CHAPTER 1: ALL YOU NEED IS THREE WISHES

Mailys was lying in her bed, alone in this dark room. Her sad face was enlightened by the faint glow of her phone. She turned it off and closed her eyes, sighing deeply.

"I wish I could live such a love story."

This was a hard feeling to describe for her. She was happy for these fictional characters who finally found love after so many trials and so much suffering. That's why she loved to read web novels with happy endings. It made her happy. But as she was happy for the characters, she always ended by comparing herself to them. As her life wasn't as beautiful and bright as them, as her story wasn't as thrilling and entertaining as them, and, as her love life wasn't as fruitful and heartwarming as them, she always ended up being depressed.

Sometimes, she felt like she had a pretty good life. She currently had a good job and the trade she was practicing was the one she chose to have when she was young. Mailys had many responsibilities, and she was kind of respected, when it came to work anyway. She was tall compared to the other girl of the office. They all were petite and cute and she was 170 cm and she didn't match up with society beauty standards so she didn't feel good about herself. She had a dark skin and a round face with naturally pink cheekbones. Her hair was tied in a high bun, and every day she was wearing the same: a worn-out knee-length black skirt, an oversized white blouse with a big jacket.

She could have been very pretty as her body proportions was perfect. Unfortunately, she was always hiding herself behind lame clothes, never to take care of her skin, hair, nails… That is why her colleagues often made fun of her, considering her like another guy of the group. They were making pervert jokes like she wasn't here. Once, a female colleague of her stood up against them saying that she's still a girl and that they will sadden her eventually. Sadly, she already was used to it as she was the subject of mockery since she was young. "What a waste of Paris's view!" She had been greeted with this sentence on her first day of work. Her office was located at the top floor of a tower at Quai Grenelle in Paris, and her desk was right before the windows offering the best view to the Seine and Eiffel tower. Her colleague was disappointed to have his view blocked by Mailys. However, she was used to it, but she wasn't immune to the pain. She was always feeling tense, never to be herself in fear to be judged and insulted.

But once she comes home, Mailys finally could be herself. She would wear her favorite jeans, a washed out black one, and a big sweatshirt with anime character drawn on it. Like that, she looked like her teenager self. But she really was an adult. Mailys was indeed married and had a child. A little boy named Samuel. People called him Sam, but Mailys was calling him Sun because she thought of him as the only sunshine in her life. After sending the baby-sitter home, she would spend a lot of time playing with him, then she would make and eat dinner with him and finally send him to bed where she would read a book to him. Only then, she would go back to her own room to indulge herself in reading her web novels.

Samuel was her adopted son; they weren't blood related. His mother left without him when he was still a newborn and he was 6 months when she married her father. He brought her more happiness than she could never tell. Now, he was four, and while his father's always outside at work, he was her only support. Her husband, Soan, was busy most of the time. He would go to work before Mailys and Samuel woke up; and would come back after they fell asleep. The only proof of his coming was the dishes left in the sink and the wet towels left on the bathroom floor. From time to time, he would also bring a gift to his son.

It had been three years and half since they had been married, and while they had never been lovey-dovey with each other, they only grew apart from that time on. Now she barely sees him, and she could not feel anything toward him and from him, nor his love, nor the warmth in her bed. She regretted the way her marriage had gone. She could have put more effort to make it work. But most of all, she regretted she hadn't had children of her own. She wished she could have given Sun a brother or a sister. This way, he wouldn't have to suffer the solitude he was suffering now. Earlier that same day, she had a heartbreaking chat with the little lad.

"Sun only have you, so Sun loves you the most!"

Samuel saw that the more they were talking, the more the complexion of her mother was pale. Hence, he concluded with this last sentence and hugged her tight to make her feel better. She smiled but she only felt grievance from this sentence. Was he that lonely? Did he only love her because his father wasn't much around? The more she thought about it, the more she was feeling depressed.

"I wish I could be reborn."

The only thought made her chuckle. She was thinking that she may have been a bad person in her past life and that is why she had such a bad luck now. Currently, she wasn't a bad person but was that enough to get rid of karma? If she was reborn, could she live a better life? She chuckled again. She wasn't sure if her mind still worked correctly. Why would she be reborn? Her life wasn't that bad. She became a good adult, and she had little regrets. She hadn't had kids of her own, but she was still 27. She could have them later, and she still had Samuel. As for her second and biggest regret, there is nothing she could do about it, even if she was reborn.

When she was in middle school, she fell hard in Love with Nate, one her classmate. She felt like her feeling wasn't reciprocated so, she kept it secret from him. She only told her best friend Lily. Nate and Mailys became friends but one way or another, the truth always comes through. He found out and rejected her. She denied her feeling and things started to become weird between them until one day, they just stopped talking to each other. The thing she regretted the most was her lack of honesty at this very moment. She later eared about her best friend reveling her feelings to him, but she still forgave her. In the end, this best friend of her ghosted Mailys as soon as she entered college. Since then, she was never able to invest herself in a relationship.

However, when she fell for Nate, she was still young, and people felt like it was just a crush from a kid. But 10 years later, she still couldn't forget about him. As the years passed, she would lose parts of herself more and more. She knew he was her destined special someone, but she strongly felt she wasn't his. This knowledge ate her up from the inside until she couldn't do anything but pretend to be someone she wasn't. She couldn't be happy anymore, but she couldn't show it. She was dead inside, but she had to personate a stable young lady, alive. So, she pretended until she believed it. Then, she got together with Soan 2 years later. She knew him since long before, and they had much in common. He seemed to love her and asked her out. At that time, she was fearing to end up alone, so she listened to her head, not even checking her heart before accepting. She hadn't much choice since despite herself, she became a coward toward love. Hence, she never made too much effort for her relationship to go well. She liked Soan very much and respected him, but she wasn't loving him.

If she could be reborn in her past self, she would do things differently. She wouldn't let slip her chance to be happy. She wouldn't let people opportunity to break her heart nor her confidence. She would be intelligent, strong and beautiful. Mailys thought of her husband and swore that she would dedicate herself to this relationship. If the sky was on her side, she may become the real mother of Samuel.

Before she lost herself, Mailys was bright and lively. She was always singing and dancing. She also took acting lessons from 7th grade to senior year. Her teacher was proud of her and encouraged her to continue as she thought she could become a very good actress. She went against it because she preferred more intellectual things. She was a scientific nerd. In addition, she wasn't feeling as happy as she used to be, and soon she found it futile. She was already acting in her daily life, pretending to be happy, to the point she even fooled herself. At that point, she felt like her whole life was a waste. There are so many things she could have done, so many opportunities… This time, if she goes back to her past self, she would enjoy her life, she would live a more artistic life, but she wouldn't let anyone look down on her. This path seemed great, she loved daydreaming about it. But the hardship coming with this dreamt life seemed heavier, maybe she wouldn't have the courage to face it.

No, if she had to be reborn, she rather transmigrates in one of these stories she had already read. One with a beautiful and carrying and strong male lead, one where she ends up being a loved, gracious yet intelligent and badassprincess. She would be happy.

She started to fall asleep as her tears gone down her cheeks.

"I wish I could meet him again."

As she completed a third wish, a gigantic and glowing white sphere showed up in her mind. She naturally touched it with the tip of her finger and fell into darkness.