Chapter 2Reborn At Five, Save The Heiress

She looked so incredibly wronged.

Naturally, bystanders immediately jumped to her defense. "Poor Miss Teri."

"How can a child be allowed to slander a teacher like that?"

Daddy looked down at me, his eyes filled with confusion, but also with deep concern.

Shaking with sobs, I clutched his sleeve. "Daddy, please don't let Mona out of your sight. Please."

He was quiet for two agonizing seconds. When he looked up, his voice was cold. "We can do the touch-up here. Bring the makeup artist over."

Teri's face paled slightly. "But the waiting area is so crowded, and the lighting is poor..."

Daddy cut her off. "Then bring over some extra lights. My daughter is frightened. Today, no one takes either of them away alone."

Mommy held Mona tight, her voice soft but firm. "Please understand, Miss Teri. The girls are clearly overwhelmed."

Teri's fingers clenched into her palms. But she quickly forced another smile. "Of course. The children's comfort comes first."

She turned to call the makeup artist.

I stared at her retreating figure. For a brief second, I thought I had rewritten our fate. But I had forgotten one crucial detail. Since she dared to execute this plot at a national championship, she wouldn't have relied on just one plan.

The makeup artist arrived and touched up Mona’s lipstick right there, fixing her tiara under the watchful eyes of my parents. Throughout it all, Mommy kept her arms around Mona, while I sat beside them, my hands squeezing the hem of Mona’s sparkly dress.

Four-year-old Mona whispered to me, "Rebecca, are you scared of the teacher?"

Looking into her innocent eyes, my nose stung. "Yes."

"Then I'm scared too." She shook her wrist, making her silver bells ring softly. "Listen, Rebecca. The bells are here, and so am I."

I nearly burst into tears. In my past life, in her final voice recording, her voice had been completely hoarse. She had begged over and over, "Mommy, I want to go home. Rebecca, I want some cake." But we could never reach her.

This time, I would never let go.

The event proceeded rapidly. The speakers began calling our dance group's name. Our director, Mrs. Gable, was sweating profusely. She was usually kind, but she cared deeply about the competition. This was the first time her troupe had reached the national finals, and since the Bennett family was their primary sponsor, she needed everything to be flawless.

She hurried over, lowering her voice. "Mr. Bennett, the girls need to move to the wings now. It's almost their turn."

Daddy looked at me. I immediately gripped Mona’s hand. "I'm going too."

Standing a short distance away, Teri offered a gentle smile. "Of course. Rebecca and Mona are performing together, so they must walk over together."

She seemed absolutely harmless. But her calm only made my blood run cold.

In the end, Daddy instructed two of our personal bodyguards to follow the line of children. That was something that had never happened in my past life. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But just as we entered the dim backstage corridor, the overhead lights suddenly went dead with a loud click. Darkness draped over us like a heavy shroud.

The children began to scream. Makeup cases crashed to the floor. Kids cried out for their mothers.

My first instinct was to reach for Mona. Her hand was still in my palm, small and soft. "Rebecca..." she whimpered.

But before I could pull her closer, someone shoved me hard from behind. I slammed onto the concrete floor, my elbows scraping painfully.

A hand clamped over my mouth in the pitch black. I smelled the sharp, chemical scent of fresh paint, mixed with the sweet fragrance of gardenias, Teri's signature perfume.

I thrashed wildly, but I was only five years old.

A hand came out of the dark and violently ripped my sister from my grasp. The silver bells jingled frantically for a second, then they faded into the distance.

"Sissy!"

My sister only screamed once before she went completely silent. When the emergency lights flickered on, everything was in total chaos.

I lay on the floor, skin scraped raw. My hands were empty.

My sister was gone.