Athena woke up late in the morning. She was not even surprised seeing that no-one had called her to wake up. After doing her morning business, she went downstairs. None of her cousins were at home. The maids served her breakfast. They made absolutely no conversation with her, not even her own personal maid.

After eating, Athena went out of the front door. Unexpectedly, the guards had stopped her. They told her that she was not allowed to go out.

Athena did not even try to reason with them. Expressionlessly, she returned back to her room and began to search around.

Today, she found nothing interesting. It dampened her mood a little but she continued her search in the library, in the part where the old newspapers were preserved. It was Luciano's old habit and Athena hoped that it would prove useful for her.

She checked the newspapers related to the year 2009, beginning from the exact date of her birthday and that picture. While she was busy, she was not aware that her every action was being reported.

Thousand miles away from the Cortello Residence, in an abandoned island, Vincenzo was having a meeting with a group of foreigners. Outside the cabin where the meeting was taking place, Luciano had his foot planted on a man's head. The man seemed barely conscious, yet he trembled faintly under him in fear. Luciano took a inhale of his cigar as he listened to his assistant who stood in front of him, reporting about Athena's activities.

When Luciano heard that she was investigating about her parents, a faint smirk formed on his lips. The pressure of his foot increased on the man's head as he groaned.

Few minutes later, Vincenzo stepped out of the cabin while the other people followed him out respectfully.

However, their steps faltered at the sight of the body which was dragged away by one of the heavily built guard. What shocked them actually was the crushed skull of that body and the nonchalant look on Luciano's face as one of the guard cleaned his shoe.

They left hurriedly as Luciano approached Vincenzo.

"She is trying to find out about her parents." Luciano spoke with a hint of mockery in his tone.

Vincenzo seemed unsurprised at the news. It was as if he was expecting it to happen someday.

"Tell Alexander to return." Vincenzo closed the topic completely with this sentence.

****************

Hours later, Athena was feeling hopeless after this continuous searching. Her head had began to hurt again because of this strenuous task.

She massaged her temple and stood up abruptly, now feeling pain in her back too. She groaned and returned to her room. Making her way into the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Coming!" She called out but the persistent knocking did not stop.

A groan left her lips as she finished patting her face dry with a towel and went outside to open the door.

Just as she did, she regretted it.

Standing at the door was Angelo.

"Yo." He waved his two fingers lazily.

Athena's heart dropped in her stomach. She was about to shut the door but he put his foot out in the middle and kicked it back, almost hurting Athena in the process.

She began to back away while breathing heavily as he took steps towards her until he had cornered her against the wall.

Athena was already trembling due to the close proximity. Her brain went numb but her body instinctively moved to kick him but he was extremely quick to push her in the direction of the bed. As she fell on the bed, he pinned her down completely and easily restrained her any future moves.

Athena was so scared of his existence that she could not even fight back. Angelo was her worst fear and he was even intruding in her own home that she always considered safe.

This terrified her even more because she knew her theory could be right about the reason of Angelo's existence.

"Is that how you welcome your fiance?"

****************

Athena looked up at her cousins who surrounded her on the bed, with an uneasy smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

It all felt like a dream.

"Athena, what's wrong?" The concern in Luciano's voice brought her back to the reality.

Tears fell down her cheeks.

"If this is a dream, then I hope it does not end." Athena whispered.

Her cousins heard her.

Vincenzo looked down at her with furrowed gaze. His hand reached out to pat her head. Athena almost flinched but she clenched her fists and looked up at him with a surprised gaze.

"You are ok and this is not a dream. You are with your family, safe and sound."

Alexander and twins grinned at Vincenzo's words. They were happy seeing Athena was ok. Her getting shot had scared them a lot.

"Yup!" Ariana agreed happily and she wrapped her arm around Athena's shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

Athena looked at her and smiled.

It felt nice to have a sister.

Hours later, only Ariana and Romeo remained to accompany her while others left for their work.

Romeo finished braiding her hair as Ariana fed her an apple. No one had pampered her like this and taken care of her so lovingly, she was smiling a lot and cherishing each moment, ignoring the continuous buzzing pain in her head.

Only thing she wanted was to remain like this and never return back to that nightmare which was used to be her life.

"I need to use the restroom." She said after sometime.

Ariana nodded and gently helped her off the bed as Romeo picked her up in his arms. His actions clearly showed that he was afraid of hurting her. This brought a smile on Athena's face.

As they closed the door, leaving her privacy, Athena looked at herself in the mirror.

The face was her but it felt different.

She touched her face with trembling fingers. Although, she looked a little pale but she still seemed healthy and fine. Her brows furrowed as her gaze fell on a scar on her hand. She touched it faintly.

"How did this body gain this?"

Beside this scar, the rest of her body was almost flawless.

Suddenly, a thought entered her mind.

"If I'm here in this body, then that Athena must be--"

Athena frowned.

She had heard from Ariana that Athena was shot in the head.

"Maybe, that Athena is dead."

Guilt spread across her face but she clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry. But it is better if you are dead, Athena." She whispered to her reflection. She knew as she herself committed suicide to end her misery and it brought her here, in this world. Her ending herself proved to be a blessing. But she was not sure where that Athena ended up. Dead or in the life she used to live?

'Living in that world is like a hell. It is better to die once than every second.'

Thank you for being patient everyone. I hadn't been active on Wattpad lately but now I'm back with this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading till this point, do not forget to share your thoughts.

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Hope you have an amazing day, Love, Davina❤❤💞💞