna tha. (Because I wanted to win.)”

That night Meera came to her room.

Sweet voice:

“Aarohi beta, next time Riya ko jeetne dena. (Let Riya win next time.)”

Aarohi smiled politely.

“Dekhte hain. (Let’s see.)”

Meera’s smile faded slightly.

Something had changed.

Something was wrong.

This was not the same quiet, obedient Aarohi.

Aarohi stood near the window and looked at the night sky.

She whispered slowly:

“First life… I lost everything.”

“Second life…”

“Main kisi ko nahi jeetne dungi. (I won’t let anyone win over me.)”

Then she smiled again.

That same dangerous smile.

“Game on.”

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