The Queen's Back

"Bang!"

Mona Clem fell straight from the 88th floor of the hotel. The rush of falling left her feeling weightless and terrified, her body shaking uncontrollably.

In the fading light, she saw two shadowy figures on the rooftop above. Rage ignited in her eyes as she screamed, "Barbara Burton, Teddy Powers, I swear I'll haunt you both, even if I'm just a ghost!" With that, she reluctantly shut her eyes. Plummeting from the 88th floor, she knew there was no escaping death.

But Mona wasn't ready to give up like this. At just twenty-four, she was at the peak of her life, and now i I was all coming to an end. If she hadn't walked in on her fiancé and her cousin in bed tonight and gotten shoved off the roof by them, she'd still be convinced she was the luckiest woman in Nathontown, about to marry the guy who loved her most.

It's so ironic. Teddy, her fiancé, had been her childhood sweetheart. They grew up together and got together officially in college. He treated her like she was made of glass, always looking after her and making sure she didn't have to lift a finger. He practically kept her on a pedestal.

But tonight, she realized it was all because she was from the Clem family. She had the shares her mom left her and was the apple of her grandparents' eye.

As she fell, the wind screamed past her ears, slicing at her skin like a million tiny knives, and the pain cut straight to her heart. If she could, she'd rather face the worst hell imaginable than let those two get away with it.

Her consciousness started to drift away. Just as she fell into complete darkness, Mona felt a brutal impact as her body slammed into the ground. Blood poured from her broken body, and she felt her bones shattering.

*****

Maxwell Carter. Other than that, she had no sense of awareness. Maybe it was because everyone thought her death was

ruin until they were left homeless. Eventually, overwhelmed by their downfall, they jumped from a high-rise, getting a taste of their own medicine

a choked voice, he said, "Mona, I've done everything I could for you in this life. In the next one, can I have a chance for you to love me?" Mona whispered softly next to his ear, "Thank you for everything. In the next life, I'll take care of you, love you, and protect you." If there were a next life, she'd run straight into Maxwell's arms and shower him with all her love. But for now, without a body, all she could do was dream about being with

reach Maxwell. His fingers gently traced the

Maxwell gave a faint smile at her photo on the

was slowly falling apart. She was stuck at her own grave, unable to move. As she watched Maxwell's figure fade away, her vision grew blurry with tears. "Maxwell, don't do anything stupid. I need you to stay alive and be okay," Mona

He kept walking until he disappeared completely from her

form completely vanished, Mona's mind replayed Barbara's cruel words from that night on the hotel rooftop.

woman here. Now you get why Teddy never wanted to touch you? From the start, he only

is my half-brother. Your dad? he's actually my real dad. Oh, wait, I almost forgot you're not even

get this-your mom didn't die in a car accident. My mom and dad actually worked together to mess with the brakes and make it look like

*****

as if Barbara's twisted grin was still right in front of her.