2 First Life

All her life, Andrea felt like there was something wrong with her; she was not satisfied with her life. All her life, it was her parents that decided everything for her. From her studies, to the friends she makes, to the course she has to take in university and the last straw was choosing the man she will marry. She was already in her thirties but her parents still had a say in her life.

Truthfully? It was suffocating. Very suffocating.

At first, she thought it was okay, after all it was normal for parents to worry about her studies and grades. Plus her parents were also both accomplished professionals so they had high hopes and standards for their children.

Andrea studied in an all-girls high school because it was what her parents wanted. Her parents were pretty strict on her at those times, and would monitor almost everything. She was not allowed to stay out late at night and had the curfew of six o'clock in the evening on regular days. If the school had an event where she had to stay on school at late hours, one of her parents would accompany her. She didn't even go to cram schools. What was the point? Her mother was a doctor while her father was a professor.

Her friends were all chosen by her parents. Her friends only consisted of those approved by them. One time she made friends with a transfer student who was afterwards labeled as a delinquent and got into trouble a lot of times. Her parents were very angry at her and made her transfer schools.

Even at high school, she wanted to run away many times, but she always hesitated. She felt like a coward. She knew that no matter how much she hated to be controlled by them she could never escape. And the more she resisted, the stricter they would be.

When she graduated from high school, Andrea's parents sent her abroad to study medicine. Of course, her mother went with her to keep an eye on her studies. At her parents' choosing, she studied medicine, just like her mother and older siblings.

During her studies in America, she met a guy who worked as a part-time singer in a bar, Josh Wu. The two got into a relationship and tried to keep it a secret. But somehow, Andrea's family found out about it and forced the two to break off. She was shipped off to United Kingdom after that and continued her studies there.

Even though heartbroken, she continued her studies. She decided to show her parents that she could succeed and finally let her have the freedom she had always wished for.

A few years later, she graduated and chose to be general surgeon, just like what her parents wanted. She returned to the Philippines and started working in the hospital her older sister manages.

At first, everything was fine, that was until she fell in love again. He was a freelance painter, Andrei Castillo.

Of course, once the two made their relationship public, objections were raised from Andrea's family, the Fuentebella Family. They forced the two to break up, just like what happened in the past.

"Mom! Dad! You can't just do this!" Andrea exclaimed to her parents. She was already to the brink of crying. "Can't you just let me chose the one I will marry? Can't I at least have that right?"

"You choose it yourself?" her mother mocked. "That boy is an orphan and his job is very unstable."

"Your mother is right Andrea. You should choose someone who graduated with a degree and is a professional." her father added.

"You mean someone you chose right?" she retorted. "Last month you set me up with the son of Aunt Leticia, Richard."

"What's wrong with Richard? He's a lawyer."

"He's a womanizer who sleeps with different women almost every week!" she replied. "Please. Please just let me off this time!"

"We're doing this for your own good!" her father exclaimed.

"My own good? What? Just like Matilda and Arthur?" she retorted again. "Matilda is struggling to keep up with her in-laws' expectations and Arthur's wife ran away with another man. You wouldn't even make it public because you're afraid to tarnish our family's name! Is that what you call for our own good?"

"That is enough Andrea!"

"No! It is not!"

"What would that Andrei give you anyway?" her mother asked. "He doesn't have a good family that can back him up and a stable job to support you! Andrea, you're a doctor!"

"Why does that matter? Isn't mutual understanding and true feelings more important in a relationship? Sure Andrei has an unstable job but my job as a doctor is enough to feed us!"

"And who made sure so you can get to where you are today?"

Andrea huffed in disbelief. They were already drawing 'that' card.

"So that's how it is." she dried her tears. "You two don't need children. You need people that owe you a debt. This conversation is finished."

She walked out of the room. Despite her mother calling her name and ordered her to come back, she continued to make her way out of the house.

Andrea walked aimlessly in the streets. She didn't know where to go. Her friends weren't really her friends and she hadn't seen Andrei after he was threatened by her father the previous week.

While walking, rain suddenly poured from the skies. She couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

"Hey! Are you mourning for me or punishing me?" she snickered. "I mean, love thy parents right? But there should be a limit right?"

With the rain and the tears in her eyes, Andrea couldn't really see clearly what was in front of her. All of a sudden, she was in midair. There was no pain or anything, just shock. She felt herself land on the asphalt road roughly and saw blood seep from her head.

She then thought that she was definitely dying. She even had the time to assess her own condition; broken bones, multiple organ rupture and probably a huge injury in the head. Yep, she was dying.

'So this is how it feels to die.' she said to herself mentally. She could see people in front of her and saw them screaming, but she couldn't hear anything. 'I hope in my next life, I can be free and be who I want to be. I hope to never be a caged bird and soar freely.'

She felt her eyes get hotter and her chest tightened. She was having trouble breathing and her vision was starting to darken. Andrea took her last breath only thinking to be free if reincarnation does exist.

Andrea wasn't wrong, reincarnation did exist, but there was one extra detail she missed, she was reincarnated in another world. A world called Vastia. And she wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but she remembered the life she lived as Andrea Fuentebella.