Chapter 1: Prologue

What will you do when you have made a bad choice in life?

A choice so severe, that it changes the entire direction of your life.

For someone like me, I would do everything in my power to change it. I would close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm my frantic nerves. I would clear my mind and forget everything that ever happened; the sorrowful memories, and even the happy ones — everything that ever occurred during the span of my new fate.

Not long ago someone asked me, "If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?" I laughed bitterly at the question as memories sped through my mind like an ever going bullet train traveling 80 miles per hour.

Everything changed in a snap when I said I would accept the proposal. At first I tried, gods knew I did, I gave my earnest sincerity to accept my newfound fate, enduring and overcoming every obstacle that I came upon not matter how fatigue I had become.

But now, I was never more determined to put things back to where it, back to when I was the happiest.

The life changing choice that I made granted me many things, a life of luxury and glamour, a life where you were admired by thousand, beloved my millions and respected in the entire world. It provided me with dazzling bejeweled jewelries, stunning fashionable clothes, glamorous shoes that any girl would die for, and fame out weighing the hottest celebrities and riches by the millions.

But I have never felt lonelier in my life.

I was the definition of a Modern day Cinderella, casted off into an intimidating new fate that she didn't want. Cinderella never asked for a prince. The only difference between the Cinderella popped out from your fairy tale books and me, was that I was unwilling from the very start. I didn't have a choice. I hated the glamour, I hated the fame, and I despised everything that came with the glory of my new title.

No one actually knew what happened to Cinderella after she got married to the prince, no one knew about her insecurities, her loneliness, and her sadness. The ending was always portrayed as the perfect fairy tale happy ending; everyone was joyful and contented at the very end.

But what would happen if I tell you that Cinderella wasn't happy?

Let's put a twist to the typical fairy tale ending. What if I were to tell you that Cinderella hated the new life that she found? What would happen when the prince that she had found was a stubborn selfish heartthrob? What would happen when Cinderella and the prince hadn't loved each other at the beginning? What if the path to being a princess consists of harsh criticism, endless tears of heartbreak, and immense sacrifice on her part?

What will Cinderella do in that case?

The answer is simple, clever yet cowardly; Cinderella would runaway.

Because all the things that she used to do: Roaming around carelessly on the streets of Seoul and enjoying the warm sun rays, lining up to catch the hottest blockbuster movies at the theater, working at her part-time jobs, gossiping with her dearest friends at her favorite yogurt store and riding on the ever crowded subway — all the little things that she didn't care for before were taken away from her, and right now, she yearned greatly for it.

Like a stunning beautiful butterfly, she had once flew around blissfully contented with everything she had. But now, the very wings that granted her freedom were thorn and battered, stripped away from her. She just couldn't fly anymore.

So Cinderella had no other choice than to run away, to drop everything to the ground and just run away from her suffocating lifestyle. She didn't want to be a butterfly that couldn't spread her wings freely and fly.

I refuse to be Cinderella ever again.

I will throw away my dazzling crown, and trade it for a cap to conceal my face. I would strip myself of all the beautiful lavish dresses and exchange them for simple comfortable commoner clothes. I would remove my sparkling glass slippers and tie up the shoelaces of my favorite worn-out running shoes.

And to put an end to the never-ending circle, I would finish everything with a letter to pour out my heartfelt gratitude and I will return my most precious item back to my beloved prince – a dazzling ruby wedding ring that signifies our union.

Because I know when dawn comes, prince charming can never find his Cinderella again for the glass slipper that leads to her would forever be shattered beyond means.