Reborn At The Age of Eighteen

"Who are you!" Victoria pushed him away immediately, regarding him with suspicion. This is Antonio's territory. Could this man be sent by him to monitor her? At this thought, Victoria feels particularly ridiculous, as if she can't even control her own death. The man looks at her current state, a hint of pain in his eyes. "Miss, I'm here to rescue you as per Alessandro's request." "Rescue me? My grandfather... he..." She looks at the man, hoping he can tell her that her grandfather is okay. "Alessandro was buried three days ago," the man's words shattered her hopes. She cries, shaking her head. "It's all my fault for not seeing people for who they are. I've doomed my grandfather." The man glances vigilantly at the door, relieved to find no movement. He quickly pulls out a sharp knife from his boot and cuts the chain on Victoria's foot. "It's not the time to grieve. Come with me now." The man swapped the safety harness on his body to hers. However, the wedding dress's skirt is too long and bulky, so he uses the same knife to cut it, leaving it just above her knees. Victoria is led to the window where a rope is already hanging, presumably the same one the man used to climb up to the second floor. He carefully secures the rope for her, then instructs, "Don't be afraid. Just keep your eyes on me and slowly slide down. You'll be safe." Victoria nods, indicating her understanding. She looks at the man, still a stranger to her, and wonders why she doesn't remember him being around her grandfather. "Why are you saving me? My grandfather is gone; you don't need to risk yourself for this." The man pauses, his gaze serious as he locks eyes with her. "I'm saving you not just because of Don's request, but also because I love you." The heavy rain outside continues to fall, but the man's magnetic voice still echoes in Victoria's ears. But she had already been hurt once, experiencing this hypocrisy and hopeless feeling. How could she easily believe a man again? The man seemed to understand her thoughts. Without a word, he picks her up, places her on the windowsill, and carefully instructs her on how to step and slide down. Victoria, noticing he no longer has a safety harness, fears he might be trapped there. "What about you?" The man smiles slightly. "For us thugs, jumping from a second floor is a regular occurrence." "Come on, get ready now," he urged. Upon hearing this, Victoria wastes no time and starts to slide awkwardly, her energy sapped by days of captivity. She struggles to grip the rope tightly to prevent herself from falling, and the man grasps her arm. The rain beats down on both of their faces, blurring their vision. "Don't be afraid, just slide down and hold onto the rope tightly," the man's voice gave her unexplained encouragement. At this moment, seeing the man at the window holding the bomb's remote control tightly, Sofia's anger reaches its peak! Watching the man she has long admired rescuing the very person she wants to kill, she trembles with fury. "Lorenzo, if you let her go, I'll detonate the bomb, and we'll all die here!" She screams wildly, completely devoid of the facade she had maintained in front of others. Both Victoria and Lorenzo glance at her, but they don't stop their actions. Lorenzo is focused on getting the woman to safety, showing no fear for his own life. "You... your name is Lorenzo?" "Victoria! Hurry! Go now!" Lorenzo shouts, turning around to rush towards Sofia and grab the remote control from her. Antonio, hearing the commotion from downstairs and Sofia's scream, assumes Victoria has done something to harm her. He rushes upstairs to intervene. Sofia's one hand is already broken, but she knows that neither she nor Antonio can match Lorenzo in strength. She refuses to let Victoria go unscathed, preferring to die and take Victoria with her. She struggles to crawl towards the remote control, grabbing it with her other, unbroken hand, her eyes glowing with a fierce light. "Lorenzo! Even if I die, I'll be with you!" Outside, Victoria is almost at the first floor when a loud explosion rocks the house, followed by several more. Victoria's body is thrown onto the lawn by the force of the blast, rolling on the grass, disoriented and tasting blood in her mouth. Before she can get up, a mouthful of blood gushes out. As she watches the mansion before her reduced to ruins by fire, Victoria tries to crawl towards it, but the blood flows faster, and her body feels hollowed out. In the midst of the fire, she remembers the determined look in the man's eyes as he saved her. I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Lorenzo. Because you saved me, you lost your life in the fire... Grandfather, Cousin Matteo, Uncles... I'm sorry for being so willful and causing your deaths... And for involving innocent people in this tragedy. If I could turn back time, I would repay you all for your kindness. I would never let any bad person hurt you again! The rain in the sky grows heavier, as if trying to cover up the silence of this tragedy. "It's so hot... so hot... water... I need water..." In the dimly lit room, a girl lies on a large, soft bed. She seemed to be in great distress, sweating profusely. She slowly sits up, her mind replaying the scene of her death. For a moment, she couldn't shake off the horror and trembling! Didn't she die?！ Victoria looks down at herself, still wearing the black jacket, fishnet stockings, and studded boots. This familiar attire makes Victoria realize that the place she's in now seems somewhat familiar. She looks around, feeling the heat intensify. She doesn't know if she's alive, as she's supposed to have died on the lawn of that mansion. She slowly moves her body, discovering that aside from feeling unusually hot, everything else feels normal. Could she have been reborn? She glances at the phone on the table; it's the same model she had before her death. "Could this be..." She looks around in disbelief, and a large, prominent 'V' catches her eye. This is a hotel under the Valentini Conglomerate! It's her grandfather's hotel! She picks up the phone; the date shows 2020, the year she turned 18! So, this is... Looking at the familiar room, Victoria felt a sudden chill run through her veins. This was the turning point in her life. Because of that night, she became an object of scorn to everyone. It was then that she began to indulge herself, pushing away everyone who loved her the most. As she is still lost in her memories, her phone suddenly receives a message from Francesca, the so-called best friend who had pushed her into the abyss. Victoria, enduring the heat in her body, opens the message, and it's the same content as in her previous life. (Victoria, I'm not feeling well and can't come to meet you. Don't drink too much and go home early. See you at school.) She looks at the message coldly. In her previous life, she drank a glass of wine handed to her by Francesca and passed out. When she woke up, she was in bed with a stranger, with clear signs of what had happened the night before. Before she could think, a group of journalists burst in, snapping photos of them. The news quickly spread throughout Ravenwood. As the granddaughter of the Valentini Conglomerate, her every move was closely watched. By the time Alessandro found out, the news could no longer be suppressed. The public was immense, and Victoria was abandoned by the world in an instant. At that time, aside from Francesca's comfort and company, even her doting grandfather was so angry that he ended up in the hospital. She thought Francesca was a true friend who cared for her, becoming even more open and sincere with her. Little did she know that everything was orchestrated by Sofia behind the scenes, using Francesca. Later, her self-indulgence was also due to Sofia's manipulation, where Francesca tricked her into using drugs, causing her to become a shadow of her former self. At that time, her mind was rarely clear, but she still loved Antonio as before. He had saved her when she was young, giving her the strength to live. So, she always cherished Antonio's kindness and encouragement towards her. Although she forgot the rescue process after the accident due to her illness, she could never forget the words he repeatedly whispered in her ear as he carried her across a forest filled with thorns. Everyone had witnessed Antonio carrying her, near death, to seek help. Although afterward, Antonio didn't treat her as gently as he did in the forest, and instead showed aversion to her proximity, she was unwilling to give up this warmth that sustained her life. In order to marry him, she even used her life to force her grandfather to agree to a merger between their families. Her grandfather's heart turned cold towards her, but out of pity for her having lost her mother at a young age, he had to agree to her request. Little did she know that her wedding would mark the end of the Valentini Conglomerate. Her grandfather was gunned down at her wedding, her two uncles were taken away due to reported misconduct, and she thought Antonio would protect her as he did when she was a child. Instead, she was met with deeper despair. In that banquet hall, she was chained by Antonio for a full seven days. It felt like seven years had passed. This time, she would never give anyone the chance to hurt her or her loved ones again! The medication for her body heat was no longer effective. Victoria, in pain, grabbed her collar and stumbled out of the inner room into the suite's living room. Her eyes caught sight of a glass vase on the table. An idea formed in her mind, and without hesitation, she walked over, lifted the vase, and smashed it against her forehead, shattering the glass all over the floor. For a moment, she saw stars, and the pain overwhelmed the heat in her body, giving her a moment of clarity. The footsteps outside the door grew louder. She rushed over, locked the door from the inside, and leaned against it, forcing herself to calm down.