Chapter 3: It Was Consensual

“Sister! Oh my god—”

An audible gasp sounded by the door.

When Ella turned around, she saw a pretty face peeking in. A face she didn’t expect to see so soon.

Her younger sister. Esther.

The very person who had sent her to her grave.

“What is happening? Why are you in this condition...?” Esther asked, her eyes wide with feigned concern.

Ella calmly covered her body with the sheets.

“Sister, I sent you the outfit yesterday. I gave you all the details, but still… you didn’t show up to the event. And now, this…” Her gaze shifted from the messy bed to Ella’s neck, which looked like it had been ravaged by a wild animal.

But in Esther’s eyes, Ella caught a flicker of something she had never noticed in the past-jealousy.

“It’s normal for these things to happen between a couple,” Ella said after a pause.

Esther was stunned visibly never expecting to hear such words from Ella.

She immediately stepped forward and pressed the back of her hand to Ella’s forehead.

“What are you saying, sister? It’s been almost two years since you were locked up by Mr. King. And now, he even… forced himself on you? He’s such a beast!” she gritted through her teeth.

But for the first time, Ella realized that Esther wasn’t gritting her teeth out of righteous anger on her behalf.

Rather, she hated not being a part of the party.

She wanted Mr. King all to herself.

In her past life, things had unfolded almost exactly like this.

But the truth was the sex between her and Adrian had been consensual.

They were both drunk, and in her intoxicated state, Ella had taken the initiative to kiss him.

He responded and things happened.

However, when they were at their peak, she had murmured another man’s name.

And in that moment, Adrian realized she had mistaken him for someone else.

He was furious. His rage snapped her out of her drunken haze, and she saw him storm out.

Unlike this life, they had not spent the whole night together. Just once and he had left, leaving the bed cold.

The next morning, Esther had shown up just like now reacting the same way, justifying her future betrayal by painting Adrian as a monster.

He might be one but Ella was equally responsible.

Yet, after speaking with Esther, she had ignored her own actions and clashed with Adrian repeatedly for taking advantage of her.

She was punished, locked away, and the tension between them only escalated with each argument.

“Sister, what do we do now?” Esther whined.

“Why don’t you report him somewhere... No, that won’t work. He’s too powerful...”

She grabbed Ella’s flabby arm and squeezed it tightly.

“He’s cornered you like a helpless animal...”

There it was again the same old routine. Esther always highlighted Ella’s miseries just to provoke her anger.

And now, the pattern Ella had been blind to before lay completely exposed.

“Sister, Max got engaged last night,” Esther added. “I waited for you… he was looking around too. Even in that situation, we were all hoping you’d come to stop the engagement. But there was no sign of you. He couldn’t defy his parents, so the engagement went through...”

Ella lowered her gaze thoughtfully. Everything was proceeding just like in her previous life.

Max the man she had hopelessly chased after had been her childhood sweetheart. They were supposed to marry.

But things had gone terribly wrong. He got engaged to someone else, and Ella couldn’t accept it.

Her “good sister” had made every effort to reunite them… or so it seemed.

But all it did was infuriate Adrian, pushing him to lock Ella away like a dragon hoarding treasure.

Adrian only treated her well when she didn’t provoke him. Their relationship had always been that fragile.

And time after time, it was Ella who kept breaking it picking fights with him after getting riled up by Esther’s words.

Seeing Ella’s lowered head, Esther assumed she was heartbroken.

She tightened her grip and tried to lead her back to the bed, but her expression darkened upon seeing the messy sheets.

Eventually, she led Ella to the couch instead.

“Sister, don’t worry about anything now. I’ll help you through it all.”

She sounded like she was making an oath.

“It’s just an engagement. Max is still yours. No matter what, we’ll find a solution… Alright? Are you feeling better now?”

Ella looked at Esther thoughtfully.

Esther froze.

That calm, clear gaze made her uncomfortable for some reason…

But before she could respond, Ella smiled sweetly.

“Much better.”

Esther scoffed silently. Still a fool.

“Sister, I brought you something…”

She had dropped a bag at the door in shock earlier. She rushed over, picked it up, and brought it to Ella.

“Your favorite desserts. It took me time to gather everything, but I managed it. I knew you must be craving something sweet for breakfast.”

She shoved the bag into Ella’s arms.

“I still have some things to do. But don’t worry, sister. We’ll make everything right.” With another round of false assurances, she left.

Ella looked down at the bag that reached her knees.

She didn’t even need to open it to know it was filled to the brim with sugary treats.

In her previous life, she had developed eating disorders.

There were days she couldn’t stop eating and days she wouldn’t eat at all.

And through it all, she binged on sweet foods, numbing her emotions one cake at a time.

But now…

Ella clicked her tongue.

In fact, her dear little sister was right about one thing.

That is—

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