Chalter 4: Miraculous Rebirth

The sound of the clock ticked loudly as time reversed almost at the speed of light. Parts of Olivia's life flashed in reverse like a photo collage with diverse images, from the painful betrayal, to her wedding day with James, to even their engagement party. The scenes flickered faster and faster like a dizzying blur of emotions and colours.

Olivia's eyes snapped open as a sharp continuous beeping sound pierced through the chaos making her heart race. She found herself not at the scene of the accident but lying in her own bed, bathed in the warmth of the morning sun coming in through familiar curtains.

Olivia, disoriented, reached out to her bedside stool to silence her phone’s alarm while wondering what a bad dream she'd had. As she put off the alarm, she noticed the date displayed on her phone screen; 21st October, 2022. Her breath caught in her throat as she clearly remembered the date of the accident was 20th March, 2024.

Olivia sat up quickly, her head spinning as she looked around her room which looked exactly as it had a year and six months ago; her To-Do list pinned to her corkboard with some items still unchecked, the stack of bridal magazines on her nightstand amongst other things.

With her legs shaky, Olivia stumbled to the full-length mirror in the corner of her room, the reflection of her that stared back was truly herself, but much different from the one she remembered. This Olivia's face was unmarked by stress, her hair was longer as well, and there on her left hand, sparkled her engagement ring which stood in place of the wedding ring she would have in the future.

Bewildered, Olivia brushed her hair with her left hand, as she did so, she noticed a timer imprinted the inside of her left wrist highlighting a precise countdown. The timer was written in digits reading five hundred and forty days, twelve hours, thirty minutes and a relentless stream of seconds which seemed to already be in a countdown sequence.

“Liv? Ava? Breakfast is ready,” Sarah's warm voice called from downstairs, filled with affection. The sound sent a sharp jolt through Olivia's body, as Ava opened her room door abruptly, “hey sis, mum’s calling,” Ava said in a cheerful tone. She was here with her family, she was still engaged to James and they were planning their wedding.

Olivia's mind reeled as the reality of the situation began to sink in, she stared at Ava with hatred as she remembered what James said as he'd stabbed her.

“Liv, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost,” Ava said as she came in fully into Olivia's room. With a tight smile Olivia replied, “ I'm okay, I just had a bad dream.”

Somehow, unexplainably, she had been given a second chance, she had travelled back in time to six months before her wedding day, now she had exactly one year and six months for her to exact her revenge and she'll probably die again.

With a little more reassurance from Olivia, Ava finally left her room. Olivia's legs gave away as she sank to the floor, her back against the cool wall as memories of a future that hasn't happened yet flooded her mind, the painful backstabbing betrayal from her stepmother, stepsister and particularly, her husband who she thought loved her to the moon and back.

For a moment she wondered how James was able to look at her with so much hate and disdain and even kill her, she wondered how long they had planned to sabotage her company and frame her up, Olivia wondered if James and Sarah had already began setting up the plans to take her life and claim her company.

Olivia took a deep breath, steadying herself as she stood to her feet. She had been given an incredible gift which was the chance to rewrite her future, to avoid the mistakes she had made and exact revenge on everyone who wronged her.

“I don't care about what happens by the time the timer reads zero, I must pay them back,” Olivia declared with determination in her eyes.

“First, I have to get to the office,” Olivia said, moving towards the shower.

As Olivia came down the stairs, she overheard excited voices, giggling in the dining area of her home.

“Seriously Mum, I've had a huge crush on Maxwell Pierce since I saw him at the end of the year Gala last year,” Ava said excitedly while holding a copy of Today's Daily magazine.

“I mean, look at him. He's so handsome and rich,” Ava continued as her fingers gently caressed the magazine page.

“I know a friend who is close to Maxwell's Godfather, I will talk with him to set you up with Maxwell, I'm sure he won't refuse a request from his Godfather,” Sarah said, playfully shaking her head at her daughter's youthfulness.

“Really!” Ava squealed, “Oh, thank you, Mum. You're the best Mum ever,” Ava said gleefully while she pecked her mum on the cheek.

“Anything for you, my sweetheart,” Sarah said.

“Good morning,” Olivia greeted, partially breaking the excitement. As she moved to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, Olivia caught a glimpse of the man in the magazine who Ava gushed over, the caption read ‘The Youngest Billionaire Bachelor’ with his name boldly written under it ‘Maxwell Pierce’.

Olivia ignored the replies of the duo and swiftly went out the door as she did not see her dad. She drove down the crowded streets as the early morning sun reflected on the shiny metal of the vehicle on the busy road. Her thoughts were occupied by how to begin her plan for revenge and where exactly to start from.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Olivia did not notice the vehicle in front of her slowing down. At the last minute, she applied the brakes of her own car forcefully, her front bumper smashing into the rear of the vehicle in front of her.

With her heart racing and her fingers white from holding the steering wheel tightly, Olivia sat transfixed behind the wheel as her thoughts temporarily went back to her accident.

A tall, muscular man emerged from the vehicle she hit, moving with grace in spite of the situation. Olivia could not breathe as he turned to see the damage. Maxwell Pierce, the gregarious CEO whose picture had seen on the front of the business magazine Ava gushed about earlier, was immediately recognizable to her.

Olivia smiled as her dilemma about where to begin her revenge from, seemed to be solved. Without a moment's thought, Olivia unbuckled her seatbelt and came out from her vehicle, she walked towards Maxwell totally ignoring his words as he asked if she was okay from the light accident and also ignoring the blaring of horns from the other vehicles behind them.

Olivia reached up, clasped Maxwell's face in her hands and pushed her lips to his in one smooth stroke.