Chapter 3

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at a strange ceiling, and the air smelled of cheap air freshener.

I wiggled my fingers, feeling light as a feather, yet incredibly heavy.

No, this wasn’t my body.

I shot upright and rushed to the bathroom. The mirror reflected a young, unfamiliar face.

Delicate, with a hint of timidness.

It was Chloe, Brandon’s new assistant.

How was I here? In her body?

Where was my body?

A bizarre and terrifying thought exploded in my mind.

Soul swap.

Damn it.

I didn't have time to think. One thought consumed me – my body!

I grabbed the keys and phone from the table and bolted out of the tiny rental apartment like a madwoman.

It was already late at night.

Relying on memory, I used Chloe’s fingerprint to unlock the door and burst into the home Brandon and I shared.

No one was home.

My body wasn’t here.

Brandon wasn’t here either.

A massive wave of panic gripped me. I could barely stand.

Where were they?

What was happening to my body right now?

I forced myself to calm down.

Brandon.

Yes, find Brandon.

I used Chloe’s phone to dial his number.

It rang for a long time before he picked up. The background noise was loud, like he was in a bar.

“Hello? Chloe? What’s up this late?” Brandon’s voice was slurred with alcohol and impatience.

“Mr. Brandon, Designer Ser… Designer Sera?” I pinched my voice, trying to sound like the timid little assistant.

“She collapsed. She’s at the hospital, I had a nurse look after her.” He answered carelessly.

Hospital.

My heart eased slightly, then immediately clenched again.

He said… he had a nurse look after me?

He wasn’t with me?

“Then… where are you, sir?” I asked, trembling.

From the other end, Cassandra’s sweet, soft voice chirped, “Brandon, who is it? Come drink with me!”

Brandon immediately responded in a gentle, soothing tone, “Just an assistant. You enjoy yourself, I’ll be right there.”

Then, he turned back to the phone, his voice dropping eight degrees, instantly cold.

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. Do your job. I’m hanging up.”

The call disconnected.

I stood in the empty living room, phone in hand, feeling utterly chilled.

I collapsed from exhaustion for his business, ended up in the hospital.

And he was out, partying with his ‘one that got away’ at a bar.

“Do my job?”

Hah, what a joke.

I opened Chloe’s SnapChat. Pinned at the top was the company’s core project chat.

Brandon had just sent a message to the group.

“@everyone, tomorrow morning at 9 AM, an emergency meeting for the ‘Skyway Haven’ project will be held. Designer Cassandra will be joining us as a special consultant to discuss the subsequent design plans.”

My pupils constricted sharply.

Special consultant?

Cassandra?

An interior designer who only handles soft furnishings, consulting on a world-class architectural project? What kind of freaking consultant?

Brandon, what exactly are you trying to do?

I clenched the phone tightly, my knuckles white from the strain.

No.

I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.

I had to figure all of this out.

Under Chloe’s identity, I took a taxi to the company.

The office building was pitch black at night, save for the lights on in ‘Brandon Architecture’s’ CEO office on the top floor.

My heart sank.

Who would be at the office this late?

I quietly took the elevator up, using the assistant’s access card to swipe open the glass door.

The CEO’s office door was ajar, and I heard hushed voices from inside.

It was Brandon and Cassandra.

I held my breath, pressing myself against the door like a ghost.

“Brandon, are you really going to do this? Change Sera’s name to mine? If she finds out…” Cassandra’s voice held a hint of false hesitation.

“She won’t know.” Brandon’s voice was cold as ice. “She’s in the hospital right now. By the time she gets out, the project contract will be signed, and it’ll be a done deal.”

My blood, at that moment, froze completely.

He was going to… change my name on the blueprint?

He was going to hand over my painstaking work, my life’s blood, to this woman?

“But it’s Sera’s hard work after all. That design concept…”

“What concept of hers?” Brandon scoffed, his voice filled with disdain. “That entire concept, wasn’t it just an extension of your university concept draft from back then? At the end of the day, you’re the original creator. I’m just giving you back what should have been yours.”

“Besides, while Sera’s design is good, it’s too focused on the technicalities, completely lacking your commercial savvy and market appeal. Having you sign it, using your reputation as a brilliant, internationally-trained designer for promotion, will be much more beneficial for the company’s IPO.”

*Boom!*

Something inside me just *snapped*.

So that’s how it was.

In his eyes, I was just a tool, too focused on craftsmanship.

All my talent, all my efforts, were just stepping stones for him to package the company and pursue its IPO.

And Cassandra, she was the truly talented “original creator” in his mind, the one who could bring him greater benefits.

“Trading my talent for love.”

The belief I once held so firmly now seemed like a colossal joke.

I clung to the cold door, trembling like a leaf.

My stomach churned, and I clamped a hand over my mouth, desperate not to throw up.

Inside, Cassandra let out a satisfied sigh. She pressed against Brandon, her voice soft and alluring.

“Brandon, you’re so good to me. I knew it, you always had feelings for me.”

“Silly girl.” Brandon’s voice held a hint of tenderness. “If your family hadn’t insisted you go abroad back then, we would never have separated. Now that you’re back, I won’t let you suffer a single grievance.”

“What about Seraphina? You two…”

“Sera and I, that was nothing more than a business arrangement. Her technical skill, my market, that’s all. Once the company goes public and stabilizes, I’ll tell her everything.”

“Don’t worry. The position of Mrs. Brandon will only ever be yours.”

Every single word, like poisoned blades, slowly tearing my heart to shreds.

A business arrangement… that’s all…

I accompanied him through the toughest times, I let him use all my patents for free, I poured myself into building his business empire.

In the end, all I got was “that’s all.”

I couldn’t listen anymore.

I was afraid I’d kick down that door and drag that despicable pair down with me.

I stumbled back, fleeing into the adjacent breakroom, my body sliding down to the floor against the cold wall.

I hugged my knees, burying my face.

No tears came.

There’s no grief like the death of hope.

I just felt that the past ten years had been an intricately orchestrated scam.

And I, was the most ridiculous, most foolish clown.

I don’t know how long passed, but the office door opened.

Brandon and Cassandra walked out, intimately embracing.

Through the crack in the breakroom door, I saw Cassandra stand on her tiptoes and press a kiss to Brandon’s lips.

“I’ll head back now. See you at the meeting tomorrow.”

“Okay, be careful on your way.”

Brandon watched her leave, then turned and went back into his office.

I heard the clicking of a mouse and the tapping of a keyboard from inside.

What was he doing?

He was changing the designer’s name on my blueprint!

A metallic taste rose in my throat.

I pushed myself up against the wall, a towering hatred igniting in my chest.

Brandon.

Cassandra.

You thought I was a fool. You treated everything I had as spoils of war, to be plundered at will.

You thought I was lying helpless in a hospital bed, at your mercy?

Good.

Oh, so good.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, looking at Chloe’s timid face in the mirror.

From today onwards, things would be different.

What you owe me, I will collect every single penny, with interest!

I wasn’t Seraphina anymore.

I was… a vengeful spirit.