Chapter 2 2

"Stop crying, Aruna..."

The voice was faint-coming from her own trembling lips.

But the tears refused to stop.

Her steps were heavy as she walked down the narrow path away from Revan's house.

The rain poured hard again, biting into her skin, soaking her hair until it clung to her face.

But the cold was nothing compared to the ache trembling inside her chest.

"He even... threw away the cake..." she whispered hoarsely.

Her trembling fingers clutched the dented cake box.

"God, I just wanted him to get better... why did it turn out like this?"

Her steps faltered as she stumbled toward the parking area where her old motorcycle waited.

The lights from Revan's house still glowed behind her-bright, grand, dazzling.

Mocking her. Whispering, You don't belong here.

Aruna started the engine, her hands shaking.

The rain lashed against her face mercilessly, but she didn't care.

She just wanted to leave. Far away. From everything.

---

"Why, Revan... why were you so cruel to me?"

She spoke to the air, to the darkness of the night, to the silent God above.

Her sobs were swallowed by the roar of the rain.

"I spent every cent I had for that medicine. I worked late, until my hands bled.

I thought you'd be happy. I thought... you still loved me."

Her cries broke into the storm, blurring her vision as the wet road shimmered under the dim streetlights.

The wipers on her helmet visor couldn't clear the water fast enough.

But Aruna kept riding. Without direction. Without purpose.

---

> "Why, God? I didn't even get to say happy birthday to him..."

The words came between sobs.

She stopped by the side of the road, taking a long breath, lifting her face toward the sky.

Rain and tears mingled on her cheeks.

"God... I did everything right, didn't I? I was loyal, I was honest, I fought for him.

So why did he hurt me... like I was nothing?"

She lowered her gaze, clutching her abdomen as a faint pain pulsed within-a pain she had been feeling lately.

But she never knew the reason. She thought it was just exhaustion.

"It's okay, baby..." she whispered softly, caressing her stomach. "Mommy's strong. We're strong..."

A flash of lightning split the sky, blindingly bright.

Aruna twisted the throttle again, cutting through the curtain of rain down the lonely, slippery road.

---

But a small step of fate was already waiting for her.

From the distance, headlights approached-blinding, fast, uncontrolled.

The horn blared.

"BRAAAAK!"

Everything happened too quickly.

Aruna's motorcycle spun out of control. Her body was thrown violently against the asphalt.

The crash of metal and shattering glass echoed beneath the pounding rain.

Her body rolled several meters before coming to a stop in the muddy roadside.

Dark red blood streamed down from her temple. Her breaths came ragged, shallow.

"Ahh..."

Her hand moved weakly, pressing her abdomen-now searing with unbearable pain.

A pain that stabbed deep, as if something inside her was crying out.

"No... please... don't..." her voice was faint, carried away by the storm.

"My baby..."

She tried to crawl, but her body wouldn't move.

The sounds of rain, thunder, and screeching tires blended into chaos.

A man rushed out of the stopped car, a black umbrella in his hand, his footsteps splashing through puddles.

"Oh God! Miss! Can you hear me?!"

Aruna blinked weakly toward the voice.

Her vision blurred, everything fading and drifting away.

"D-Don't touch me..." she whispered, barely audible. "I just... want to go home..."

The man's eyes widened when he saw the blood soaking her abdomen.

"She's bleeding out-call an ambulance! Now!" he shouted to someone still in the car.

Aruna forced a faint smile, though her body trembled uncontrollably.

"No... I'm... I'm fine..."

But her lips were pale, and her eyes slowly began to close.

---

With the last fragment of consciousness, she pressed her hands against her stomach.

"Please... save her..." she whispered weakly. "Don't let... my baby go..."

The rain poured harder.

The man knelt beside her, trying desperately to stop the bleeding with shaking hands.

"Miss! Stay with me! Hey, can you hear me?! The ambulance is coming!"

But his voice was fading-distant, muffled.

All the colors around her dulled into gray.

Only the sound of rain remained... and the slowing beat of her heart.

Aruna's lips curved into a faint, broken smile as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

> "I promise... I'll live... even if everyone else leaves me behind..."

Then, the world went dark.

The rain kept falling, washing away blood and pain-

and on that silent, rain-soaked road,

a girl who had lost everything...

had just begun the story of her second life.