The first thing I felt when I opened my eyes was the repeated beeping of a machine.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
A white ceiling filled my vision.
I blinked several times before trying to move my hand. My body felt heavy, my head throbbed faintly, and my throat was dry, as if I'd just swallowed something incredibly bitter.
I was still alive.
I should have felt relieved.
But for some reason, the first thought that came to mind was
Why am I still alive?
I raised my hand and stared at it.
It wasn't a hand I recognized.
The fingers were smaller.
The skin was smoother.
There was no small scar near the thumb that I'd gotten after being too careless while opening a box at the office.
I immediately sat up.
"Ah..."
My head throbbed again.
"Don't get up yet."
A woman in medical clothing walked over.
"You've just regained consciousness."
I stared at her for a few seconds.
Then I looked around the room.
A hospital.
I rubbed my face.
Right.
I wasn't myself anymore.
I was Xana.
Or, more accurately...
I was inside Xana Syifanazia's body.
A name that hadn't stopped filling my thoughts for the past week.
The name from a story I'd read simply because I was bored.
I still remembered it.
I'd read the story on NovelSpace.
At first, I'd only wanted something light to read before bed. I had no intention of really paying attention to the plot.
But the more chapters I read, the more emotional it made me.
I'd even cursed out the characters. Especially Xana.
I thought that woman was too weak. Too quick to forgive.
She loved someone who didn't even appreciate her far too much.
And now...
I had become her.
I covered my face with both hands.
"This is completely insane."
The nurse beside me looked confused.
"Did you say something?"
"No."
I lowered my hands.
"How long have I been here?"
"Almost three days."
Three days.
I nodded slowly.
Then I suddenly remembered something.
"Wait."
I quickly turned to the nurse.
"How did I end up in the hospital?"
"You were found unconscious after ingesting poison."
I fell silent.
Poison?
But wasn't...
I drew a breath.
In the original story, Xana killed herself by hanging.
I still remembered that part clearly.
Far too clearly.
I'd been furious when I read it.
How could someone who had been hurt by everyone choose to end her own life?
But now, reality was different.
Xana hadn't been found hanging.
She'd been found after drinking poison.
I'd also died in my previous world from food poisoning.
I stared at both my hands.
A coincidence?
Or was something deliberately connecting these two events?
"Are you all right?"
I snapped back to reality.
"Yeah."
I smiled faintly.
"I'm just a little dizzy."
The nurse nodded before leaving the room to call the doctor.
I leaned back against the headboard.
If this really was the world from the story I'd read...
then I knew what was going to happen.
Fito would continue loving Yuza.
The children would hate Xana.
Fito's family would remain on Fito's side.
And in the end, Xana would die.
Simple.
At least...
that's what had been written in the story.
I frowned.
But why was the way she died different?
I closed my eyes, trying to remember something from my previous life.
Cindy's face.
The secretary who always stood beside me whenever I worked.
The person who knew my schedule, my habits, and even what foods I wasn't allowed to eat better than anyone.
My chest suddenly felt tight.
Cindy.
I opened my eyes and stared at the hospital-room ceiling.
The phone on the table wasn't mine.
Of course it wasn't.
It was Xana's phone.
I slowly reached for it. Not a single name from my previous life was there.
No Cindy.
No company.
No old life.
It was all truly over.
At least... that's what I thought.
But then one person suddenly crossed my mind.
Cindy.
The secretary who had always looked a little disheveled when she first started working for me.
I still remembered the day I hired her.
Other companies had rejected her again and again.
Her résumé wasn't perfect.
She didn't have much experience, either.
But during the interview, I saw something she had that many people didn't.
A willingness to learn.
She just needed an opportunity.
So I gave her one.
I helped pay for her college tuition.
I even helped whenever her younger siblings needed something.
Not because I pitied her.
I just knew what it felt like to have ability but no opportunity.
Cindy developed far faster than I'd expected.
She went from a woman who often forgot to bring documents to a secretary who could remember my meeting schedule even better than I could. I smiled faintly.
"I hope you're okay, Cindy."
I didn't know what had happened to the company after my death.
I didn't know who would take over, either.
And for the first time since opening my eyes in this world, I desperately wanted to go back.
Not because I missed the company.
And not because I was afraid of losing my wealth.
I just wanted to make sure Cindy was okay.
If there really was a way to go back...
I had to find it.
And if I found that way, I'd bring Cindy with me.
I didn't know how yet.
But I would find out.
A few hours later, the doctor allowed me to go home.
I still felt weak, but Helen, Xana's mother-in-law, had contacted the hospital several times.
I didn't know whether she was worried or afraid her child's money would be drained by the hospital bills.
Either way, I eventually went home.
And for the first time, I saw the house I'd previously known only through a novel's description.
I was nearly speechless.
The house was enormous.
Not just the kind of big house rich people usually showed off online.
This was more like a private hotel.
The Mediterranean-style building stood majestically on expansive grounds, complete with a swimming pool, gardens, and a garage even larger than some houses I'd seen.
"Wow..."
I muttered instinctively.
The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
"Is something wrong, ma'am?"
I immediately fell silent.
Ma'am.
Right.
I had to get used to that.
"Um... it's nothing."
I looked at the building one more time.
In the novel, this house had been described as luxurious.
But the author had never explained how vast the place really was.
I walked inside.
Several servants immediately bowed their heads.
"Welcome home, ma'am."
I gave a stiff nod.
"Thank you."
I walked a few yards.
Then stopped.
I didn't even know where my own bedroom was.
Amazing.
Being the main character apparently wasn't as easy as it looked.
I was more like a lost guest in my own home.
But before I could ask anyone, a voice sounded from behind me.
"You're home?"
I froze.
That voice.
I slowly turned around.
A man stood a few steps away.
A light gray suit wrapped around his tall, sturdy frame. His black hair was neatly styled, and his expression was calm but impossible to read.
I recognized him immediately.
Fito Ditio Rafrendra.
Xana's husband.
The man who was supposed to be the main villain of the story.
The man having an affair with Yuza.
The man who had taken away Xana's reason to live.
I stared at him for quite a while.
Fito frowned.
"What is it?"
I came back to myself.
"Oh..."
I scratched the back of my neck.
"Nothing."
Fito studied my face for several seconds.
His gaze changed.
"You're different."
My heart beat faster.
I tried to laugh.
"How am I different?"
"You always avoided my eyes when I said things like that before."
I fell silent.
Fito took one step closer.
"You never answered this casually, either."
I swallowed.
Damn it.
I'd only been in this house for a few minutes, and I was already close to being found out.
"I just recovered."
"Exactly."
Fito stared intently at me.
"You should be weaker."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
Fito didn't answer.
For a few seconds, we simply stared at each other.
Then I sighed.
"Fito."
"Hmm?"
I gathered my courage.
"I want to ask you something."
"What?"
I looked seriously at the man in front of me.
"If I asked for a divorce..."
Fito's expression immediately changed.
"What?"
I held his gaze.
"Would you agree to it?"
For the first time since I'd met him, Fito's face truly lost its calm.
And in that moment, I realized one thing.
The story I'd read might not have been entirely true after all.
Because Fito's reaction...
had never been anything like this in the novel.