I was nothing special.

A shut-in. A chubby, ordinary girl who blended into the background like a shadow. Easy to ignore. Easier to mock.

The world never ran out of ways to remind me I didn’t belong. Cruel jokes in hallways. Laughter that followed me home. Words sharper than blades, carving deeper than bruises ever could. 

Bit by bit, I shrank into myself until there was nothing left but silence and the weight of my own loneliness.

That night, I decided I’d had enough.

The chair creaked under me. The rope swayed above. My room was still, suffocating, as if the world didn’t care whether I breathed or not. And maybe it didn’t.

Then—music.

It came from the neighbor’s stereo, muffled through the thin walls. A single voice cutting into the darkness.

A voice that shouldn’t have reached me, but did.

Strong. Raw. Alive.

It wrapped around me like a hand pulling me back from the edge. The lyrics told me not to hide my light. That even if it flickered, it still burned.

I gasped, stumbling from the chair, clutching my chest as though those words had physically struck me. Tears blurred my vision, but for the first time in forever, they weren’t from pain—they were from something I thought I’d lost.

Hope.

That voice saved me.

His voice.

Eric. The lead singer of AUREA—the boyband that would one day become gods in the music world. To me, he wasn’t just an idol. He was my lifeline.

And then . . . years later, when he died, the world mourned. I mourned. The one who saved me, the reason of my life, was gone, ripped from life far too soon.

I thought it was over.

But fate had other plans.

One desperate wish, one shattered night, and when I opened my eyes—I was ten years in the past. Before the world knew AUREA. Before Eric was swallowed by fame. 

Before his voice was silenced forever.

I’m just Emy—ordinary, clumsy, and invisible to most. 

But this time . . . it’s my turn.

Eric saved me once.

Now, I’ll save him.

No matter what it takes.

If she left, he wouldn't hear her jokes anymore. He wouldn't see her scrawling cartoons on the whiteboard or humming while she hacked. He wouldn't smell the faint scent of her cheap shampoo whenever she passed by.


He realized, with a chill that shook him to the core, that he didn't want to let her go.


So he made her an offer. A generous one. A contract with money, freedom, luxury. Anything to keep her close.


But when she looked at him, eyes steady and voice firm, and said, "Sorry, Boss. I've got dreams bigger than money," something inside him cracked.


For the first time, Vince, the feared devil of Abyss Lending, felt what it was like to be on the losing end.


However, the version of Emy being free—out there, beyond his immediate reach—was oddly thrilling.


Vince leaned back against the leather seat of his car, lips curling in amusement.


Chapter 33 - The Neighbor Next Door