Episode 1 - The beginning of her life

Rain poured without mercy that night.

The world outside her window blurred in streaks of gray and lightning, a reflection of the storm inside her heart. On the cold marble floor of her small apartment, Elara Vexley sat trembling, her hands clutching the crumpled photos that once meant everything to her

Each photo was a memory, laughter at school, smiles with friends, moments of trust, all lies

Her fingers shook as she traced the faces of the people who destroyed her. Mira, her best friend who spread the rumors. Axel, the man who played with her heart and humiliated her in front of everyone. Clara, the queen of manipulation who led the bullying while pretending to be kind

They ruined her reputation. They turned everyone against her. And when she begged for mercy, no one listened

> “You’re nothing but a burden,” she remembered Mira’s voice echoing through the school hallway, laughter following like knives slicing through her soul. “People like you don’t deserve sympathy,” Axel had told her with that cruel smirk

---

The rain masked the sound of her quiet sobs. She wanted to stop caring. She wanted to stop hurting. But pain had been her only companion for too long

The message on her phone glowed through the darkness, another post mocking her, another betrayal shared online. Her trembling thumb scrolled down until the words blurred from her tears

> "Elara Vexley tried to act innocent again. How pathetic"

---

Her lips parted in a fragile breath, the air thick with despair. “Why... why me?” she whispered. “What did I ever do to deserve this?”

No answer came. Only thunder.

Only the suffocating silence of loneliness

She stood and walked toward the window, staring at the endless night sky. A strange calm filled her, a silence that wasn’t peace but surrender

> “Maybe... if I disappear, everything will finally stop hurting”

---

She closed her eyes. The sound of the storm was the last thing she heard

---

When Elara opened her eyes again, sunlight filtered through lace curtains.

Her heartbeat quickened, the walls were different. The bed was different. The air smelled faintly of lavender and summer

She bolted upright, confusion flooding her senses. This wasn’t her apartment.

This was... her old bedroom

The posters on the wall, the stack of schoolbooks, the cracked photo frame on her desk, everything was the same as it had been five years ago

Her body trembled as she stumbled toward the mirror. Her reflection stared back, younger, softer, untouched by years of pain. Her hair wasn’t cut short from stress; her eyes weren’t dull with suffering

“No... this can’t be real,” she whispered, touching her face. “I died. I-I remember dying”

Memories crashed like waves, the betrayal, the fall, the pain, the darkness. Yet here she was, breathing again

Her phone buzzed on the desk. The wallpaper showed the date, April 4, five years ago.

The day everything started to fall apart

Her breath caught in her throat. Fate had thrown her back, not as mercy, but as a test

She clenched her fists. The warmth of her palm felt real. The heartbeat in her chest was strong.

And this time, she wouldn’t be the same weak girl who let others control her

A slow, cold smile spread across her lips

> “You destroyed my life once,” she whispered, eyes glinting with fire “Let’s see how you survive when I take everything from you”

The faint reflection of her younger self stared back, a mixture of innocence and vengeance.

This time, Elara wouldn’t beg for kindness.

This time, she would be the storm

\>To be continued to the next episode ඩා

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