I couldn’t tell when the fire started.
The sky was already burning when I opened my eyes.
Ash fell like snow around me.
Hot.
Endless.
Silent.
The palace, my palace was collapsing in the distance.
“After everything I did.”
My voice broke as I stepped forward through the ruins.
My legs felt weak, like they didn’t belong to me anymore.
“I tried,” I whispered.
“I really tried…”
A loud crack echoed as part of the royal tower collapsed.
I flinched.
My hands were shaking.
The ground beneath me was covered in broken stone, glass, and blood I couldn’t even trace anymore.
“I accepted my fate,” I said, almost laughing through the pain.
But it didn’t sound like laughter.
It sounded like breaking.
“And now this,”
My knees gave out.
I fell into the ash covered ground.
Everything around me was fire and ruin.
The kingdom I was supposed to save
was gone.
Tears blurred my vision.
My chest tightened painfully.
“I don’t understand.” I whispered.
My fingers dug into the ground.
Then I looked up at everything I lost.
And my voice cracked completely.
“I know a lot of people might be wondering what just happened,”
A shaky breath.
“Well,”
“It all started like this.”
The fire roared louder.
And everything faded.
I was almost done,
My fingers hovered over the keyboard, frozen just above the final line of my novel.
Years of work… all leading to this moment.
A villainess story.
People always said they hated them.
The cruel female lead who ruins everything.
The one who always loses in the end, no matter what she does.
And honestly?
I agreed.
I always preferred the heroine.
Aurora Bellrose, kind, bright, loved by everyone without even trying.
She was the type of character readers could root for without hesitation.
The kind that felt safe.
Pure.
Easy to love.
Seraphina Ravencroft, on the other hand…
I exhaled softly and leaned back in my chair.
She was everything I thought a villainess should be.
Cold.
Proud.
Jealous.
Selfish.
The kind of woman who always stood in the way of happiness.
I never liked her.
But I still wrote her.
Because she felt real.
My fingers moved again as I typed the final note at the back of the manuscript.
Even villains deserve to be understood.
I paused for a second, staring at those words.
Then shook my head slightly.
“…Still don’t think she deserved Aurora’s ending though,” I muttered under my breath.
A small, tired smile crossed my face anyway.
At least it was finished.
Or so I thought.
“Aria Whitmore!”
The voice cut through my thoughts like a blade.
I blinked.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
My boss was standing right in front of my desk, his expression already twisted in irritation.
“How many times have I called you?” he snapped.
“Thirty minutes.
Are you here to work or daydream?”
“I didn’t hear you,” I said quickly, pushing myself up from my seat.
“I was just finishing something important.”
His eyes dropped to my screen.
Then to the printed manuscript sitting beside it.
That familiar look of disgust formed instantly.
“Oh,” he said coldly.
“Still stuck on that stupid villainess story?”
My chest tightened.
Before I could respond, he grabbed it.
My manuscript.
“Hey, don’t”.
He didn’t listen.
He threw it to the floor.
The sound was sharp.
Final.
Then he stepped on it.
Right on my words.
Right on Seraphina.
Something inside me went still.
“No one wants to read villainess garbage like this,” he said.
“You’ve wasted years of your life on something no one cares about.”
My fingers curled tightly into my palms.
“That’s my work,” I said quietly.
He scoffed.
“It’s a waste of time.
Just like your obsession with these ridiculous stories.”
Something in me snapped.
“I said that’s my work.”
His gaze hardened.
“And I said it’s worthless.”
Silence stretched between us.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Then he straightened.
“You’re fired.”
For a second, I didn’t move.
“…What?”
“Pack your things.
Get out.
I never want to see your face in this building again.”
The words didn’t feel real.
Not at first.
But slowly, they sank in.
I bent down.
Picked up my manuscript.
The pages were slightly crumpled where his shoe had pressed down.
I smoothed them carefully anyway.
Not because I agreed with him.
But because it was still mine.
Even if I didn’t even like my own villainess that much.
I grabbed my bag, turned, and walked out.
Without another word.
The moment I stepped outside, the sky had already turned heavy.
Rain poured down hard, soaking through my clothes within seconds.
Cold.
Relentless.
I didn’t run.
I just walked.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
My thoughts were messy.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe I really had wasted years on something pointless.
I always liked Aurora more anyway…
A sharp horn cut through the rain.
My head snapped up.
Too late.
Impact.
Everything shattered.
Sound disappeared.
The world broke apart in an instant.
Then nothing.
“…Move!
She’s still alive!”
Voices echoed somewhere far away.
Faint.
Distorted.
Hands.
Movement.
Panic.
Then silence swallowed everything again.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t sure where I was.
White ceiling.
Soft light.
A hospital room.
I tried to move, but something cold and sticky clung to my skin.
My breath hitched.
I looked down.
Red.
Blood.
“No…”
My voice came out shaky.
I forced myself upright, legs trembling as I stumbled toward the mirror.
And froze.
My reflection stared back at me.
Blood stained my clothes.
My face.
My hands.
“What… what is this…”
My fingers brushed my cheek.
Real.
Warm.
Then,
Something inside my mind cracked open.
Not memories of the hospital.
Not the accident.
But something else.
A world I had created.
A story I had written.
A girl I never truly liked.
A villainess I never rooted for.
Seraphina Ravencroft.
My breath stopped completely.
“…No.”
My voice trembled.
“That’s not possible…”
But even as I said it, I already knew.
I wasn’t in my world anymore.
I was inside my novel.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
My head snapped toward the door.
Please let me know how much you like my story, and your honest opinion about it.
Your feedback, will help me in improve in my writing.