Take Back My Own Luck

A close friend once gave me a fish-shaped pendant, a gift I treasured dearly.

I wore it every day, unaware that it would become the very thing that led me to ruin.

Through it, she siphoned my good fortune, rising to become the cherished daughter of the Carter family, living a life of ease and privilege.

Meanwhile, I became an outcast, shunned by everyone.

As I looked at the pendant around my neck, with a bitter smile.

If you're so eager to steal my life, then take it all.

*****

I awoke, my body drenched in cold sweat, haunted by the vividness of the dream I'd just had.

The memory of being forced, abandoned, and left vulnerable in the wilderness, made my stomach twist in revulsion. I had no idea a dream could feel so real.

It was like I had been watching my own life from above, seeing everything unfold under Vanessa Steele's control.

In the orphanage, I was an outcast, and when I was finally brought back to the Carter family, my own parents rejected me.

Vanessa, on the other hand, used my misfortune to elevate herself, basking in the love and success that should have been mine.

I watched her excel in every area, taking credit for my work, while my parents adored her as if she were their true daughter.

The loneliness was overwhelming. Who even remembered me? They were my parents, and I was their flesh and blood.

But no amount of stolen fortune could change the truth. They simply didn't love me. And yet, after my death, they revered the very person who had caused it. They were as guilty as she was.

I saw them gathered around the dinner table like a perfect family.

The hatred inside me boiled over, consuming me from within.

As I recalled the intensity of the dream, I couldn't tell if it was a memory from another life or some twisted vision of this one.

Then, I felt a sudden chill. My eyes fell on the pendant around my neck, and a dark resolve settled in my heart.

"Vanessa, if you're so determined to steal my life, then take it all!"