Chapter 3
A month ago, Calliope had begun planning for this day, her wedding day.
It was exactly a month ago that she had been given a second chance at life. She knew how this was supposed to go. Gideon would leave her for his true love, and she would become the town’s laughingstock p>
So, she plotted each step carefully, orchestrating this wedding with precision.
Thinking about her past life stirred a storm of anger and sorrow within her. She never imagined her life would end so tragically.
Marrying Gideon was just the beginning of a nightmare. After they got married, he was never home. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays- big or small- he spent them all with Yvette. Meanwhile, Calliope remained alone, trapped in a hollow marriage, enduring his cold indifference and cruel words. Then came the incident.
It happened just days before her birthday.
Since Lisette had joined the Jewell family, Calliope had never truly celebrated her birthday. Lisette’s was just one day before hers, and every year, their parents threw an extravagant party for both of them, they claimed. But Calliope knew better. Lisette was always the star of the show, while she faded into the background.
Since she was seven, she hadn’t truly had a birthday of her own.
And then, just days before yet another forgotten birthday, Calliope had been kidnapped. She had called Gideon, desperate for help. But he had been with Yvette, ignored her pleas and berated her instead. Panicked, she reached out to her parents. Then to her three brothers.
However, none of them cared enough to save her.
They said, “Calliope, what nonsense are you up to now p>
They said, “Calliope, can’t you be more like Lisette and grow up p>
They said, “Calliope, this is why we don’t like you; you’re always so selfish p>
They said, “You say something bad is going to happen to you, prove it! Always accusing Lisette, yet she’s
a hundred times kinder than you p>
Eventually, Calliope died. She was tortured to death, her body left unrecognizable.
Even though she’d been back for a month, the memories of those dark days before her death haunted
her. Thinking about it made her skin crawl, and she couldn’t bear to relive it.
After her death, she spent some time as a wandering spirit.
She discovered that Lisette was behind her kidnapping. Lisette had sold her to that horrible place, wanting be the sole jewel of the Jewell family.
From the day Lisette entered the Jewell family, she had been scheming-winning over their parents and brothers while secretly making Calliope’s life miserable.
She played the role of the sweet, innocent flower, all the while driving a wedge between Calliope and her family.
Her parents always took Lisette’s side. No matter what Calliope said, they refused to believe her. Instead, they accused her of slandering Lisette, of being arrogant and vile.
Even her three brothers, who had once adored her, began to favor Lisette.
Yet, it was Calliope who had healed her eldest brother’s legs, saved the second brother’s life, and helped the third brother become a superstar.
Now, none of it mattered.
To them, Lisette was the true savior.
And in the end, when the news of her death reached them, they didn’t grieve, but thought she was better off dead, tainted as she was.
Her body was discarded, forgotten, until Mavis found her. And it was Silas who brought her back from that dreadful place.
Silas arranged her funeral, and was the only one who mourned her, keeping vigil by her side for days and nights.