CHAPTER 1 – The Lie I Woke Up
Ariella stirred awake to the sound of her ringtone vibrating against the chipped surface of her bedside table. Her heart raced before she even reached for the phone; no one called her this early except for the one person whose disappointment she dreaded the most.
Her mother.
Taking a deep breath, she wiped her face with her palm, attempting to steady her voice.
"Hello, Mum."
"My daughter," her mother's gentle voice came through the speaker, "how are your exams going? You sound a bit tired."
Ariella glanced around her cramped room—clothes strewn across the floor, unwashed plates piled up, and the timetable she had downloaded but never utilized, pinned to the wall like a cruel reminder.
Exams?
She hadn't set foot in a classroom for nearly three years.
"I'm… I'm fine, Mum. Just… reading."
"Oh, that's good to hear. I transferred the money for your textbooks. Be sure to buy them before they run out. You know how students can be."
Ariella squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a weight settle in her chest.
Textbooks.
For a program she wasn't even enrolled in anymore.
"Yes, Mum. Thank you," she murmured.
Her mother offered prayers for her, expressed her hopes for her success, and conveyed her unwavering belief in her… before ending the call.
And just like that, the silence enveloped the room—heavy, accusatory, and achingly familiar.
The lie loomed over her like a shadow she could never escape.
She lay staring at the ceiling, feeling the burden of everything she was not.
Not in school.
Not the daughter they believed her to be.
Not the girl with a promising future.
Not even someone who had a clear direction in life.
Everyone she had grown up with was graduating, securing internships, and sharing pictures in lab coats and lecture halls.
Everyone except her.
She curled her knees to her chest, fighting back tears.
It wasn't meant to unfold this way.
She had arrived at university at seventeen, filled with dreams and the hope of finally breaking free from the pain that had engulfed her at twelve.
But instead, she encountered a different kind of turmoil—friends who led her astray, a boy who shattered what was left of her heart, and choices she could never undo.
Some mistakes have the power to rewrite the entire narrative of your life.