Chapter 4 – A Second Chance

Darkness.

It was endless.

Alice felt as if she had been floating in an empty world for a very long time.

She could no longer feel the cold ground beneath her.

She could no longer hear the cries around her.

The last thing she remembered...

Was Adrian's shocked face.

How ironic.

The man who had never cared for her while she was alive...

Had looked terrified only after she was dying.

A bitter smile crossed her lips.

It no longer mattered.

Everything was over.

Grandpa was gone.

Aaron was gone.

She had nothing left to regret.

...

Suddenly...

A familiar voice echoed beside her.

"Miss Alice..."

"You'll be late if you don't wake up."

Alice frowned.

Late?

She slowly opened her eyes.

Bright sunlight poured through the curtains.

The room was elegant and spacious.

Every piece of furniture was exactly where she remembered.

She stared at the ceiling without blinking.

"This..."

Her heartbeat quickened.

She sat up abruptly and looked around.

This was...

Her bedroom.

Not the prison.

Not the hospital.

Not the small apartment she had lived in after leaving the Kingsley Mansion.

It was the master bedroom in the Kingsley Mansion.

The room she had lived in during the early years of her marriage.

Her breathing became uneven.

"No..."

"This can't be..."

She threw off the blanket and stumbled toward the bathroom.

Standing before the mirror...

She froze.

The woman reflected back at her was only twenty-one years old.

Her face still carried the youthful innocence that had long disappeared in her previous life.

There were no dark circles beneath her eyes.

No lifeless expression.

No signs of the suffering she had endured.

Alice slowly raised her trembling hand and touched her own face.

Warm.

Real.

She wasn't dreaming.

She was alive.

...

Her eyes suddenly landed on the calendar hanging beside the dressing table.

Her pupils contracted.

The date...

It was exactly one year after her marriage to Adrian.

One year.

That meant...

The drugging incident had already happened.

The marriage had already begun.

But...

The prison.

The divorce.

Grandpa's death.

Aaron's death.

None of them had happened yet.

Alice's body trembled violently.

She covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

"They're alive..."

"Grandpa is still alive..."

"Aaron is still alive..."

She slowly sank onto the floor.

For the first time since waking up...

She cried.

Not because of Adrian.

Not because of her ruined marriage.

But because Heaven had given her something she never thought she would have again.

Another chance.

Another chance to protect the people she had failed.

Another chance to become the sister and granddaughter she should have been.

She wiped away her tears.

This time...

She would never repeat the same mistakes.

As for Adrian...

Alice closed her eyes.

The love that had once filled her heart was gone.

Completely gone.

All that remained was disappointment.

She no longer wanted his attention.

She no longer wanted his love.

She no longer wanted to be Mrs. Kingsley.

She wanted only one thing.

A divorce.

But before that...

She had to save Grandpa.

She had to protect Aaron.

She had to uncover the people who had destroyed her family from the shadows.

And this time...

She would make them pay.

Just then, there was a knock at the bedroom door.

"Young Madam."

"The President has already left for work."

"The old madam asked whether you'll be joining the family dinner tonight."

Alice slowly stood.

She looked at the wedding photograph placed on the bedside table.

In the picture, she smiled brightly.

Adrian stood beside her with an expression as cold as ice.

In her previous life, she had treasured that photograph more than anything.

Now...

She quietly picked it up.

Opened the drawer.

And placed it inside before closing it.

Her past belonged in a drawer.

Not in her heart.

She walked toward the window.

Outside, the morning sun illuminated the vast Kingsley estate.

A brand-new life had begun.

This time...

Alice Carter would never live for Adrian Kingsley again.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***