Chapter 2 Second Chance

• The next day, I was summoned to identify the corpse of my sister lying around in the morgue. My life had taken a nosedive for the worst. It was crumbling, and I could do nothing but watch. Aaron's driver assigned to me at least remained with me until the divorce process was complete. His name was Kevin.
• Kevin rolled my wheelchair into the morgue that evening. The doctors were speaking gibberish in my front. I couldn't hear a single thing they were saying. They had found her in a back alley. She was bruised, and they suspected a deeper level of physical abuse.
• I got into the room alone. It was just me and the corpse splayed out on the surface bed, covered by a white cloth. My hand shook as I raised it to pull the covering away. This was what I feared the most; what I had tried so hard to prevent when flash marrying Aaron.
• I rolled the cover away and broke down in tears. I wailed for my baby sister, Suzy. She didn't deserve this. I cried, fisting my chest, and before long, I fainted, rolling off the wheelchair and landing in a lump on the ground.
• My world went black, but the next time I woke up, I was in a hospital bed with a lot of machines beeping around me. There was an oxygen mask over my face. Suzy's face popped in my head, and even while lying on my death bed, I began to cry again.
• The doctor came in minutes later, after realising I was awake. This wasn't the company's doctor or the man who diagnosed me as a walking corpse. I was meeting a different man in a different building.
• "Good day, Ms. Kim." He locked his hands in front of him while smiling.
• I wondered if that meant good news. If I was going to survive this and finally take my revenge.
• "I'm Dr. Emerson. The neurosurgeon assigned to your case. This hospital is an NGO I started for patients with impossible cases. We are preparing for surgery. It's tricky, but we will do our best to save you and your child."
• Doctor Emerson's smile no longer comforted me. I was shaking in anxiety. The rhythm of the beeps had changed. As soon as my heart rate picked up, they did, too. I was scared. I was also pregnant for a man who abandoned me.
• He rushed for me, trying to stabilise me after the news, but there was no way. When a nurse came, he had asked them to get a sedative.
• I was sedated and sent back into that world of black.
• The next time I opened my eyes, it was Thursday. A week after my wedding. The day I was supposed to die. A tube was sticking out of my mouth. There were people around me, all focused on my brain. I guessed this was it.
• My eyes fluttered weakly. I also heard the sound of the monitors beeping again. I felt like sleeping forever, so I closed my eyes, and the last thing I heard was the sound of the ECG machine flat lining.
• Time of Death: March 16, 2019.
• Name: June Kim.
• •••
• Almost everyone seemed to believe there was a second life. Most times, you would hear people say things like; in my second life, I want to be something else or I want to look this certain way. It was not a proven fact, but everyone believed that death was not the end, including I, June Kim.
• The noises in my ear sounded like incoherent voices springing in multitudes. When it stopped, I gasped awake, shooting up from a bed. My hand went over my chest as I struggled to calm my heartbeat.
• I looked around me and noticed the ring on my finger. I froze, frowning hard at the shiny diamond ring. It was strange. Then I heard the soft sigh at my side. A muscular hand reached out for me. The instant he gripped me, I jumped out of the bed, alarmed.
• The man on the bed woke up. He seemed alarmed, too. I began wondering how I got here. Did I have a one-night-stand with a stranger? But then I was dressed in this really short silk nightgown, which didn't add up.
• He was in nothing but boxer briefs, approaching me with very cautious steps.
• "Verity, it's just me. Don't be afraid."
• I frowned, looking scared. "Who's Verity?"
• My question seemed to baffle the man. His face pinched into a deep frown, but he quickly recovered and continued approaching me. I lowered my head in thought. What the hell was going on?
• I said with teary eyes. "Where am I?"
• "This is our home, Verity. I'm your husband. We've been together for so—"
• I rushed into the door on my left before he could grab me. I was so scared and shaking. My name wasn't Verity. I'm June, so what the hell is happening? I began to understand when I held the edges of the bathroom sink and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
• My memories flooded back. The surgery room. The beeping of the monitors. My fight with Aaron Hendrix. Our marriage. Every single thing about June Kim came back to me, except my face. I held my cheeks, pinching my skin because I was dreaming.
• I didn't have long black hair anymore. My hair was ginger red. My eyes weren't pale blues anymore. They were hazel and unfamiliar. My skin. It was pale, so pale I also couldn't recognise it. I guessed who I was looking at now was Verity. The owner of this ring and that man's wife.
• I heard keys jingling at the lock on the other side. He had brought a master key. I didn't want to look at his face, so I slid to the ground and hid my face in my hands while sobbing like a baby.
• "Verity." He knelt before me. The feel of his cotten shirt as he hugged me made me realise he had finally put on some clothes. "Love, please look at me. I'm so confused about what to do right now."
• The only reason I looked at him was because, even though I might have ended up in someone's life, this was still Verity's body. I couldn't tell anyone I was a different person. This was her husband, and I had to play along.
• He held my cheek. I saw the fear in his eyes as he thumbed my tears away. This man looked burly and hardened. He had impressive biceps and a broad shoulder. The way his body felt against mine suggested he was ripped in the right places. He was hot, the kind you'd bring out of a magazine or the comic book male leads girls like me swoon over.
• "Are you calm now?" He patted my ginger red hair down. "I'll call a specialist."
• He kissed my forehead and was about to leave the bathroom, but I tugged at his wrist before he could. He faced me again, and I asked.
• "What's today's date?"
• He paused for a beat. "March 16, 2018."