"Hahaha... Look at him, flailing around like a little bitch!"
"You're right. It's like he's never taken a swimming lesson before."
"What a loser!"
The sound of laughter echoed across the pool, accompanied by splashing and loud cheers.
A young man was struggling to stay afloat, his arms flailing wildly as he desperately tried to keep his head above water. His clothes were drenched, his black hair was plastered to his face, and his grey eyes were wide with panic as he fought for his life.
"Help... help me!" he cried out, but no one came to his rescue. Instead, the laughter only grew louder, and the people around him seemed to enjoy his suffering.
One of them, a tall and muscular guy with a smug grin on his face, stepped closer to the edge of the pool. "What's wrong, Asher? Can't swim? Do you want me to help you out?"
Asher looked up at the guy, his eyes pleading. "Leo... please! Help... me!"
But instead of helping, Leo just laughed harder and gave him a mocking look. "Oh, I can help you, alright. But what do you think Dad will say when he finds out his second son couldn't even swim in their own pool?"
Before Asher could respond, another voice joined the conversation. It was a young woman around the same age as Leo, with long red hair and a beautiful face. She wore a red bikini that left little to the imagination, and her blue eyes were filled with amusement as she looked at Asher.
"I know what he'll say," she said, walking up to Leo and wrapping her arm around his waist. "He'll say that Asher is a disgrace to the Vance family and that he should never have been born."
"That's right, Chloe," Leo agreed, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Asher has always been a disappointment, a failure in every sense of the word. And now, he's going to drown in his own incompetence."
They both burst into laughter, their eyes gleaming with malice as they watched Asher struggle. The other people around them also joined in, their voices growing louder and more cruel with every passing moment.
Asher could feel his strength fading, his lungs burning for air as water filled his mouth. He tried to scream, to beg for help, but it was no use. No one cared about him. No one wanted to save him.
And in that moment, as his consciousness started to slip away, he couldn't help but wonder if this was the end.
'Am I going to die here, in this pool, surrounded by the people who enjoyed my suffering the most?'
He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to accept it. But as the darkness closed in, he let out a final, defeated thought.
'Maybe... just maybe... this is for the best.'
"Hahaha! Look at that loser! He's going to die! He's going to drown!" someone shouted over the splashing.
"Good riddance! The Vance family doesn't need a weakling like him!" another voice cheered.
Suddenly, Asher's frantic splashing stopped. His body went completely limp as he slipped beneath the surface, pulled straight toward the bottom of the pool. The cruel laughter from the edge instantly died down.
"Shit! Get him out!" Leo's and Chloe's panicked cries were the last things Asher heard before he lost consciousness.
***
After a while...
Asher woke up with a start, his eyes wide and his breath coming in short gasps. For a moment, he couldn't make sense of what was happening, couldn't understand where he was or what had happened to him.
It was like walking through endless darkness, with no clear direction or sense of purpose. He felt lost, confused, and utterly alone, like he was trapped in a never-ending nightmare.
But then, memories started to come back to him, slowly at first, but then with a rush.
Images flashed through his mind. He saw his childhood, growing up in a wealthy family but always overshadowed by his stepbrother Leo, and the constant bullying and harassment he had endured at his hands.
He saw images of the way his stepmother Evelyn had treated him, with cold indifference and disdain, as if he were nothing more than a nuisance that she had to put up with. He also saw the way his father always looked at him with disappointment, as if he couldn't believe that Asher was his son.
And then, there was the incident at the pool, where he nearly drowned and lost consciousness before Leo and Chloe finally pulled him out. He felt the humiliation, the pain, and the fear that had enveloped him as he sank to the bottom of the pool.
Everything came back to him in a flood of emotions, a wave of memories that threatened to overwhelm him.
But just as the memory of the pool faded away, another set of memories flooded his mind. They were from a different life, a life filled with blood, war, and conquest.
"What... what is this?" Asher muttered, trying to make sense of what was happening to him. He felt disoriented. It was like two different lifetimes were crashing together in his mind. "Didn't I destroy everything in the end? Didn't I die?"
"No... wait. Is this reincarnation?" Asher wondered aloud, feeling a sense of shock and disbelief wash over him.
As he tried to process these thoughts, a sudden realization hit him. The memories flooding his mind were his own. He was the Emperor, but he was also Asher Vance. The two lifetimes were blurring together into one. For twenty years, he had lived a life of weakness, a life of humiliation and suffering. He had been someone who was nothing like the man he used to be.
He immediately stood up and looked around, his eyes taking in his surroundings. He was in a luxurious room with a large bed, expensive furniture, and a stunning view of the garden outside.
Seeing a large mirror on the wall, Asher walked towards it, his steps steady and confident. He looked at his reflection, his sharp grey eyes taking in the face of a young man with short black hair and a determined expression.
It was a handsome face, one that could easily be mistaken for a model's. But there was something else in it, something that set it apart. It was the look of someone who had seen the darkest depths of the world and conquered it, someone who was now in complete control of his life and his destiny.
"Interesting," Asher muttered, a small smile playing on his lips as he examined his reflection. "I didn't expect to live again, but this... this is not so bad. Not bad at all."
He couldn't explain it, but there was something about this new life, this second chance, that excited him. It was like he had been given a clean slate, a fresh start, to do things the way he wanted.
In his previous life, despite his absolute power, his own arrogance had been his downfall. He had been a dominating ruler, taking whatever and whoever he wanted. He never gave the women he claimed any affection, only thinking about using them for his own pleasure. That careless pride led to his betrayal.
The women he thought were beneath him had turned on him the moment they found an opening. Even his most loyal men, the friends he trusted to watch his back, had joined the plot to bring him down.
This time, things would be different. He would still conquer and take the women he desired, but he would also thoroughly tame them. As for the men who served him, he would keep them on a short leash. He would make sure everyone was always in his absolute control, leaving no room for anyone to ever bite back.
Then his mind naturally sorted through the details of his current life. He was Asher Vance, the second son of the Vance family, one of the richest families in the country. He was twenty years old, studying at the same university as his stepbrother Leo and his fiancée, Chloe.
"And up until now... I was a weakling," Asher said softly, "a pathetic excuse for a man who let himself be pushed around by everyone."
Asher shook his head, his smile growing wider. "Well, not anymore. I may have lost my empire, my powers, and everything else from my past, but I'm still the same man. I'm still the Emperor, and I will not let anyone push me around."