Chapter Five
As soon as the door was closed, I felt an overwhelming desire to regain a single atom of my previous life.
"I must call my number.. now!"
I whispered, moving toward the luxurious bed.
I thrust my hand under the plush pillows, and my fingers began to feel the fabric searching for any solid touch, until I gripped "Adrian's" phone.
I lifted the device, but the black screen demanded a password; I felt frustration boiling in my chest.
"Damn.. how will I know the cursed code?"
And as I was about to throw it, a small camera icon caught my attention.
I brought the phone close to my new "Adrian" face, and as soon as my green eyes were reflected in the lens, the device vibrated with a light hum and the lock opened smoothly.
The heart of "Adrian" in my chest breathed a sigh of relief.
I opened the keypad, and my fingers began striking the numbers with hysterical speed,
memorizing my old number by heart as if it were a survival spell.
I pressed the call button and placed the phone to my ear, my body stiffening in anticipation of a miracle.
But the shock was not in the lack of a response, but in that voice that emitted from the speaker:
"Hello, I am Elena.. leave me a message and I will get back to you."
I froze in my place.
I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, and my hand began to tremble until the phone almost fell from it.
This was my voice.. my tenderness, my familiar rasp, my calm tone.. but now it was just a dead recording coming out of a cold device.
It was no longer mine. I felt nausea rising to my throat; I am here, but my voice is there.. somewhere I cannot reach.
I dismissed the call bitterly and began browsing the contact list with a curiosity gnawed by anxiety.
"Xavier.. Max.. Tyla.. Tamara.. Tulin.. Sarah.."
The names flowed under my thumb like an endless tape.
I moved to the message inbox, and the screen exploded with dozens of pending notifications.
They were all from different girls, words of flirtation, pictures, and accumulated dates.
I ran my hand through my thick black hair in bewilderment, and a sarcastic, bitter smile formed on my lips.
"My God.. simple Elena now inhabits the body of the most corrupt man.. it seems this Adrian is not just a rich young man, but a professional womanizer."
My fingers slid over the shiny screen to open the photo album, and a series of shots exploded before me that took my breath away.
"Adrian" filled the frames in various poses; sometimes with a sharp look piercing the lens,
and sometimes with a confident side smile that revealed an innate attraction that the eye could not miss.
I felt heat coursing through my chest as I examined the details of my new face; damn this beauty,
I don't blame those girls who burn in the orbit of this young man like butterflies.
I moved to a folder titled "Family."
I clicked on it with a heart pounding in apprehension, and first, pictures appeared of him with that young man who was intruding on my privacy a moment ago.
They were laughing, wrestling, and embracing each other in spontaneous shots;
I still don't know his name, but the chemistry between them in the pictures spoke of a blood bond that could not be severed.
Then I swiped the screen up, and my eyes stopped at a picture of a woman in her fifties.
She was the embodiment of elegance; her blonde hair cascaded like sunbeams,
and her bright green eyes were a carbon copy of the eyes I see in the mirror now.
"This is his mother then,"
I whispered, touching her face on the screen with trembling fingertips, as if trying to draw warmth from a cold image.
But the next picture was the one that made my body stiffen completely.
A very tall man, wearing a formal black suit that gave him the prestige of kings.
His jet-black hair was pulled back, and his features were sharp as if carved from volcanic rock,
while his black eyes overflowed with enough sharpness to freeze the blood in the veins.
I ran my hand over my sharp jaw, then looked at the father's picture again.
Only now did I realize the secret of the curse I inhabit;
these sons inherited a destructive attraction, a lethal mix between the mother's blonde tenderness and the black father's dominance.
I felt the weight of this lineage pressing on my shoulders; I am not just a girl in a man's body,
I am now part of a lineage whose beauty and power seem to be its inevitable fate.
I left the family album with a heart that had begun to calm down a little, only for my eyes to fall on a small folder in the corner, bearing a brief name:
"Private."
Driven by a cursed curiosity I couldn't restrain, I clicked on it.
In a single second, I felt as if an electric current hit my senses; the screen filled with pictures of "Adrian" in shameful positions,
his naked body wrapped around the naked bodies of girls in scenes that left no room for imagination.
I felt a scorching heat rise to my cheeks, as if I were the one who had been there.
With a hysterical movement, I threw the phone away from me to fall on the plush bed mattress,
while my breath froze in my chest from sheer embarrassment and disgust.
I remained staring into the void for moments, my hands visibly shaking.
"My God.. what is this swamp I have fallen into?"
I muttered as I gathered my scattered self. I reached out cautiously, picked up that "cursed device" again, and closed the album quickly as if I were putting out a fire.
With fingers still trembling, I clicked on the "Facebook" icon; I needed something to connect me to reality,
something to explain to me the identity of this entity I inhabit.
The name appeared at the top of the profile in bold, clear font:
"Adrian Thorne."
My eyes fixed on the screen, and I felt a sudden coldness coursing through my limbs.
"Thorne?!" Could it be him? Am I now part of the "Thorne"
lineage that headlines the covers of economic magazines? That family whose wealth is said to be so obscene that it is capable of buying entire cities.
I began browsing the news related to the name with a bewilderment that grew with every line I read;
a massive empire whose arms extend everywhere, from the skyscrapers designed by their architectural firms,
to international textile lines, reaching countless investments.
I suddenly felt the smallness of my size; "Elena," the simple accountant in a dilapidated company,
has now become the pampered heir to the largest commercial empire in the country.
My stomach clenched tightly; this wealth is not just palaces and guards,
it is a prison of responsibilities and eyes that do not sleep.. and I must now learn how to breathe inside this golden mask.
My fingers slid over the friend list, and my eyes settled on his picture; he was smiling at the camera with a confidence that made the heart tremble.
"Daniel Thorne"..
the name appears next to his picture clearly.
Then I moved to the pictures of "Sebastian Thorne" and Mrs. "Diana Thorne." Their faces looked like icons of ivory and marble, distant and impenetrable.
I felt a tightness in my breathing; this is not just a family, it is a fortified castle of influence, and I am just an intruder trembling inside its walls.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in my head that made my body stiffen as if I were hit by an electric shock.
"The accident!" I muttered, and I felt a sudden coldness invade my limbs.
With a coldness preceded by terror, I opened the "Google" search engine.
My fingers were trembling so much that I mistyped the letters twice before the words appeared:
"Bus accident today."
My eyes fixed on the screen, and I felt a sharp ringing fill my ears while the words skipped before my sight:
"A horrific accident occurred this morning leading to the overturn of a full passenger bus.. two females and one male died, and one case entered a coma, while the rest are in critical condition."
At that moment, I felt as if the ground beneath my feet had disappeared.
My grip slid off the phone, and it fell to the floor with a muffled thud, just as my heart fell in my hollow.
I felt a deadly coldness start from my toes and creep toward my chest, while the air in the room turned into a weight that suffocated me.
"The accident is real.."
my voice came out as a raspy whisper, and I felt a violent shudder hit my jaw.
"Am I.. am I dead?"