The morning began with a lie—one Mira Daniel believed because she loved him.
Sterling Daniel kissed her forehead gently, the way he always did. "I'll be back tomorrow," he said, adjusting the jacket he wore for "business trips." "This meeting is important."
Mira smiled sleepily. "Today is the due date, Sterling."
"I know," he murmured, touching her stomach with fake tenderness. "Call me if anything starts."
But he didn't wait for an answer.
He was gone too quickly.
Hours later, Mira woke with a sharp but manageable contraction. Her baby was ready. She moved carefully around the house, humming softly as she showered, dressed, and checked the hospital bag she had prepared with Vanessa Cole—her best friend of twelve years.
Vanessa knew the due date.
Sterling knew.
Everyone important knew.
Her life felt steady. Prepared. Safe.
She placed her hospital bag in the car, only to freeze halfway down the road.
She forgot something.
The envelope.
The one containing all her delivery documents—insurance papers, ID, her birth plan, and the checklist Vanessa had typed for her.
"Of course," Mira muttered. "Of all days."
Her house was only a short walk away. She'd been taking daily walks anyway. So she parked near the corner and walked back, rubbing her belly gently as another contraction fluttered through her.
The house was oddly quiet when she stepped inside.
Too quiet.
Sterling should've been miles away. Vanessa should've been at work. But Mira felt a presence—a shift in the air. A wrongness.
Then she heard it.
A muffled laugh.
A gasp.
A woman's voice.
Mira's heart froze. Her feet moved on their own. She climbed the stairs quietly, the ache in her chest growing heavier with each step.
The bedroom door was ajar.
She pushed it open.
Her world ended.
Sterling Daniel—her husband.
Vanessa Cole—her best friend.
Together.
On her bed.
On her due date.
"Mira—wait—!" Vanessa shrieked, scrambling for the sheets.
"It's not—" Sterling stuttered, reaching for her.
But she ran.
Down the hallway, her tears blurring everything. She reached the top of the stairs just as they caught up with her.
"Let me explain!" Sterling shouted, panic rising.
"Mira, please," Vanessa cried, grabbing her arm. "Listen—"
"Don't touch me!" Mira screamed, ripping her arm away.
Vanessa grabbed her again. Panic made her reckless. The two women struggled—Mira sobbing, Vanessa begging, their hands tangled in desperation.
Sterling stepped forward to separate them, his voice sharp with frustration.
"Stop it—both of you!"
His hands landed on Mira's shoulders.
Not hard.
Not meant to hurt.
But enough.
She was standing too close to the stairs.
Her balance slipped.
Vanessa's scream cracked the air.
Sterling's face went pale.
Mira reached out for something—anything—
But there was nothing to hold.
She fell.
Down the stairs.
Down into silence.
Down out of her life.
The last sound she heard was Sterling shouting her name—
Too late.
Mira Daniel opened her eyes to a room that didn't belong to the world she knew.
Soft silver light stretched endlessly, without walls, without corners, without sound—only a quiet hum that vibrated like a heartbeat beneath her feet. She tried to move, but her limbs felt weightless, as if her body had been carved out of smoke.
Someone else was there.
A young woman sat curled on the other side of the glowing floor, her long blonde hair tangled, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Her blue eyes were swollen from crying, but beneath the fear, she carried a strange grace—as if tragedy had followed her long before death.
They stared at each other.
Two strangers.
Two souls pulled from life too suddenly.
The air shimmered.
A woman stepped forward, as though she had been part of the light all along. She wore flowing robes that shifted like moonlit water, she looked ageless and eyes held centuries, but her face was warm, kind—yet powerful enough that the room quieted around her presence, and her dark curls framed a face that was both ancient and impossibly gentle.
"I am Seraphine," she said, her voice soft but resonant. "This place is the Threshold, you are between worlds… between what you were and what you may yet become."
Mira's breath hitched. "Am I dead?"
"Yes," Seraphine replied. "Both of you."
She walked down to a table which was not notice by both the women before and watch them straight in the eye with burning passion
"Lucky both of you are given a chance to back, which is a rare case in this side....u both your story isn't over yet."
The younger woman wiped her eyes. "My name… is Aurora Kingsley," she whispered. "I—I don't want to go back. My life was full of shadows. My death was worse. I don't want to return to any of it."
Seraphine nodded, as though she already knew the answer.
Then her gaze turned to Mira—whose last memories were scattered, blurred by shock and betrayal. The moment of death felt distant, like a nightmare slipping out of reach.
"You, Mira Daniel," Seraphine said softly, "were taken unjustly. You died with a life inside you. A life you still—"
"My baby…" Mira whispered, her voice cracking. "I didn't even get to hold—"
Seraphine knelt beside her, placing a warm hand over Mira's trembling ones. "Your child's soul is gone now. But your path is not finished. You may return, if you choose."
Mira nodded through tears she couldn't wipe away. "Please. I want to go back."
Seraphine raised her hand, and the glowing room shifted into a window overlooking the Earth—blurred green, blue, and gold. "Then we must find your body. A soul can only return to the vessel it left."
She motioned for them both to step toward the glowing space. The women followed, their forms drifting like shadows behind her. The world beneath them pulled into focus—trees, night air, and the dim outline of the place the older woman had last called home.
Fire.
The guide stopped, her expression turning grim. Smoke curled upward, reaching toward the heavens as though begging for witness.
The younger woman gasped. Seraphine felt something inside her twist painfully, even though she had no heartbeat anymore.
Flames roared up into the night sky, devouring wood, cloth, bone—everything.
Two silhouettes stood near the inferno.
Sterling Daniel.
Her husband.
And Vanessa Cole.
Her best friend.
Watching the fire burn.
Mira's knees buckled. A scream tore from her, but no sound left her mouth.
Seraphine's voice was sorrowful. "Your body is gone, Mira. Burned to erase the truth."
Mira shook, her soul trembling with grief and rage.
"Then I-I can't go back?"
"You can." Seraphine turned to Aurora. "A soul that rejects life leaves behind an empty vessel."
Aurora closed her eyes peacefully, whispering, "I'm tired, Seraphine. Let her have my body."
Seraphine touched Mira's cheek gently. "Aurora Kingsley belonged to one of the most powerful families in the country. Her death was no accident. You may return in her place—but you will inherit her enemies as well as your own."
Mira wiped her tears, determination rising through her grief.
"I'll take her body," she whispered. "And I'll find the truth for us both."
Seraphine smiled sadly.
"Then rise, Mira Daniel…
…as Aurora Kingsley."