My best friend, Chloe Sullivan, handed me a gorgeous silver mask at the Halloween ball.
Wear this, she said, her voice sugary sweet. You’ll be the queen of the ball tonight.
But at the stroke of midnight, our identities swapped. She stole my face, my status as an heiress, and my fiancé.
Then, with a cruel flick of her wrist, she threw me into a mental asylum, leaving me to be tortured to death.
Reborn into this life, she stood before me again, offering that very same mask, her eyes burning with greed.
This time I smiled and took it. And then I turned to place it on the face of a female death-row inmate.
Sweetie, you want to be a queen?
Fine. I’m giving you the life of a condemned woman.
As that silver mask was offered to me, the acrid smell of electroshock therapy from the mental asylum suddenly flooded my nostrils.
The excruciating pain still lingered around my temples, making me shiver violently. My stomach twisted into knots.
“Skylar, what are you spacing out for? Try it on! This is my Halloween gift for you.”
My best friend, Chloe Sullivan, held out the very mask that stole my life, smiling sweetly. Yet, in her eyes, I saw only greed and jealousy.
It was this mask.
This mask stole my entire life and dragged me into hell.
In my previous life, I fell for her “I’m doing this for your own good” act. I eagerly put it on, becoming the most dazzling star at the Halloween ball. Even Julian Vance, the scion of one of the city’s most powerful families, was utterly captivated by me.
I thought it was the peak of my life.
Little did I know, it was the beginning of my descent into the abyss.
The clock struck midnight, a strange white light flashed, and everything changed.
Chloe Sullivan, my best friend, became me. She inherited everything I had-my family’s fortune, my face, my fiancé.
And I? I was forcefully thrust into her body, becoming an ordinary “Chloe Sullivan.”
I ran like a madwoman to my parents, screaming, “I’m Skylar! She’s an imposter!”
But all they saw was Chloe’s plain, ordinary face contorted in what they perceived as madness.
They called for doctors, had me injected with tranquilizers, and personally sent me to a mental asylum.
There, I was strapped to a bed, day after day, force-fed unknown drugs, and subjected to forced electroshock “therapy.”
The searing pain of electricity coursing through my temples, and the hallucination of my bones being crushed inch by inch, became my only memories.
When I died, I was a skeleton of my former self. My soul floated in mid-air, watching Chloe, arm-in-arm with Julian, curl her lips in a sneer as she looked at my death report.
That face, which was once mine, displayed a malicious grin I’d never seen before.
“A fool like you deserves to rot in a mental asylum.”
That hatred, so profound it chilled me to the bone, dragged me back from hell, back to this very moment before the ball began.
“Skylar, why are you zoning out? Don’t you like it?”
Chloe’s voice held a hint of urgency, a flicker of fear that I might refuse.
I pulled myself from those hellish memories, meeting her eyes-seemingly sincere, yet brimming with greed and jealousy.
I smiled.
“I love it. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
I reached out, taking the cold mask with a smile. The chill on my fingertips snapped me back to reality.
“You’re so good to me, Chloe.” I drew out the last syllable, my voice cloyingly sweet.
Chloe visibly relaxed, practically melting. She immediately hooked her arm through mine, as if we were still inseparable best friends.
“Of course! We’re best friends, aren’t we? Tonight, at the ball, I’m going to make sure you’re the most dazzling queen there.”
Yes, a queen.
In my last life, I was a queen for half a night, only to repay it with an eternity in hell.
I lowered my gaze, concealing the murderous intent swirling in my eyes.
“Chloe, why don’t you go ahead to the ball? I want to prepare a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?” Chloe’s eyes lit up.
“You’ll see,” I said, winking mischievously. Then I leaned closer, whispering so only she could hear, “Go see if Julian has arrived for me. Keep a close eye on him, don’t let some other vixen try to steal his attention.”
At the mention of Julian, Chloe’s breath hitched.
She had always been jealous of my engagement to Julian. In the last life, the first thing she did after stealing my identity was to sleep with him, cementing her status as “Julian’s fiancée.”
“Okay!” She agreed almost instantly. “I’ll go grab us a good spot. Hurry up, my Queen.”
She smiled, squeezed my cheek, and turned to leave, every step radiating impatience.
I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.
“Frank, how are things coming along?”
A steady male voice answered, “Don’t worry, Miss Maxwell. Everything is arranged. The female inmate has just been transferred from maximum-security prison. The route and time have all been confirmed.”
Frank is our family’s head of security. He’s been with my father for over a decade, a retired soldier, a man of unwavering loyalty and integrity.
In my previous life, after I was sent to the mental asylum, everyone thought I was insane. Only he, defying Chloe and my so-called parents’ warnings, secretly came to visit me.
Though he was later dismissed by Chloe under false pretenses, every year on the anniversary of my death, he would discreetly visit my grave to pay his respects.
I never forgot that kindness.
Reborn, he was the only one I could trust.
Tonight’s Halloween ball was hosted by a highly exclusive organization comprised of the city’s most influential elite. On the surface, it was a lavish socialite party, but in reality, it featured a truly depraved “after-party spectacle.”
They would “invite” a death-row inmate, scheduled for execution soon, to experience a taste of decadent luxury in their final moments. It served as a morbid entertainment and talking point for those twisted elites.
In my previous life, I was completely oblivious, playing my part as the queen.
This time, I had Frank uncover every detail in advance.
Including the chosen female death-row inmate: her file, her photo, and the transport route and handover time.
I changed into a form-fitting black catsuit, easy for movement, and put on the most basic black mask. Then I drove to the address Frank had given me.
It was an extremely remote, abandoned road. The vehicle transporting the death-row inmate would briefly stop there to hand over the “cargo” to the ball organizers.
When I arrived, a black SUV was already waiting. Frank, with two bodyguards in black suits, stood by the car like three immovable giants.
“Miss Maxwell.”
I nodded, my voice devoid of emotion: “Where is she?”
“In the car. As you instructed, we used military-grade tranquilizers. She’ll be out cold for six hours; not even God himself could wake her.”
I opened the car door. A stale mix of cheap cigarettes and mildew assaulted my senses.
A woman was slumped in the back seat, breathing heavily, clearly in a deep coma.
She looked to be in her thirties, with a rough face, but her eyes held the desperate, hardened aura of a true desperado.
Her file said her name was Ruby. She was on death row for a crime of passion and home invasion robbery, carrying two murders on her conscience. Her execution was scheduled for three days from now.
A perfect substitute.
“Do it,” I spat out coldly.
Frank’s two men moved swiftly, like handling lifeless cargo, roughly dragging Ruby out of the car.
I didn’t waste any time. I retrieved the purple strapless gown and the glinting silver mask I’d prepared from my own car.
“Strip her, and put this on her. Remember, be clean about it, leave no traces.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
While changing Ruby’s clothes, one of the bodyguards pulled a crumpled photo from her tattered pocket.
It was a picture of a skinny little boy, smiling innocently at the camera.
I glanced at it, my heart utterly unmoved.
Pitiable?
When she plunged a knife into someone else’s heart, did she ever think about their poor children?
When I was frothing at the mouth from electroshock, who pitied me?
I personally picked up the silver mask and placed it over Ruby’s weathered face.
The opulent gown, paired with the exquisite mask, instantly concealed all her roughness and ruthlessness.
A mysterious, regal, and intriguing “queen” was born.
I admired my “masterpiece” with satisfaction.
“Frank, find a makeup artist. Touch up the exposed skin, so no one can tell the difference. Then, personally ‘escort’ her into the ball, announcing her as the late ‘Skylar Maxwell, the heiress’.”
“Yes, Miss Maxwell. I will personally guide her in, ensuring everything is flawless.”
I looked at the magnificent mask covering the death-row inmate’s face, my smile icy and cutting. I leaned closer to Frank, giving him my command in a voice only we could hear, every word deliberate:
“Remember, before midnight, she is not to remove the mask. She is not to utter a single word.”
Frank’s expression hardened: “Don’t worry, Miss Maxwell, I’ll have men watching her like a hawk. But what if she struggles, or something unexpected happens…”
I cut him off, my voice devoid of warmth, as if discussing an inanimate object.
“Then use industrial-strength adhesive. Glue that mask firmly to her face.”
As I quietly stepped into the ballroom, wearing a white feather mask, nearly everyone’s gaze was fixed on the silver-masked woman in the center of the room.
The dazzling light of the crystal chandeliers seemed to dim in comparison to her.
She was escorted by Frank, who played the role of a “butler,” and two bodyguards, descending upon the crowd like a true queen.
I saw Chloe standing amidst the crowd, her fists clenched, her eyes brimming with jealousy and malice that threatened to spill over.
She thought the one commanding all that attention, was me.
Just then, the ball’s true star made his entrance.
Julian Vance, the heir to the Vance empire.
He wore a perfectly tailored black bespoke suit, tall and handsome. His appearance drew gasps from countless socialites.
He was my fiancé in the last life, and Chloe’s ultimate target, the man she would stop at nothing to snatch away.
Julian’s gaze swept indifferently across the room, ignoring the preening socialites. Finally, it landed precisely on the silver-masked “me.”
His eyes flashed with undisguised admiration and intense interest.
My hand, holding the wine glass, paused slightly.
Indeed, everything was unfolding exactly as it had in my previous life, without a single deviation.
Julian walked straight through the crowd, and under everyone’s watchful eyes, approached Ruby.
He bowed slightly, performing a perfect invitation to dance, his voice laced with a charming smile.
“My beautiful lady, may I have the honor of this first dance?”
The entire hall erupted in murmurs.
I saw Chloe’s fingernails practically digging into her palms, her face pale and twisted with jealousy. Why! Why did this final glory still belong to Skylar?
But the next second, she took a deep breath, and the twisted jealousy on her face slowly morphed into a cold, eerie smile.
She looked at the dazzling pair in the center of the dance floor, her eyes filled with schadenfreude, as if watching a play.
Dance, my foolish best friend, dance to your heart’s content.
Enjoy your last few minutes as Skylar Maxwell.
Because at the stroke of midnight, everything you possess-your family, your engagement, even this powerful man before you-will completely belong to me, Chloe Sullivan!
She raised a glass of champagne, and across the bustling crowd, she silently made a toasting gesture in the direction of the silver mask.
It was like an early celebration for the downfall of a clown.
“Dong-dong-dong-”
The heavy, resonant chime of midnight echoed through the estate.
This was the height of the Halloween revelry, and also… the moment the magic would take effect.
In the center of the dance floor, Julian and Ruby’s dance had just ended. He was bending his head, as if about to say something.
According to the ball’s tradition, when the midnight bell struck, everyone was to remove their masks and reveal themselves.
The lights in the hall abruptly extinguished with the final chime, plunging the room into utter darkness and silence.
I could feel an invisible, eerie force rapidly spreading through the air.
In the darkness, I could clearly “see” a faint white light emanating from the silver mask on Ruby’s face. It snaked like a living entity, precisely finding Chloe, who was hiding in a corner, filled with eager anticipation.
The white light instantly merged into Chloe’s forehead.
At the same time, parts of Chloe were forcefully stripped away and injected into Ruby’s body.
The midnight bell struck, the identity-swapping magic activated, and my meticulously planned hunt had finally begun…
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