Chapter 5 005

AURELIA

Water filled my mouth even before I could scream. My body jerked violently, my limbs flailing as panic rushed and slammed into my chest.

I couldn't breathe.

Air.

Air.

Air.

I couldn't swim.

A hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me upwards, over the edge. I coughed immediately as air got into my lungs.

"Breathe," a voice said above me, steady and calm.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to survive. I was alive...I was alive.

The blur cleared from my eyes, and I looked up. I froze.

Him.

Theron Draix.

For a second, neither of us moved or looked away.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently.

What was he doing here?

Had he...had he been the one who hit me with the car?

Theron would do anything. Mireya's words played in my head.

I gasped, tears clouding my eyes. He would do anything, including killing me? I scrambled up from the floor, water dripping from my dress.

"How dare you?" I shot, "How dare you touch me?"

Theron blinked. "You..."

"You asshole. Haven't you done enough yet? Just to protect her, you are going to kill me? So why didn't you do it? Why did you change your mind, you bastard!" I screamed, my fists hitting his chest. Anger burned through my body furiously, as if I didn't let it out, I'd burst open.

Theron gripped my wrist, pulling my hands off him. "I should be asking you that, Aurelia. Were you trying to kill yourself? You knew you couldn't swim, so why on earth are you beside the pool?" He asked.

The pool?

I turned sharply, before I could think. He was right, the pool was right beside us. This scene had played before. Two years ago, I had unfortunately slipped and fallen into a pool. But that night, Theron hadn't been there, and I'd been saved by the security guard who had come right in time. The security guard was staring at us now, halted halfway in his movement. So why...why was Theron here right now? Why was I here right now?

I ran my hands through my body, and there was no pain. Nothing to show that I'd been hit by a car and had fallen off the bridge.

The realization hit. Heavens had answered my prayers, and I was back, two years before my betrayal. I gasped, my heart beating against my rib cage. I wasn't dead. I was alive.

"Are you sure you are fine?" Theron pulled my attention back to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me from the water," I said. "But next time, I would appreciate it if you let someone else save me rather than you."

"You would have drowned."

"Why do you care about my life? Drowning or not...I am none of your business."

"Of course, you are my business," he said with precision. "I am your boyfriend."

Right, at this time, Theron and I were three years into the fake relationship he had tricked me into.

I scoffed. I'd been such a fool in my past. However, this time, I won't let the same thing repeat itself. Over my dead body.

"Theron Draix," I called, "I'm breaking up with you."

The shock that clouded his face was a sight to behold.

~~

Theron didn't follow me after I said those words to him. He probably was too shocked to do that. I also hadn't planned to do this, but I wasn't in my brain at the moment.

I had watched movies and read books about rebirth a lot, but thinking it could happen to me. That, even in imagination, was an expensive thought. But I was here, which meant only one thing...I had been reborn.

I blinked as I stared at myself in the mirror, my hair coming in curls as a result of the bath I'd just gotten. In my memories, Mireya had taken me to the pool, only to not be available when I'd fallen in. She had only appeared after I'd been taken into my room, which would be a few minutes from now. Falling into the water and almost dying had made me never step close to that pool again. In my past life, I had felt a hand clearly push me into the water, but Mireya had insisted that I had slipped. I sighed, picking up the dryer and blowing out my hair.

There was no need to think too much about what to do. In this life, I would do exactly the opposite things I did in my past.

The door pulled open, and Mireya peeked in. "Aure."

Her voice came off so worried, so much so that I had trusted her so foolishly in my past life. My fingers tightened against the dryer in my hand. Seeing the woman who plotted my murder and betrayal face to face made me burn with uncontrollable anger.

But I forced a smile, "Mireya."

"Are you okay?"

"Where did you go? Right before I fell into the pool, I saw you, but immediately after that..." I trailed off, watching her calm expressions slightly falter. She wasn't so calm and composed after all. How hadn't I noticed that?

"Uh...I went to call for some help. My leg has been hurting me for some time, and I couldn't get into the water."

My eyes moved to her legs. She was standing perfectly fine.

I sniffed, twisting my face, "Mireya...I think someone hates me. I felt a hand push me into the water. Someone is trying to kill me!" I forced the tears out of my eyes.

"No...no..you slipped. No one pushed you."

"Someone did, Mireya. I have to tell mom and dad."

"You know mom and dad are still annoyed, don't you?"

I had totally forgotten that. They were annoyed because I'd failed to come to the dinner party at Cleaves. Meanwhile, that night, Theron had invited me out for a date. Thinking about that, I must have been really stupid, leaving my family business for someone else to take over, and running everywhere with someone who didn't even love me.

However, my parents were my parents, and I knew them better than anyone. The only reason why I never tried winning them back in my past life was that I was too fixated on Theron and believed getting him would make me more important. This time, I would rise by myself.

"Don't worry, I will pacify them. They won't let someone hurt their 'only' daughter out of anger, would they?" I emphasized the word only, so much that Mireya's face lost color for a second.

"Only?"

I pouted. "You know what I mean."

Her face shifted back to its original look. "Just be patient, you don't have to tell them. I would get the CCTV to confirm. Don't disturb mom and dad so much, they are really busy."

I dropped the dryer, rushing to pull her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Mireya. You are the only one who truly cares about me in this world."

Mireya smiled. "You know I love you."

Well, I smirked, the feeling isn't mutual. Between the two of us, Mireya, I would have to see who can win the Oscar Awards for best acting in history.