And Then We Collide

“A husband? Who would want someone that looks the way she looks?”

Those painful words keep ringing in Daniella’s head.

How could her step mother and step sister say such things about her. They were the only family that she had left and it hurt that their only thoughts of her were evil.

Daniella has always known that she was not conventionally attractive like other girls. Her baggy clothes, tightly braided hair, and unkempt eyebrows made her look even more plain and unappealing.

It had never bothered because she had always been her own biggest critic. She hated any form of attention from men and was happy living her life as a recluse.

However, it bothered her that they saw her in the same light that she saw herself. She could take the barb of her own thoughts, but it made her sad that she wasn’t just in her head. She really was unattractive.

At 21, she had zero interest in men, and found herself perturbed that she felt bothered by the statements made. It wasn’t like she was interested in ever finding love.

In that moment, the mansion suddenly feels very feels cold and empty without her father’s presence, filled with memories too painful to bear.

“Who would ever want somebody that looks the way she looks ?”

The words echo in her mind again.

She needs to get get out of the house. If only for a little while.

She jumps up from her bed, grabs a small bag and hurriedly stuffs it with a few essentials: a change of clothes, her phone charger, a book, her wallet, and a few toiletries. Just enough to get away and clear her head.

With her bag slung over her shoulder, Daniella heads downstairs, her heart pounding. The house is silent, only the sound of shoes holding the noise.

She slips out the front door, breathing a sigh of relief as the cool night air hits her face.

She gets into her, sleek, black Porsche Cayenne, (a birthday gift from her late father) and grips the steering wheel tightly.

She starts the engine and pulls out of the driveway, her hands trembling.

As she drives away, the mansion looms in her rearview mirror.

Tears blur her vision, and she wipes them away with the back of her hand. The road ahead is dark and empty, and she can’t help but compare it to her future. Her future was just as dark and empty.

Her mind races as she drives, the events of the past weeks crashing over her in waves. The loss of her father, the betrayal of her stepmother and stepsisters, the uncertainty of her own future.

The tears continue to flow, and for a second her eyes are too blurry to see. She grips the steering wheel tightly as she tries to focus on the road.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the headlights of an oncoming car blind her. In her state, she doesn't react quickly enough. With a sickening crunch, her car collides with the other vehicle.

The impact jolts her forward, and then suddenly, everything goes black.