On my wedding night, I entered my honeymoon room and found my newly wedded husband with my so-called best friend.

I confronted them, and my husband pushed me out the window. I fell to the cliff below, seriously injuring my face and most of my body. I waited for death but luckily, I didn't die. I was rescued by my husband's stepbrother, who nursed me back to health, and got me a new face.

This new face afforded me the opportunity to get revenge on my husband and best friend, and I wouldn't fail my mission.

——

Chapter 1

I looked at my reflection in the mirror as I took off my wedding dress and substituted it for some sexy red lingerie I'd bought on the internet. I'd just gotten married to Damian Hale, the heir to Hale Oil and Gas, and the absolute love of my life, and I was giddy with happiness.

Damian didn't know it yet, but he was in for a surprise. He was a bit uptight about affection and sex, and he'd asked to wait until our wedding night until we could become intimate.

“Well, the time has come.” I said eagerly.

We were in a fully secluded villa in the Hamptons, a taxi ride away from the hotel where the wedding guests lodged, so they wouldn't hear my screams of pleasure.

I tip-toed to Damian's room. Knowing him, he was already in the shower. My plan was to sneak into his room and lay seductively on his bed, giving him the most pleasant surprise when he came out of the shower.

I was about to open the door to his room when I heard a scuffle. I paused, trying to understand what wad going on.

“Say it. Your wife will never please you like this.” A familiar female voice moaned.

My breath caught in my throat. Who was she? What was going on? What would Damian tell her?

Damian groaned out, “You're right. Sophia is so frigid and unattractive to me. I don't want to make love to her.”

“So you'll be thinking of me all night?”

“You best believe it, Tiffany.” Damian answered with a huff.

On hearing that, I lost my balance and crashed against the door which gave way, and I stumbled into the room.

Tiffany, my best friend and Damian were entangled under the sheets, their faces red and sweaty from

lovemaking. My bestfriend and my husband were having an affair.

“Damian! Tiffany! How could you do this to me?”

I screamed.

Damian jumped up from the bed and pulled his boxers up, “Shut up! People will hear!”

“No, they won't!” I sobbed, “We're all alone, remember? Oh wait! Tiffany is here too!”

Tiffany glared at me and I couldn't believe it. Tiffany and I had been bestfriends since high school, and we were as close as biological sisters.

“Why are you sleeping with my husband? When did this affair start?”

“Because I love her, not you!” Damian answered harshly, his face a scary mask, “And it started the day you introduced us.”

I gasped, heartbroken. Two weeks after I'd started dating Damian, I'd introduced him to Tiffany.

“So you love her! Then why did you keep deceiving me? Why did you marry me?” I wailed.

Damian chuckled heartlessly, “Because I needed a merger between your family's company and mine. The only way your father would agree to that was if I married you.”

Righteous anger filled me, “Well, you can kiss your precious merger goodbye. I'm calling my lawyer; I want a divorce!”

With that, I starred to walk away, but Damian roughly dragged me back, “Don't even think about it! I'm not going to let you destroy everything I've worked for!”

I struggled against him, trying to regain my freedom, but Damian wad too strong. He shook my shoulders, “You will not ask me for a divorce! You will continue to be my wife!”

“And watch you sleep with my best friend? Over my dead body!” I said in his face.

Damian's eyes burned with anger. He absolutely hated it when he didn't get his way.

“Fine! Have it your way!” With a small smile, Damian dragged me over to one of the gigantic windows in the room, “Say hello to the fish!”

Before I could blink, he pushed me over the ledge.

“Nooooo!” I screamed fearfully as I fell off the villa, which sat on a high cliff. I closed my eyes as I hit the rocky ground below, the water surrounding me. I cried from the pain of the injuries I'd gotten from the fall, and from the absolute betrayal I'd been handed by Damian and Tiffany.

Distantly, I heard Tiffany ask Damian, “Do you think she's dead?”

“As dead as a doornail. Nobody can survive such a huge fall.” Damian answered.

“Phew! I'm glad we got rid of her. She was becoming unbearably annoying.” Tiffany laughed.

“Let's continue from where we left off. I have enough adrenaline to go for another round.” Damian's voice grew faint as they left the window.

“That's what I love about you, Damian.” The satisfaction in Tiffany's voice was crystal clear. They felt no remorse for what they'd done to me.

How could I have been so wrong about them?

Unbearable pain racketed through my body, and I closed my eyes, waiting for death's call..

When I opened my eyes, I saw myself in a pristine white room.

“Am I in heaven?” I wondered. The door opened and an old man in a lab coat entered.

“Thank God! You're awake!” He exclaimed, writing something in a chart. That was when I realized I was in a hospital. I had somehow survived what had happened to me. I suddenly remembered Damian and the hatred on his face as he had pushed me out the window, and I started crying. The machines close to me began to beep, and the doctor tutted, “Dear, stop thinking about whatever it is your thinking about. We don't want your heart rate rising, or you'll have a cardiac arrest!”

I forced myself to calm down, and tried to wipe my tears. That was when I noticed both my arms and my legs were in a cast.

“Where am I?”

“You're in a private clinic in the Hamptons.” The doctor answered.

“Who brought me here?”

“I did.” The door opened, and a young man walked in. He was blond, with beautiful hazel eyes, and a bone structure to die for. He looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd met him.

“Thank you for saving me.” I tried to smile, but my face felt numb.

“It's no problem.” He answered, settling in one of the chairs in the room. In sweats, he looked nice but I forced myself to remember there were more important things to do.

“How did you find me?”

“I'm a fan of sailing,” He explained succinctly, “Last night, I rented a boat to sail the quiet waters and I heard a scream followed by a thud, then I found you and brought you here.”

He smiled pityingly, and once again I was struck by how familiar he looked.

“Excuse me, do I know you from somewhere?”

He chuckled, “I'm hurt you don't remember me. I'm Ethan. Ethan Hale, your husband's stepbrother.”

Shivers of fear worked up my spine. Yes, Ethan was Damien's stepbrother from his late father's mistress. I'd seen him around a few times when I'd followed Damian to his family house for dinner. Ethan was usually quiet and mostly kept to himself, but he was still related to Damian. If Damian knew I was still alive, it was only a matter of time before he tried to kill me again.

“Please, please, don't tell Damian I'm here.” I begged.

Ethan looked uncomfortable, “Don't worry, he doesn't know. Nobody knows.”

I was stunned. Why would Ethan rescue me and keep it a secret?

“Oh, don't look so surprised, I know my elder brother wanted to kill you.”

My eyes bugged, “What? How did you know?”

“When you fell, Damian and some woman came to check if you were really dead. When they saw you weren't moving, they were happy.” Ethan answered, his face devoid of expression.

As much as I knew it, it still broke my heart to hear Ethan say Tiffany and Damian had tried to kill me. It was unfair really. I had made many sacrifices for them, and in return they'd treated me worse than dirt.

“So, why did Damian try to kill you?”

I spat angrily, “I caught him cheating on me with my bestfriend, and I told him I was going to divorce him.”

Ethan's jaw bulged, “I'm not surprised. Damian has a knack for eliminating anybody who stands in his way.”

From the way Ethan's body tightened, I could tell he had his own greviances against Damian. The man who had decieved me, who had taken my heart and crushed it without regard.

The doctor cleared his throat, “Uhm, there's something you two need to see.”

He picked up a remote and turned on the flatscreen TV in the room. The face and voice of a newscaster filled the room, “Breaking News: The Hale and Caldwell families have announced the death of Sophia Caldwell Hale, heiress to the internationally renowned Caldwell Hotel and Suites, and wife to Damian Hale, heir to Hale Oil and Gas, in an accident. It is reported that Sophia fell from the window of a mansion in the Hamptons and although her body has not yet been found, it is believed she is dead because nobody could survive such a huge fall.”

“Surprise, surprise.” I muttered beneath my breath.

Suddenly, the camera cut from the newscaster, and showed Damian addressing a horde of reporters. His eyes were red-rimmed, his hair was dishevelled and his clothes were rumpled. He was unlike himself. The Damian I knew would never let the press catch him looking haggard.

He looked into the camera and his eyes filled with tears, “My heart is shattered. I don't know what I did to deserve this. My wife of only a few hours fell to her death, and I'm so devastated. I loved Sophia with all my heart, and I don't know if I will ever love again. Please, be kind to me and Sophia's people as we navigate these trying times, thank you.”

My heart began to pound with rage, “Liar!”

The machines hooked to me began to beep again, and the doctor came to soothe me, “Stop it, Miss Caldwell!”

“Calm down, Sophia.” Ethan laid a hand on my cast. For some reason, some of my anger ebbed at his touch, but not all.

“I can't calm down,” I growled, “Didn't you see him lying about me? He's going to get the merger with my family, and he's going to keep having an affair with my bestfriend! I can't let that happen! I have to destroy Damian Hale and everything he stands for, and I have to do it now!”

Ethan sighed, “Sophia, you're not in any state to do that.”

“Why?”

The doctor chimed in, “Dear, you have thirteen fractures in your limbs, and thirteen stitches in your abdomen. Your ribs are broken, and your face ...”

“What about my face?” Fear gripped me by the neck.

The doctor sighed and held a mirror out to my face. What had been a beautiful feminine face was now a foreign landscape mutilated with huge cuts and bruises, most of which had been sutured and patched.

“Arrrrgh!” I screamed in abject horror.

“I can't believe Damian did this to me,” I sobbed loudly, “He ruined my face!”

Ethan placed a reassuring hand on my cast, “Remember, you mustn't let your emotions run extreme. Your heart is very fragile at the moment.”

How could I not? I remembered my parents. I was their only child. I wondered how they felt thinking I was dead.

“Damian Hale has to suffer for everything he has done to me!” I ground out, my voice an unstable mixture of anger, sadness, and frustration.

Ethan put his hand beneath my chin and brought my eyes to his, “I agree. He has perpetuated evil for so long. But how do we go about it?”

“A man like Damian has secrets that will destroy him. I will expose all his secrets and make sure he suffers the consequences of his actions.” I promised.

“Sir,” The doctor interrupted, “I don't think the lady is in any state for that. It will take at least six months with intense physiotherapy for her fractures to heal, and because of the trauma she has experienced and the drugs we had to give her for her condition, she has a fifty-five percent chance of having a heart attack.”

Ethan looked like he was considering the doctor's words so I immediately called his name, “Ethan! Look at me. I don't know what Damian has done to you, but I know you want to bring him down almost as much as I do. I'm going to push myself past my limits so I can recover quickly. Please, I'm going to need you to repair, no, reconstruct my face. When I finally get better, I'm going to infiltrate Damian's life, find out the skeletons in his closet and have my revenge.”

Ethan looked up to the ceiling and sighed, “Fine. I'll help you but you must promise not to risk yourself stupidly, and not to do anything to impede your recovery.”

A heavy weight was lifted from my heart, “Yes, I agree.”

Ethan turned to the unhappy doctor, “Dr Rand, I need you to refer us to the best cosmetic surgeon you know. Money is not a problem.”

*

Seven months later, I was walking on my own and I could move my arms freely. I felt a little pain but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I'd wasted enough time, and I wanted to get my revenge on Damian immediately.

I was holed up in one of Ethan's numerous apartments in Paris, far away from the prying eyes of his family as well as mine.

The events of the last few months played in a non-ending loop in my head. My parents had put out many search teams to retrieve my missing body, but they'd all come up empty, so they'd had to bury an empty casket in my name. At my burial, Damian and Tiffany had shed crocodile tears, making the whole world believe they were actually grieving.

After that, Damian had tried to convince my parents to agree to the merger deal with my family's company, telling them it was what I would have wanted. At the moment though, my parents had not given him an answer.

I heard the front door unlock, and Ethan entered, wearing a well-tailored suit and holding a paper bag in his hand.

“I brought you croissants, I know how much you like them.” Ethan smiled.

“Thank you,” I tore open the bag and brought out the pastry, munching on it.

Ethan watched me guardedly, and my hackles rose.

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

“I have some news for you but you have to promise me you won't freak out.” Ethan warned.

Eager to hear the news, I nodded.

“Your parents are going to sign the merger deal.”

I dropped the croissant on the floor, “No! No! No! They can't do that! If they do, Damian wins! How did you know? I haven't heard anything on the news!”

After I'd been discharged from the hospital, I'd spent my days soaking up every tidbit of news, facts, and rumours I could find on Damian. If the merger deal was going to happen, I'd have known.

Ethan ran his fingers through his hair, “It's not official yet, but you know Damian. He called me to brag about it. He said the deal will be signed in about three months' time.”

“Shit! That gives me three months to get my revenge!” I'd drawn up an elaborate plan that would take my a year at least, but now I was forced to dump that.

I quickly rushed to my bathroom and went to the mirror. Immediately I saw my face, I stilled. Three months had passed after the extensive reconstructive facial surgery and I still had not gotten used to my new face. It was the antithesis of my old face, angular, slim, with a less pronounced nose and wider lips. While before I'd looked like a choir girl, now I had the aura of a movie star.

I took a pair of scissors from a drawer, and began to snip at my hair. A knock sounded on my bathroom door, and a moment later, Ethan walked in, his hands in his pockets. When he saw my hair on the counter, his eyes widened.

“What are you doing?”

“Cutting off my hair.” My hair had been back-length because that was what Damian liked, but I no longer had to please him. With each lock of hair I cut, I felt like a heavy weight was being lifted off me.

When I'd cut my hair to a chin-length bob, I looked at Ethan through the mirror and asked, “How do I look?”

Without hesitating, Ethan swallowed, “Beautiful as always.”

“Which do you prefer? My old look or this?”

“It doesn't matter. I still know it's you. You're beautiful either ways.”

I nodded, satisfied, “Good to know. Ethan, I'm ready to have my revenge.”

“Sophia, you haven't received a clean bill of health yet.” Ethan complained, “I don't want anything to go

wrong.”

I gripped the edge of the counter, “Ethan! We're running out of time. Either you help me with this, or I sneak out and do it on my own.”