Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 48

“So, you really can’t remember a single thing from all the five years you’ve been gone?” Lacy’s eldest sister, Eliana asked for what seemed like the nth time, complete disbelief in her eyes. “Nope, nothing.” Lacy laughed, already feeling ten times better at her sister’s presence.

So much better that she actually didn’t mind the now annoying question. “Come on Eliana, lemme come and stay with you instead, I don’t think I can go another day dealing with mum and dad’s overbearing attitude.” She whined softly, changing the subject when it seemed like her elder sister was going to say more.

You see, Lacy didn’t like to talk about it much, but the fact that her family members and friends wouldn’t stop asking her if she really couldn’t remember anything kept bothering her more than she tried to admit.

She hated the looks of pity, the few ones of incredulity they shot at her each time so much so that she had stopped receiving visitors, her parents and her sisters and the house staff being the only people she interacted with occasionally. Aside that, she was always alone.

“I would have said yes, Lacy… Lord knows I really want to, but we both know that she’d just follow you to my house, and lord knows the last thing I need is mother poking her nose in any of my affairs.” Eliana said, her words causing Lacy to pout adorably.

Lacy was a strong woman… a strong, independent woman, but with her really weird, and honestly speaking quite terrifying situation, even she knew that she needed all the help she could get, and her parents for one actively took advantage of her predicament to run her life like they had always wanted to.

Seriously speaking, she had just about had enough with everything.

Already, two weeks had passed, and her memories were nowhere close to returning to her.

She went for a psychological evaluation with that tall lanky doctor every three days, and she had to admit that it was really the only thing she looked forward to these days, which should tell you just how pathetic her once vibrant life had become.

“When’s your next psych evaluation?” Eliana looked at her younger sister. Out of the three of them, she was the one who had positively taken after their mother in terms of looks, and it was really funny, because she had been the one who bonded the most with their mother as well, agreeing with her ways, and allowing her to make decisions for her whenever one had to be made. But surprisingly, marriage seemed to have completely changed her… she seemed to be breaking away from their mother’s stronghold with each passing day.

As a matter of fact, now that Lacy was really paying attention, she did realise that her two sisters had done a lot of growing up while she was away.

“Lacy?” The chestnut-haired woman nudged her younger sister who for some reason seemed deep in thought.

“Yeah, yeah?”

“I asked when your next psych evaluation was.”

You see, Eliana had a super busy schedule taking care of a husband and three kids, but she made sure that whenever she had the time, she passed by her parent’s house to check on her younger sister.

“It’s tomorrow.” Lacy confirmed.

“Ah, I see,” Eliana nodded, her perfectly plucked eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

“What?” Lacy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh nothing,” Eliana shrugged innocently, “I just think that your doctor is a very fine young man, don’t you think so too?”

Lacy laughed, a deep one that caused her belly to hurt slightly. “You sound so much like mother right now; the resemblance is uncanny.”

“Even if I do, Lacy… I don’t really mind, because to be honest with you, I think that rather than dwell on the past and be miserable because of it, you ought to move on and focus on the future instead.”

Lacy sighed turning serious too. “Say what you’re saying is true, you do know that I cannot really go out with him because he’s my doctor, right?”

“Pfft, who cares in this era?”

“Hospital management, apparently. I believe it’s why they made the rules in the first place.” The dark-haired girl chuckled in amusement, the laughter fading into a soft smile as her sister reached for her hand. “Look, Lace… if not the doctor, why not try someone else? Even before all of this disaster happened, you were all alone… and while you’re going to give me that bullshit about just taking it cool and enjoying your single life, we both know that you had those lonely moments, and now with your memory loss, I can only imagine how it’d be even more difficult for you. I barely visit you as is, and we know how Elise’s schedule is even worse. Your friends won’t stop asking about your disappearance, but someone new will be just perfect. Just think about it, Lace.”

Lacy was actually thinking about it, and she had just one sentence. “It’s not that easy, Liana…”

“It actually is now, Lace…” The older sister said excitedly, whipping out her phone, and flashing it like it was the answer to all her sister’s problems. She unlocked it, “Now, there are apps that help you meet new people,”

Lacy frowned, “Like f******k?”

“What? No—wait, well, now that I think about it, yes, like f******k. But even better. These apps are made specifically for dating and hooking up. All it takes now is a simple swipe.”

“I’m not looking to hook up with anyone, Eliana,”

“So don’t.” Eliana agreed, “But this will give you something fun to do… you get to meet new people after all, you know… pretend to be interested in them a little bit, and then if it doesn’t progress into anything more, you can just let them go and move on to the next best thing, no questions asked, no need to feel guilty about it.”

Lacy couldn’t deny the fact that she was becoming interested in the idea with each passing minute, even though a part of her felt like she was committing the utmost betrayal for some strange reason.

She had to admit, she was liking this new version of her sisters she had come back to meet. They were not the stuck up, annoying girls she had left behind. Her sisters had really had some serious character development in the space that she was gone, become much more mischievous and fun to be with.

She really liked it.

It was partly a reason why she felt so down when they weren’t around and she was left all alone with their parents.

“And have I told you the best part?”

The younger girl shot her sister a look, “Wait there’s more?” She fake gasped.

Eliana laughed, “I forgot to tell you the part where mother and father would be thrilled to see you doing this.”

“Are we still talking about the same mother and father I know?” Lacy laughed too, because if there was anything she knew about her parents, it was the fact that they were still the old conservative people she had left behind. Hell, she had been told that Eliana’s marriage had been an arranged one, and apparently Elise’s was just narrowly missed, but luckily, the man she had set her sights on was the same man they had had in mind for her.

Did it sadden her that she hadn’t been there to witness her sisters find their happy ever after?

Well, it honestly did, but Lacy tried to console herself in the fact that after all those years, she had made it back to them in one piece, that there was still a chance to have a lot more opportunities like that with them.

“We’re not going to tell them the dates were found online, Lacy… come on, I’m not that stupid?”

“So how will we go about this then?” Lacy was curious.

“Easy. We can just say they’re my husband’s friends… or my clients, the opportunities are endless. Come on,” Eliana nudged her sister, “Let’s do it, it’ll be fun!”

“Alright fine.”

“Yes!” Eliana squealed in delight. The two got right into it almost immediately, setting up a profile for Lacy and completing all the processes required. Ten minutes had barely passed after all was done when there was a beep, both sisters reaching for the phone at the same time in anticipation. “Open it, open it!” Eliana rushed, and so Lacy did, “It says you matched with Alrik Hunter.” She read to her elder sister.

“Ooh… such a sexy name, and oh my god, he’s cute.” Eliana squealed when she leaned in to take a look. “So? What then? What do I do?”

All of a sudden it felt like she was learning to drive all over again, and just like then, there was something exciting and frightening about this new prospect too. “You text him, Lace.”

“Text him? But I don’t even know him. What am I going to say?”

“I don’t know? A simple hi for starters?” Eliana chuckled at her sister’s adorable cluelessness, “Oh look,” She showed her the phone, “He has already started for you.”

Hi.

Lacy’s heart was thumping very fast all of a sudden at the sight of the short message, her weird feeling of guilt suddenly gone, “He does know that I just want someone to talk to, right? I’m not looking to do any of these hookup things you’re talking about.” She warned her sister.

“Yes, yes. We were very clear in your bio.”

That was all the confirmation our girl needed apparently.

She reached for the phone and then with a deep, dramatic sigh that had Eliana rolling her eyes, she typed in the same words back.

Hi.