A Wedding Vow of Vengeance

ight whispered, trying to mask her unease with anger. This was not the same girl she was used to bullying. She was something else entirely. "I woke up." Ashlyn's lips curved into a smile that didn'

yn. We're sisters, after all." "Stop defending that ungrateful brat!" Ashlyn straightened her spine. "Ungrateful? That's funny coming from you, you miserable scum. And you," she turned to Penelope, "you manipulative bitch." Christopher's jaw dropped. "Ashlyn!" "What's wrong, Christopher? Shocked that I found my voice?" She smirked. "At least I'm natural. Unlike your plastic girlfriend there." "How dare you-" Christopher stepped forward. "Save it for someone who cares about your opinion." Ashlyn turned on her heel and headed upstairs. Here's an expanded scene of Ashlyn searching her old room: Ashlyn burst into her old room, immediately assaulted by memories that weren't quite hers. The space felt both familiar and foreign – a testament to the girl whose body she now inhabited. She yanked open the dresser drawers, rifling through carefully folded clothes. "Where is it?" Her hands trembled as she touched a blue silk scarf. Original Ashlyn's mother had given it to her on her sixteenth birthday. A memory flickered – not hers, but Ashlyn's. A gentle woman with kind eyes wrapping the scarf around her daughter's neck. "Blue was always your color, sweetheart. Remember, no matter what your stepmother says, you are worthy of love." "Damn it!" Ashlyn slammed the drawer shut, moving to the desk. Stacks of diary entries scattered across the surface. Her eyes caught fragments of the original Ashlyn's writing: "Dear Diary, Christopher smiled at me today. I know Mother would say I'm being foolish, but maybe he really does love me..." "Penelope keeps telling everyone how lucky she is to have me as a sister. But sometimes, when she thinks I'm not looking, her eyes are so cold..." "Mother's document is the only thing I have left of her. Mrs. Knight keeps trying to find it, but I've hidden it well. Or at least, I thought I had..." Ashlyn's throat tightened. She picked up a small music box, opening it to hear a familiar lullaby. More memori