BAD HEROINES

4. A Misunderstanding

The door creaked open. Natalie stepped inside, her hands holding a tray with medicine and tools, her eyes heavy.

Since the viral video about Reina, she had been constantly exhausted. They had to stop reporters who kept trying to get to Reina.

That wasn't the worst part. Some even sneaked in to kill her.

"Those fools believing that faceless scammer."

She quietly moved toward the bed and put her tray aside. If only Reina had woken up, things would have been different, as she could have dealt with all of this.

But thanks to Michelle's protectiveness, she had even placed two officers outside as guards and gotten permission to transfer Reina to a safe place.

Who would have thought that the officer who always got on her nerves by prying into Reina's life would be the very person she depended on to protect her?

And now, tomorrow evening, Reina was to be transferred, just as Detective Michelle had proposed.

Natalie turned to the bed and froze.

She blinked.

Was she seeing things?

The more she stared, the wider her eyes became.

"Reina...?"

She rushed to her and shouted, "Damn you, bitch! You finally woke up!"

Natalie teared up and almost hugged Reina. The two of them had once been raised together.

"I thought you were a goner. Ah, I should call a doctor."

The girl on the bed stared blankly at the ceiling, her vision blurry.

Where am I?

It didn't take long before she drifted back to sleep.

---

The next time she opened her eyes, she didn't see the same view.

That plain white ceiling... windows... loud sirens... and the roar of an engine.

Two girls sat beside her. One was brown-skinned, and the other...

"Ah..."

Just looking at the other girl's face made her head throb.

"Reina." Natalie leaned in. "Are you okay?"

But the girl on the bed only froze at the sight of the other girl beside Natalie, staring at her intensely with a frown.

Reina, in Michelle's body, returned the intense stare.

When she got the call that Reina had woken up, she could only deduce that the one who had awakened was Michelle in her body.

She had even imagined how it would be when they met. Michelle would panic, shouting madly about the bizarre situation and demanding that everything be returned to normal.

As for herself, she would play the fool so that no one would believe Michelle.

However, the only thing Michelle did was stare at her with a deep frown.

"Who... are you?" Michelle asked.

Reina, narrowed her eyes. Looking at her own face while talking felt weird enough, but she knew it was something she had to get used to.

"Look at me. Don't you recognize me?

Michelle forced herself to sit up. Natalie immediately helped her.

"Who... are you?" Michelle asked again. "Where am I?"

Reina studied Michelle carefully. Her eyebrows rose in surprise then he gave Natalie a look.

Natalie frowned as something clicked in her mind. "Reina..." Natalie called gently.

Michelle turned to Natalie. "I'm not Reina." She froze. "Who am I?"

Reina drew closer and stared at Michelle's confused face. "You really... don't remember anything?"

Michelle shifted her gaze toward the door, though she wasn't really looking at it. She tried to recall anything she could.

Her brows knitted together.

She couldn't remember.

Reina studied Michelle. She lost her memories?

Hah.

Should she believe heaven was on her side?

A faint smirk formed on Reina's lips.

"Take it easy.," Natalie said. "Your memories will come back. Memory loss might happen after accidents"

Michelle's eyes widened. "Accident?"

Before Natalie could say anything else, a loud gunshot rang out.

It pierced through and shattered the window.

Blood splattered across the glass, and the driver collapsed onto the steering wheel.

Sniper! Reina instantly deduced, staying alert.

"Get down," Reina ordered Michelle.

"Natalie! Get the door!"

As for herself, she rushed toward the driver's seat.

They were in the middle of the road but it wasn't crowded, as were heading to a hidden location.

Since the sniper had hit the driver with such precision, she knew they had been waiting for them.

How did they know all of this?

The ambulance swayed violently, throwing them around. It became difficult to reach either the door or the driver.

Then something slammed into the ambulance from the front, even harder, shattering the remaining windows and tossing them around.

The vehicle rolled before finally stopping upside down.

Half-conscious, Reina looked at Michelle and Natalie. Both of them were unconscious. You have to be fine! she screamed in her head. Not Natalie. Not her body. She couldn't bear either of them getting hurt.

At that moment, the car door was ripped away.

Reina could only watch as a man wearing a helmet grabbed Michelle.

"No..." Reina muttered, wishing she could move.

She couldn't.

Then she closed her eyes.

---

The first thing Michelle noticed when she opened her eyes was darkness.

In the silence, only her rapid breathing could be heard.

Her whole body ached, especially her ribs.

She recalled the last thing she remembered.

There had been an accident.

What the hell is going on?

Now she was sitting on a chair, her hands tied behind her back and her feet bound tightly together.

Had I offended someone?

Then she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

Her heart raced as she silently waited.

A lamp suddenly lit up, forcing her to close her eyes.

Once they adjusted, she looked at the figure standing before her.

A young man with rough hair same to his stable beard stood there. His eyes were wide with shock, if not outright surprise.

Of course Lian had to be shocked.

Hadn't he just joined a gang only to find Reina was the one kidnapped?

Behind Lian stood a tall man wearing a heavy coat over a black suit. His deep eyes didn't even try to hide his cold intentions.

Beside him stood about eight men clad in leather jackets and pants, some holding helmets.

All those men... Was I really that much of a threat?

Without saying a word, the man in the suit stepped forward and landed a heavy slap across Michelle's face.

The blow was so hard that her head spun, and she tasted copper in her mouth.

"Urgh!" She groaned."Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Michelle asked.

The man answered with another heavy slap across her other cheek.

Michelle froze as her head snapped to the side.

She slammed her feet against the floor like a raging child. "It hurts! It fucking hurts! Why are you doing this? There must be some misunderstanding!"

But the man kept hitting her.

Finally, Michelle toppled over with the chair, groaning as she spat blood onto the floor.

Her face was swollen and almost unrecognizable.

"Misunderstanding?" the deep voice asked.

"Celine is only fifteen. Wherever she is, my sister must be scared. Where is she?"

Michelle didn't even dare question him anymore. The more she insisted she didn't know, the worse the beating became.

Maybe it would have been better if she had stayed in that hospital bed, knowing nothing about what was going on.

What gods had I angered?

As she lamented, she saw Celine's brother pull out a knife.

Her half-closed eyes flew open. "You can't be doing that! If you kill me, how will you find her? Give me some time. Maybe I'll remember in a few days... I mean hours."

Celine's brother raised his dagger to stab Michelle in the shoulder.

He had no intention of killing her, not before she revealed his sister's whereabouts.

He only wanted to insert her enough pain for her to realize how serious her situation was.

But then his hand was stopped.

Celine's brother looked over to see Lian gripping his wrist.

Celine's brother clenched his jaw and shot Lian a piercing glare. "What's the meaning of this, Lian?"

"Yushen, I don't think this will help," Lian said seriously, but cursing inwardly. Fuck, why did I have to step in? "If she's really who they say she is, threatening her won't work. Leave her to me. I'll get all the answers you wish for."

Yushen looked at Lian coldly.

Even though Lian had only recently joined his gang, he stood by his side for a reason. But... "Why do you think she would tell you?"

Lian went silent for a moment. "We met before."

Yushen studied Lian. "Okay," Yushen said, pulling his arm back. "I'll give you three hours. Do it, and there's a reward waiting for you."

Lian gave a faint smile.

With that, Yushen walked toward the exit leaving those two. He met her?