Third Chapter: The Past and Secret

The corner of her lips tugged into a small smile as she caressed the golden words, particularly eye-catching against the red background. She knew her father was not proficient in English. Receiving such from him, she felt warmth in her chest. "Why didn't I know you have such side, Dad?" she said teasingly as though her father was around.

She failed in her search in the closet but she was not dismayed in the least. The card she found served as a great discovery.

There was not much to see in the vanity table so she decided to venture the door at the end of the passageway-corridor. As she got up, a sudden surge of scenes bombarded her mind.

The scenes played one after another in a fast forward manner. Unable to attune to them, she was tormented by an immense headache to which she paled and grimaced; and the card that she held onto crumpled in her hand, formed into a fist.

The discomfort was intense: she barely supported herself to sit on the chair without falling. Also, it was nonstop and long-lasting, simply torturing her.

When her agony was over, her image in the mirror was in a sorry state. Her forehead was full of sweat; and her face became as white as sheet. She took her gaze off the mirror and it fell on her hand. She loosened her hold on the card. One by one, her fingers lifted, revealing a red paper crumpled into a ball.

So she took the ball of paper and straightened it out. As she tried to flatten every crease, she thought of the cause of her pain: memories of the host.

The surge of scenes that bombarded her mind were memories, not hers but of the host, the owner of the body, who was like her: had the name Xue Yanyue. In other words, she was like a ghost that possessed someone else's body. However, her soul traveled to a different world: a world that had some similarities with her original world.

And with that, it was right to say that earlier, she had been too creative in her assumptions and had herself going with her own fiction.

According to the memories, the owner of the body she had taken over, or the host, was a celebrity. To be specific, she was an uprising actress that had been taking side character roles for two years until she won an award as the best supporting actress in a prestigious film festival.

Half satisfied with the result of the effort she put in on straightening the card, she went back to the bedroom and put the card in the drawer. Although it was not from her father, she did not dare discard it.

With a thump, she slumped on the bed. She stared at the ceiling blankly. Her mind was in a mess.

Earlier, she had thought she survived from that accident; this time, her death was confirmed, which meant that her parents must be grieving because of her.

The idea of her old parents' sad and crying faces prickled her heart. Her nose soured then her eyes watered. When it came about her parents suffering because of her, she could not help but cry.

A few drops of tears trickled down her face. Wiping them, she said, "Didn't I cry earlier?" She looked for tissue, still crying. "Stop crying or else, you'll get dehydrated."

Remembering the box of tissue on the vanity table, immediately she walked to the walk-in closet. When she arrived at the table, she saw her crying reflection. "How can someone cry and still look beautiful?" Aggrieved of how unfair the heavens were, she cried more, "This is unfair!"

"Have you not cried enough yet?" She was not usually this crybaby. However, it seemed that transmigrating into a body of an actress turned her into a nonstop cryer. She slapped her cheeks as to wake up her sleeping indifferent self. Then, returning to the bedroom, she thought of the the matters regarding the host as it helped her divert her thoughts away from her parents, keeping her from crying.

After receiving the award, the host became popular in an instant. Aside from the award's night being that of an international film festival and her winning in it, it was her unexpected nomination and winning that had greatly contributed to her popularity. For someone that was seen as 'not-that-exceptional' to win such award, she would certainly pique people's interest.

Yes, she had moved many hearts with her winning acting, but aside from a little praises, no one had high expectations for her. So when she got nominated and won an award, many were surprised and her followers in social media increased.

Although there were voices that was opposed to her achievement, but they were outnumbered by those that had eyes that finally recognized her skill.

"No matter what you do, there will always be people who will try to pull you down," she commented, "especially to the big trees." For big trees attract the wind.

(Big trees attract the wind — high-profile persons attract jealousy)

Now that she, the transmigrator, had become a celebrity in a blink of an eye, not that she considered the host a big tree, she had to be more careful about her image. Otherwise, people would pick on her every flaw and mistake.

'As if these people are not human themselves,' she thought. 'Although celebrities are public figures, they are humans too. They are not perfect. They commit mistakes.'

"So, in the future, do not judge me," she said, "for I did not choose this life freely." However, every word was useless. Aside from herself, no one could hear her. "Otherwise, why would I choose such a difficult life?"

What she did not like about her new life was the responsibilities and problems that were passed on to her. As a well-behaved child she had not suffered from great difficulties in her past life. However, the host had a past and secret that when dug by those nosy people would definitely stain her reputation and bring her career into ruins.

"With such a past and secret, you dared enter the entertainment industry?" Annoyed, she questioned the host. "You are simply seeking trouble after another."

Author's note:

Hello, my reader, did you have a great time reading this chapter? If you do, please comment your thoughts. I like praises too, you know. And if you don't, I am open to criticisms so comment as you like. I'm not a masochist tho so have a little restraint when scolding me T_T.

About the pics? I'm doing my best about that matter. I really hope there's someone reading this. Anyway, thanks for reading. Take care of yourselves for there are people that worry about you. ^-^

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