Sarina could feel her head pounding in pain from the weirdly familiar loud voices coming from the outside world as a groan escaped her lips. Torn between the desire to sleep more but not wanting to hear those irritating noises, she finally made her decision to wake up.
Sitting up on her bed with her eyes still closed and her brain muddled in sleepiness, Sarina stretched out her arms; yawning and trying to awaken herself when suddenly a thought or to say, a memory struck her mind; making her eyes go wide in alert.
Her eyes were filled with intense hatred and resentment as the faces of those she had once considered her family flashed before her eyes.
Her blood boiled in anger and anguish as she recalled how, just for an inheritance her biological grandfather had left her; they had brutally killed her.
'That's right. They killed me. I....I should be dead. Then how am I...' Sarina's mind was in a complete mess, her thoughts were all over the place as she tried to understand what exactly was happening to her.
Looking around the distant yet familiar room around and then at her small hands, Sarina truly couldn't depict anything until she suddenly caught her own reflection in the mirror right in front of her bed, nestled neatly between the two cupboards.
'Th..this is me. This is exactly how i looked when I was....' Touching her cheeks and face in astonishment, Sarina thought as she quickly jumped off the bed and speedily ran to the calendar that she used to hang on the left wall on her room.
"12 May 2004....." Looking at the date and year, Sarina could no longer control the tears she had been secretly hiding in her heart. All the pain, betrayal and anger poured out through her eyes as her knees gave up and she fell down on the floor.
"I..I am back. Back in time to when I was ten years old, living happily with my adopted parents and siblings." Sarina weepingly whispered; feeling immensely grateful for this second chance.
"Montclair family, just you wait. This time, I won't let you hurt me and the people I love. You all will pay for what you did to me. I, Sarina Rowan am back to take back everything that belongs to me. No one can save you from my wrath." Sarina solemnly vowed, her eyes blazing in anger and resolution.
"Sarina dear, have you woken up? If yes then hurry up and join us for breakfast."
Taking a deep breathe to calm down the raging storm in her heart, Sarina slowly stood up when suddenly a very familiar voice called out her name, telling her to hurry up and come for breakfast, making Sarina freeze in shock and happiness.
The voice belonged to her adopted mother, Clara Rowan, a middle aged woman married to Adrian Rowan and Sarina's adopted father. The couple originally lived in a village with the entire family and were very poor, working hard to meet up their needs.
Despite being married for 5 years, they didn't have any children, until one day, Adrian brought home a little girl he found by the river and called her their daughter. Clara, who had been longing for motherhood accepted the child as soon as she took her in her arms and named her Sarina.
"This is our daughter. our princess, our Sarina." Both the parents had tears of happiness in their eyes that day. Finally their family was complete.
But unfortunately, not everyone could do the same, making Clara and the little child the subject of ridicule, especially from her own mother-in-law. Not being able to tolerate the increasing torments on his wife and daughter from his mother and other people, Adrian finally made the decision to separate from the family.
"Ok fine then, since you all can't accept my wife and my daughter then I also don't want anything to do with you all. I, Adrian Rowan hereby declare that from this day onwards, me and my family have no relation with you."
His decision obviously brought lots of dissatisfication from the family and others but Adrian stood firmly on his decision. Finally in the end he won and moved out of the house with Clara and resolutely left the village and moved to City K, a tier-3 city.
Everyone in the village including the Rowan family had thought that the family of three won't be able to survive in a new place and in a city they were completely unfamiliar with on the top of that, but they were proven very wrong again.
Though the couple definitely faced a lot of difficulties, they didn't give up and continued to work hard for their only daughter and in just four years, not only did they get completely settled down in the city with their own separate jobs but even bought a small house for themselves.
During the time, Clara also got pregnant and gave birth to their twin children Leo Rowan and Mila Rowan, making the family complete. Despite having their own biological children, Clara and Adrain's love for Sarina didn't diminish, instead it just got stronger than ever.
To them, Sarina wasn't just their first daughter but also their lucky charm who brought nothing but happiness in their lives.
In her previous life, Sarina was 18 years old when the Montclair family took her back. After going to that family, she wasn't given a chance to meet her foster family again till she died at the age of 30. She had waited 12 years to finally meet them once again.
[DING!
System ready to bind.
Starting binding
1%...2%...]
Sarina, excited and eager to see her family who loved her more than anything rushed to her room's door, completely ignoring a mechanical voice she that rang in her mind. To her, nothing was more important than meeting her family at the moment.
The house Sarina currently lived in wasn't that big. It was a small two bedroom apartment with a small living room, open kitchen and one family bathroom. There was also a storeroom which was currently being used by her younger brother Leo while his twin sister and Sarina's younger sister shared the second room with her after she turned 4.
Initially Sarina wanted to shift in the storeroom so that her younger siblings could have the other bedroom but no matter how hard she tried to persuade both the parents, they still adamantly refused. They didn't want their eldest and most beloved daughter to suffer.
Finally after a lots of negotiations, Sarina managed to convince her parents that the twins were growing up and Mila needed her own space and her privacy as a girl as well. Knowing that whatever Sarina said was right, they also agreed, leading to their current lifestyle.
Coming out of the room, Sarina inhaled the distinctly familiar smell of eggs and bacon that her mother used to cook daily for them for breakfast. Taking a deep breathe to calm down her surging emotions in heart, Sarina continuously blinked her eyes to stop the tears that had welled in her eyes.
Finally after she was sure that she won't cry, Sarina followed the voices of her family to dining table where everyone was patiently waiting for her. Sarina initially thought that she was ready to face them, but unfortunately it seemed that she overestimated herself because as soon as the familiar shadows of family came in her sight, she once again lost control of her emotions.
The tears of pain she had been enduring finally made their way out of her eyes, falling down her cheeks as Sarina weepingly ran into her mother's arms who was looking worriedly at her. Not only Clara, but even Adrian and the usually mischievous twins were also staring at the elder sister with worry clear in their eyes.
Sensing her usually cheerful and always smiling daughter breakdown in her arms like that, Clara anxiously kneeled down to her level and pulled Sarina in her arms, gently caressing her hair, trying to calm Sarina down.
Inhaling the familiar scent of her mother, Sarina could feel all the negative emotions she had been holding up inside her vanish completely as a sense of peace she hadn't felt in a long time surged through her. Finally after half an hour of crying, Sarina finally calmed down.
Adrian, watching the scene from the side was astonished. As soon as Sarina calmed down, he stepped forward and asked,
"What happened sunshine? Why are you crying like this? Did someone bully you?"
"Exactly sweetheart. What happened?" Cupping Sarina's face, Clara concernedly asked.
"Nothing, mom amd dad. It's just that I had a nightmare and got very scared. Sorry to make you so much like that." Sarina. who had now gotten a hold of emotions calmly replied but still didn't let go of Clara.
Clara and Adrian on the otherhand, hearing that nothing had happened to the daughter, both sighed in relief. Even the twins got much more relaxed and impatiently urged everyone to eat.
Mom, dad, sister hurry up and eat. Our friends must be waiting for us to play." The twins whined, making the other three chuckle in amusement.
"Sarina go and freshen up before joining us for breakfast. Your dad and I are also getting late for work." Clara said, rushing Sarina to the washroom. Acknowledging her mother's order, Sarina happily ran to the washroom, longing to once again eat food cooked by her mother and spend time with her family.
Before long, the entire family was happily gathered at the table, enjoying their breakfast with the usual banter between the twins before they all left the house one by one while leaving Sarina, who was currently on vacation behind.