"You… you. W-what do you mean?" stammered the fake Beccalin.
Lilian smiled expressionlessly. "I wasn't sure before, but now I have confirmed it. Our soul truly did switch. You are occupying my life, while I'm…"
"It's not as if it's my fault!" Fake Beccaline, who was the original soul of Lilian Marchello, snapped. "I woke up suddenly and found myself here. What else could I do other than accept it? Do not look at me like I stole from you!"
Lilian viciously narrowed her eyes. All of a sudden, she rounded the table and snatched Beccalin by the jaw. Her grip was hard and painful. "So now, you can run your mouth? Where was all this bravado with your scum husband, Caesar Stoman?"
Beccalin struggled in her grip. Her face twisted in pain. "You're hurting me!"
"I'm hurting you?" Lilian felt amused. "You're using my life and have the guts to show attitude to me? Listen, since you're in my body, I'm sure you have all my memories as well. Look carefully through them. You should know the kind of person I am. It is best not to provoke me. You really won't like what I will do to you, do you understand me?"
She roughly shoved her. Then she walked back and plopped down into the chair. Lilian crossed her leg and folded her arms. She stared at her original body with mirth in her gaze.
"Having fun, aren't you?"
Beccalin swallowed.
"You ran from your pitiful life to enjoy mine?"
"Are you blaming me?" Beccaline snapped. "It's not like I wanted this. It happened and it is not my fault."
"Yes, it is not your fault, and that is why we have to switch back–"
"No!"
"What?"
Beccalin shook her head. "I won't switch back. I don't want to."
"You–!"
"This is the only peace I've had in my life since I ever existed." The woman had begun crying. "I finally have a taste of it, so why should I give it up? For the first time, I don't have to worry about what people will say or what curses my family will lay on me for making decisions they do not approve of. Or… or how they will control me like a dog."
"For once, I don't have to crawl for anyone or sleep in basements or eat crap. I don't have to apologize for things I didn't do wrong! For once I no longer have to watch my life crumble, too helpless to do anything. I no longer have to… to… to watch the man I loved break me over and over again. I no longer… have to feel like… I am cursed. You have to understand, you have to—"
"I have to what?!" Lilian slammed her hands on the table and shot to her feet. "You are the one who allowed all these. You let them! Why should I be your salvation? I didn't build my life up to where it is for you to enjoy? Who the hell do you think you are? When did I become a savior for you?"
Beccalin completely broke down. "I'm sorry… I… This is not…"
"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "But… but it really is not that easy for me. We are two different people, and it's not at all that easy. Yes, I have your memories, and I know what you are like. But I'm not like that. I am not as tough as you. I am not as confident as you are. I am not as brave as you."
She sobbed.
"So what can I do? What could I have done, huh? No one ever had mercy on me. I was dying and no one was saving me. I wanted… I wanted to give up on my life because I thought it was the only way for me to escape. I took those pills, I wanted to die, but then after I tried that night… I woke up and found myself here. I have no clue what happened… I really don't."
She shook her head.
"I am sorry about this. I did not mean to take your life or to steal from you. I didn't mean to be here. But this is reality." She inhaled sharply. "This is where I am, and that is where you are. There is nothing we can do about it. This life is mine now, and that is your life now. Won't you have mercy on me too? Why can't I be greedy and jealous? Why must I give up this life even if it does not belong to me?"
At this point, her face was beyond a teary mess. Snorts she did not clean off had spread down her nose.
Of all things, this irritated Lilian the most. "Will you clean that off? Don't tarnish me like that. Gross!"
She settled back down in the chair. For long minutes, maybe close to thirty minutes, this original Lilian, who now occupied her body, continued to sob. She was subjected to watching her cry until she eventually calmed down, only sniffling every now and then.
Beccalin said, "I saw the post before you took it down. You signed the divorce papers."
"I did."
"And?" Beccalin sniffled. She sat down. "What do you plan to do now? Are you really going to force me? We can't switch back. I have tried everything and nothing worked. So why don't we just accept it? You signed the divorce papers, so I'm assuming you're more open-minded than you seem. You're accepting this reality like I did, because unlike me… you're a much stronger woman who can adjust easily no matter how terrifying a situation seems."
She smiled a little. "It's quite admirable. I envy you…"
Lilian stared at her. She scoffed, "Since you really want to sink into my life, you'll have to be useful to me then, don't you think?"
"Useful?" Beccalin blinked. "How so?"
"Let's see." Lilian smiled slowly. "You've gone ahead to agree to a marriage I'd never agree to. So then in return, I will handle your life how I see fit. Especially your initial relationship with Caesar Stoman. And in this case, you will be useful when I need you to be. Are we in agreement?"
Beccalin swallowed. She could not read this woman whose life she had fallen into. Why did the switch have to be between them? They did not even know each other other than through the media.
She asked, "How much will you need me then?"
Lilian thoughtfully ran her tongue over her teeth.
"We'll have to see," she said.