The Awakening

In the depths of darkness, sound echoed—a persistent drip, drip, drip of water falling upon metal. As Seraphina Frost stirred back to consciousness, the incessant rhythm greeted her, refusing to be ignored. It was a constant annoyance, a reminder of her awakening to a reality she couldn't comprehend. Attempting to move, she was met with immense pain, her body feeling heavy as if submerged in quicksand, each limb a struggle to control. After what felt like an eternity of stillness, she managed to muster the strength to wiggle her toes, then, with great effort, twitch her fingers. Progress was slow, but it was there.

Running her tongue over parched lips, she winced at the pain that shot through her, she felt as if she had been run over by a truck. With determined focus, she forced her eyes open, blinking against the harsh, fluorescent lights that assaulted her senses. Gradually, her vision cleared, revealing the stark surroundings of a dimly lit basement storage room masquerading as a bedroom.

A small mattress lay atop unforgiving concrete, accompanied by a bedside drawer and a rickety vanity table supported by stacks of thick textbooks. The sole source of light emanated from overhead fluorescent bulbs, casting eerie shadows in the damp, oppressive space. No windows in sight. It was suffocating—the air heavy with the smell of mould.

As she surveyed her surroundings, trying to get her bearings, Sera realized she lay in a corner of the room, at the foot of the bed, almost as if she had been crawling towards it before passing out. Her body bore the marks of violence—reds, dark browns, black, and purples marring her skin, hidden from immediate view. Her once-white dress, now stained and worn, offered scant coverage against the evidence of abuse. With painstaking effort, she sat up, using one arm for support against the unforgiving concrete floor. Looking down, she found her legs bore the same cruel testament to mistreatment, whip marks etching ugly patterns upon her flesh.

"Where am I?" she whispered into the oppressive silence, her voice foreign even to her own ears. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she crawled towards the vanity table, using it as a crutch to pull herself upright.

In the reflection, a stranger stared back at her—a young woman who seemed to in her late teens, with wide hazel eyes tinged with gold, long thick lashes, and raven-colored hair cascading over her shoulders. Despite the bruises and the weariness etched upon her features, there was a haunting beauty to her, undeniable and stark. With a mixture of disbelief and horror, Sera pulled down the neckline of her dress and took in the extent of her injuries—handprint marks upon her neck, bruises littering her collarbone and arms, a tapestry of agony painted upon her skin.

She pulled at the hem of the dress, raising it upwards to her waistline, and could see almost no clear skin but a barrage of red, purple, black, and dark brown bruises across her skin. The burning pain she also felt at her back was a clear indication that her back was not spared the abuse, which was now clear extended to all parts of her body except her face and lower arms.

"Who am I, and what is happening?" she wondered, her mind reeling with unanswered questions.

Seraphina Frost—a name that resonated with power and success. A formidable businesswoman, heir to the Frost conglomerate, she had climbed the ranks to become one of the planet's top earners. Her legacy, built upon shrewdness and determination, had transformed Frost Enterprises into a global force, specializing in banking, insurance, Technology and cutting-edge security solutions. She was revered, feared, a force to be reckoned with—all achieved by her own merit at the age of forty-one.

Beauty, wealth and brains, She had it all. All except a family of her own as her work was her life. But such is life and she had made peace with it. She was used to the lonely life and being the heir of a billion-dollar business. It was lonely at the top. She did not have the luxury of time to fall in love like everyone else. Even her proposed union was arranged by her family. She had escaped the rigidity of entering into an arranged marriage by proving her worth through her work. At the age of forty-one, she had made peace with not having an heir of her own and continuing her parent's bloodline and legacy and had begun grooming her young but bright twenty-nine-year-old vice president to take over in her stead when she stepped down from her role.

Yet, her last memories were of her home office, engulfed in the solitude of pre-dawn hours, reviewing project plans amidst the silence of the night. A sudden bout of dizziness, a thirst left unquenched, and then—a descent into darkness, a fall down the stairs, and oblivion.

Seraphina Frost was dead, her legacy a memory, her body a vessel discarded. And now, in this unfamiliar form, she stood on the precipice of a new existence, grappling with the inexplicable truth of her reincarnation.

As fragments of memories flooded her mind, she recoiled in disbelief, the pieces of a puzzle falling into place with chilling clarity. She had died and awakened in the pages of a book—"Billion Dollar Union," a tale she had dismissed as frivolous, forced upon her by her ambitious vice president, Jason Marshall.

When Jason was not sitting in on meetings or shadowing her, he could be found hunched over with a silly grin on his face reading silly web novels and web toons. He had made her read this specific book because of a small character bearing her name Seraphina Frost.

Disbelief clawed at Sera's throat as the truth sunk in like a rusted anchor. The realization of her rebirth, the echo of two lives - Billionaire Seraphina Frost, a woman who dared anything, and now... this. Am extra in a pre-written story, her entire existence a footnote in a thousand-word tragedy that fueled the romance of the protagonists. A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. The absurdity of it all. "Billion Dollar Union," they called it. A title that mocked her current state. The only certainty this "union" offered was Seraphina Frost's absolute demise.

Sera's laugh echoed in the sterile white room, a hollow sound devoid of mirth. It was a laugh born of disbelief, a bitter acknowledgement of the absurdity that had become her life. The fantastical world of "Billion Dollar Union," the novel she'd devoured countless times, felt like a cruel parody compared to the stark reality surrounding her. In that world, love triumphed, social barriers crumbled, and happy endings were a foregone conclusion. Here, in the harsh light of day, Seraphina Frost, the woman she was supposed to become, lay cold and lifeless – a casualty of circumstance and manipulation.

"Billion Dollar Union," is written in the first-person perspective of the female lead, Luna Lark. Luna, a young woman with dreams as big as the stars, found herself deep in love with Elias Frost, heir to Frost Enterprises, at her very own coming-of-age gala.

In summary, dark forces conspired against Elias at said party drugging him, and Luna's half-sister, Sera, short for Seraphina Lark, leading to both parties engaging in a one-night stand. Seraphina unwittingly became a pawn in their game and Luna's budding love cut off quickly due to the unfortunate event.

The Lark family, driven by an insatiable hunger for power and social prestige, saw Sera's predicament as a golden opportunity. They capitalized on their daughter's compromised state, orchestrating a loveless union between her and Elias. His protests were drowned out by the tide of their avarice. The final nail in the coffin came with the news of Sera's pregnancy – a child conceived not in love. This union, born of darkness and sealed with a bargain, promised nothing but a gilded cage and a lifetime of unfulfilled desires.

Following the birth of his child, Elias, disillusioned and disgusted by the depths of human greed, swiftly severed ties with Sera, claiming sole custody of their child and divorcing her without hesitation. Left alone and distraught, Sera's spirit withered under the weight of her despair, her life slipping away like sand through her fingers. She dies of depression.

Her death set the stage for the main characters' romance story. Through the lens of her guilt for falling in love with her sister's husband, Luna took on the responsibility of caring for her nephew, determined to right the wrongs of the past and forge a future filled with love and hope. She fights to be part of her nephew's life and becomes a second mother to him gaining his love and trust and over a six-year duration, she also gains the love and trust of Elias who comes to see her genuinty. Together with Elias, they faced down every obstacle and adversary, their love shining like a beacon in the darkest of nights.

Their journey was one of resilience and redemption, a testament to the power of love to conquer even the greatest of trials. And as the final pages of "Billion Dollar Union" turned, Luna and Elias stood hand in hand, their love a testament to the strength of the human spirit.

Their love story began with her death—Seraphina Frost's DEATH, to be precise. Yet, here she stood, alive and reborn, with the memories of her former life etched into her mind. The strangulation marks and other signs of severe abuse that marred her body served as a stark reminder of the falsehood surrounding her demise. But this time, she had no intention of succumbing to fate. The look in her eyes hardened.

She was going to live.