*Slap!*
A beautiful woman with blue bright eyes and black hair landed on the ground with a loud pang after the harsh slap. As her eyes trembled in fear, some small drops of blood came running down her cherry lips. She covered her mouth with trembling hands and glanced at the woman with the same face as her, the same blue bright eyes, the same black long hair.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out? That you wanted to take my place? To replace me? Hah..."
"I... I didn't want to... it was not my..."
"Shut up!"
She signaled two men with black suits and nasty looks to lift the woman from the floor. They took her from the arms without care and lifted her head with a pull from her hair.
They had been eyeing Laura with lusty stares for a while now. In fact, ever since they met her, they had been waiting for their turn to enjoy her if she were to commit a mistake. Now it was their turn.
"No... no, please, I beg you, Mrs. Smith... I will do anything you ask me, just give me a chance... I swear... I won't fail..."
"Heh..." Marion watched her piteous show with a raised brow and smirked. Suddenly a good idea came to her.
'This will be useful,' she thought. 'With this, I will eliminate two troubles at the same time.'
She nodded slightly. "I will give you an opportunity then..."
"Yes... I will do whatever you want..."
"Then... kill her, kill that stupid Rose Banks and I will let you off, however, if you fail... be mindful of the consequences."
Laura gulped but then realized that she didn't have a choice. At least if she killed Rose Banks she will live; she will have a chance to escape and again enjoy the benefits of being Marion Smith's double.
"I will do it," she whispered but her eyes were empty. "I will help you get rid of her."
"Good, I like that..."
"But... they will think it was you..." Laura said with care.
"No, they won't," she said, "I will help you with that."
"What...?"
The two men by the side took her to the back of the shady house. After an hour, a make-up artist showed up and transformed her into a completely different person. Blonde hair, dark eyes, and different facial features. She even dressed her in a long elegant black evening dress. It was as if she had become another person in a matter of seconds.
Marion looked at her from top to bottom and smirked, "take her to the annual party, that bitch will be there with my husband. Don't let this idiot escape."
"Yes, Madame."
Laura shivered when one of the men opened her dress from below and touched her leg while attaching a garter on her tight with a dagger in a black leather scabbard. His perverted hands didn't stop navigating her skin making her feel nauseous, however, she didn't say a word.
"Beauty, I hope you don't succeed tonight," he smiled and stood up while caressing her tights, "We will enjoy your punishment."
Her empty eyes only showed tears when the man let her go. She was scared. However, she could only swallow the fear and bit her lips to stop the shaking.
The road towards the event was silent, the sky was clear and without any cloud. She heard the men talking lengthily about what they will do to her if she dared to fail her mission. Laura tried to ignore them, but she couldn't. Their words were frightening.
Then, they arrived at the entrance of the venue and she came down even before those men opened the door for her.
For a brief second, she thought about escaping, but she knew it would be useless against Marion's people.
The night continued, the party hall was decorated with the theme of a magical forest. White flowers mixed with long dresses and black smokings dancing on the platform.
Laura moved around with a fake smile and a cup of water. Her heart was pounding painfully, her breath was about to fade.
Then... a couple showed before Laura's eyes. The ones that had made her life miserable. First, a cute woman with reddish hair and stunning green eyes, walked while smiling at the man by her side. 'Killian.'
"Rose... Rose Banks," Laura called the red-haired woman, making her turn around with a curious glance.
"Who are you? Do I know you?"
"No," Laura smiled with a sardonic expression, "you don't know me, but we had met many times in the past. However... this will be the last time."
Without hesitating and waiting for another thought to enter her mind, Laura squatted down to take the knife from her leg and wielded it against Rose. Just a bit more and the knife would have cut the soft flesh of that beautiful red-haired woman. Just a bit more and she would have been successful in her killing attempt. She would have become a murderer.
However...
The dagger was sent flying away and she was pushed to the ground by two bodyguards. She didn't know how it happened but the man, the one she had loved so much, Killian Lind, reached Laura's wrist in a second. It was almost as if it was magic.
Laura could swear she saw his eyes turning red that moment. His beautiful grey eyes went red like blood and fire.
She fainted.
The moment she woke up with splashed water to clean the make-up, she knew that her life was over.
"Marion Smith," the cold word from the man let her understand that he never recognized her even once. How idiot she was. "Now, you will have what you deserve."
"I... I am not her, you are mistaken," she said with a last hope, but she knew that it was useless. Her crime would be punished regardless of her identity.
"Even now you are still acting," he left the words, and Laura was taken to a dark lonely cell.
For years she was locked inside until one day, some merciful man shot her in the head.
That was all Laura was left with. A bullet and an unnamed burial.
***
"Fuck!"
Lara remembered the last scene from the book and shouted.
She had transmigrated in the fricking book she was reading before her death.
"No... no this can't be," she looked at herself in the lonely mirror. "I... I am... Laura Dilon, the stepping stone, pathetic Laura Dilon..."
She wanted to cry but she knew it would be useless. There was never a time that crying gave her anything in her last life. She struggled and fought to get what she wanted but never shed a tear.
However, this time... how wronged she felt.
"Fuck!"