"Make sure to dispose of the bodies carefully. The Natheniel family's loyal dogs are spread across the underworld."
Ophelia's clipped voice echoed through the luxurious hallway of the Nathaniel family's mansion. Once a testament to power and wealth, it was now nothing but a graveyard of the dead.
The white marble floor and ivory walls were drenched in blood and bullet holes. Dead bodies were being piled up by men and women dressed in black uniforms. Ophelia's hazel-green eyes stared at the disaster she caused with a calm gaze.
Her burgundy shirt and black high-waisted pants were wet from the blood of the man lying at her feet. He used to be the most feared man in the underworld, her greatest enemy, Kayros Natheniel.
"What should we do with the bodies of Kayros Natheniel and his wife, Jessica Natheniel, Ms. Blackwood?" A cautious voice from a man in his mid-thirties made Ophelia turn her attention back to the cleanup.
"Burn them. Kayros's best friends will be a headache if they find his body."
The man, Thomas, understood without any further explanation. Ophelia took one last glance at her lifelong enemy, his handsome face covered in blood and wounds.
Next to him lay dead his wife and love of his life, Jessica. Both were poisoned and killed by Ophelia's meticulous planning. Yet Ophelia seemed peaceful, her hazel eyes glinting with anticipation to return to the embrace of her lover.
She walked, blood pooling beneath her feet, splashing with each click of her heels. Men parted on both sides and bowed as she wiped her bloody hand with a white handkerchief and dropped it with a soft flutter.
Light flickered in the massive hallway. The chandelier at the main entrance, once glittering with diamonds and rubies, lay shattered across the floor, crackling with broken wires.
Ophelia didn't glance around as bodies were dragged away. The mermaid fountain outside the mansion's grand doors had turned into a fountain of blood.
Thomas opened the car door for Ophelia and drove her silently to the Dimitri mansion. Snow fell soundlessly outside while the Rolls-Royce hummed with warmth.
"Master Dimitri has ordered the wedding ring," Thomas broke the silence.
Ophelia's face lit up, her heart beating fast in anticipation of finally being one with the love of her life.
Thomas stopped the car before a massive mansion painted in sleek black, surrounded by hundreds of guards and high-end digital cameras.
Ophelia didn't even wear her coat. Jumping out of the car, she ran through the long, tree-lined path leading to the manor's grand entrance. Her smile was bright and eager—finally, her biggest dream was going to come true.
The guards bowed as she ran, her heels aching, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to fall into the arms of her beloved Vincent, the only man she believed loved her.
She ran up the spiral staircase. "VIN! I'M HERE!"
She exclaimed happily as she opened the black wooden door of Vincent's bedroom.
The room had a massive king-sized bed with black silk sheets, black curtains drawn to the side giving a view of the garden, and couches near the window beside a walk-in closet.
Ophelia saw Vincent standing, his bare torso firm, a black pair of trousers hanging low on his hips, belt unbuckled.
Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of her lover.
His tall, broad frame; strong jawline; sharp nose; and stormy grey eyes, his black hair falling slightly over his forehead, damp with sweat from something she didn't yet know.
Vincent smiled, spreading his arms for Ophelia to fall into. Her eyes welled with tears of happiness. She ran into his arms, wrapping herself around him possessively.
"You have no idea what you've done for me, Ophy," Vincent whispered smoothly into her ear, making her heart swell with love and fulfillment.
"We can finally be together, Vin," she sniffled lightly against his chest. "Now it's just you and me… and our future babies."
Ophelia's words were full of hope. Vincent's large hand stroked her hair gently.
And then —
A familiar voice rang from behind.
"Forgetting me already?" Elosia's playful tone made Ophelia break the embrace and turn around. Her eyes met the blue ones of her best friend, her sworn sister.
Elosia wore a red mermaid gown, her long blonde hair cascading down her slim waist, her skin glassy and radiant, everything Ophelia wasn't after years in the underworld.
Ophelia smiled warmly. "How could I forget you?"
Elosia chuckled and hugged her tightly. Ophelia felt like the luckiest person alive.
Her chosen family, her best friend, and her lover are safe and close. Finally, she could find happiness.
Then —
Two cold daggers pierced through her body. One into her heart, the other into her stomach.
Pain seared through her. Blood spilled. Tears followed.
"Oops. Vin, I told you it's too cruel to stab her in the heart," Elosia's mock-sweet voice made Vincent laugh.
"Sorry, babe."
Ophelia's emotional pain outweighed the physical agony. Her knees gave out, collapsing onto the white carpet now soaking red.
Elosia walked past her to Vincent. Ophelia's voice cracked through blood and tears. "Wh–at… is this?"
Vincent's grey eyes were cold and mocking. "Can't you guess, you useless thing?"
Her heart broke further.
Elosia hung onto Vincent's bare torso and smirked. "Oh, thank you so much for giving us such an amazing gift for our wedding, dear best friend."
Ophelia shook her head, tears blurring her sight. "No… you two…"
Vincent sneered cruelly. "I never loved you. You were the easiest Blackwood." His laugh was sharp and heartless. "What use do I have for you? The black sheep of the family."
Elosia laughed, voice dripping with venom. "Poor Ophy. I always hated you."
"Why?"
"Why not? You entitled little bitch! You clung to me because nobody else wanted to be your friend. Because of you, I was stuck being friends with a Blackwood's outcast."
Vincent's grin darkened. "You were just a pawn, a useful tool to destroy the Natheniel family."
Ophelia's eyes widened as realization hit. Everything she believed to be true, the love and friendship,
It was all a lie, an illusion she fell for miserably.
"Your usefulness ends here," Vincent said, pulling Elosia against him, his gaze soft and loving, something Ophelia never saw directed at her.
"Vin." "Sia. Now, we are the king and queen of mafias."
They started kissing right in front of her—lips, tongue, and teeth.
Ophelia collapsed onto the carpet, her black hair soaking in her own blood. Her body went numb.
Her heart burned, not just in pain but in vengeance. Even as she took her final breath, the rage was too strong to die with her.
Her vision blurred. Her jaw clenched. And then—a flash.
A woman. Familiar yet strange. A cozy apartment. A book. Fairy lights.
Ophelia saw her, lying on her stomach, reading. The black ink on the pages screamed her name.
(Ophelia Blackwood dies at the hands of her lover and best friend, the villainess who killed the male and female leads, Kayros and Jessica Natheniel.)
The woman, wearing a silk blouse and Adidas shorts, rolled her eyes. "Stupid woman! Who does so much for some man? If it were me, I'd live rich and happy as the youngest daughter." She bit her pizza. "Love and all that romantic crap are useless."
Memories flooded back.
A life lived before as Odite Graham.
Ophelia... no, Odette... an overworked corporate lawyer in New York who had cut off her abusive family after running away from home at 18.
And this world is the world of the novel she read before dying in her sleep from a heart attack.
The irony clawed at her soul. Both lives... unloved, unwanted, betrayed.
If only she had another chance.
She wouldn't fight for love.
She would fight for revenge.
"Are you even listening to me, Ophelia Blackwood?!"
Her eyes snapped open. Her heart raced. No pain from the stabs. Just dry breath, a burning throat...
And then, slap! Loud, ugly, and cruel.
Her cheek flamed red with pain.
"You are nothing but a disgrace to the Blackwood family."
Ophelia's eyes widened. That voice, sharp, deep, and cutting.
It belonged to her father.
But she had poisoned her father three years ago???
"Leave it, Dad. It's useless to talk to this blockhead," came the distant voice of her eldest brother, Ethan.
And.... this became the beginning of her 3rd life, reborn as 20-year-old Ophelia Blackwood, the notorious villainess of the world of fiction.