Ophelia crashes down on her bed, shaking it slightly despite how heavy the bed is.
Her face is buried in the pillow, and a raw, animalistic cry leaves her mouth. Tears stream down, throat hurts, chest hurts, voice creaks.
As if the world has stopped around her, she sobs, hard and pressed against the pillow. Tears feel so humiliating and too much; there is no one to just simply pat her back.
She sniffs hard, her hands curling up around her head as she starts patting her own head. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay."
She tells herself, but she knows it too.
It's not okay.
She chokes and shudders painfully, her eyes clench close, and her eyebrows frown.
Ophelia questions to no one in particular, "Why is it so hard to love me? I was just born; I didn't kill my mother."
Who would tell her the answer? Clean dark sky full of stars? Or the walls, which are the only witness of her pain and misery?
Ophelia tells herself again, with a bitter smile on her lips, "Just accept your fate. There was, is, or will never be anyone who would love you...."
She sits up; her reflection in the mirror of her room looks devastating, like a beautiful lonely girl. Her hazel green eyes were red and puffed, and her cheeks were flushed and wet.
"You look pathetic even in your 3rd life, Ophelia." She mutters painfully.
"Focus on revenge, not feelings. Serve justice to yourself."
Yet trancious tears keep streaming down; words and emotions never align. And outside the door, Rhys Blackwood remains standing, leaning against the wall.
He feels his throat getting choked with emotions he can't name. His hands shake in his pocket as he hears the muffled wailing of his sister. London's cold air makes the mansion chilling despite the heater. Snow covers the roads and roofs like a pure white sheet; whistles of air outside add more.
Rhys closes his eyes, leaning against the wall, his mind running through things he doesn't want to admit out loud.
"Young Master," Rhys's assistant Sarah says softly, her light brown hair tied into a messy bun, her face framed with a round pair of silver-rimmed glasses, her black orb staring at the taller distressed man.
Rhys's eyes soften, just for a flicker before he masks it with coldness. "Did you find out what happened in the boutique today?"
Sarah fumbles her notebook; her small frame looks tiny in front of Rhys's bigger and muscular frame.
Rhys's eyes watch her every move, how her delicate fingers flip the pages, and the small pout she makes when she isn't getting what she needs. His throat wobbles, but he doesn't name anything to complicate things.
"Elosia and Vincent came first in the boutique; they were in the private dressing room for nearly twenty minutes, and Elosia had everyone sent out."
Rhys frowns in the later part. Sarah looks up. "It's exactly what you are thinking."
For a good few moments, Rhys's face darkens, and his knuckles turn white as he holds the side table against the wall.
"Vincent and Elosia are together behind Ophelia."
Sarah clears it more. She waits for Rhys's further reaction. She thinks Rhys won't let Vincent off the hook; after all, even after everything, Ophelia is still his sister.
Sarah tilts her head. "Young Master, do you want me to send words to your private team to do something about—" "I don't want to hear more about it."
Finality in Rhys's voice makes Sarah stop in middle, her eyes widen in shock, " But Vincent is ca—" None of my business."
Blood drains from Sarah's face, and her mouth opens in shock as a chilling feeling settles down in her bones. She has been working for Rhys for nearly five years, well aware of the family dynamic.
Yet such reaction...
Something inside her snaps, "Are you listening? Your youngest sister is getting cheated by her boyfriend and best friend all together!"
Her words come out sharper than she intended, shaky at the end. Rhys's eyes darken. "Ophelia is marrying Kayros. There is no need to make a big deal over this."
Sarah's eyes dart to the closed door of Ophelia, from where her muffled wailing rattles the wall. Sarah's finger digs in her flesh, feeling rage and pain all together.
"You mean to say you don't care if your youngest sister gets cheated, but you care too much if Ivy's fiancé just flirts with someone else?"
"Sarah Mars!"
Rhys's sharp tone makes Sarah flinch; she has seen Rhys angry, but this is different. His eyes look red, full of emotions Sarah can't name but can feel anyway.
Rhys starts taking steps toward her; she gulps, her eyes looking down on the soft carpet of ivory and gold. Her heart beating fast. His shadow makes her feel overwhelmed and overpowered.
"Don't act like you know me. You are my assistant, not...." Rhys pauses, seeing Sarah's trembling shoulder and lips. Realization hits him, his eyes widen, and guilt and anger shadow his handsome face.
Sarah whispers, though scared, "Ophelia... she is just 20... Not someone old enough to protect against the beasts around her."
"Shut up," he hisses, his hands tremble.
She doesn't. "She is the child whom your mother loved even before she saw her yet nobody loves her."
"Shut UP!"
"She had no fault, yet everyone treats her like she is the criminal!"
"SHUT UP!"
Rhys's angry growl makes Sarah's body go cold, her eyes shimmering with tears as Rhys grabs her shoulder. "You don't know anything."
Sarah looks up; something inside Rhys breaks a little seeing her tear. "It's not rocket science. Everyone deserves to be loved by their family." Her voice shakes, and one tear rolls down.
Rhys's eyes flutter painfully, and his thumb wipes off her tears gently like a touch of a feather. "You are too good for this house..."
(For me), he thinks to himself but doesn't say out loud.
"You are her brother, Rhys. Don't make life too unbearable for her."
Rhys feels a familiar burn in his chest.
Regret? Fear? Agony?
He doesn't know.
Nor did Ophelia, who was listening to it from the closed door. Her breathing is ragged, and silent tears make her eyes hurt. She closes her eyes, staring at the snow-covered garden under the moonlight. Even in her past life, Sarah always took her side.
Like a foolish girl with an innocent heart, she tried to open the heart of Ophelia, but blinded by love and anger, she killed Sarah in front of Rhys, which caused him to lose his sanity.
Rhys's silent, unspoken love for Sarah only remained known to Rhys and his cell in the mental hospital.
"You are stupid, Sarah.... They never cared and will never care...."
Ophelia laughs bitter and small, knowing there are only countable days left behind before she moves out of Blackwood Mansion.
Forever.