Transmigrated: I Became My Nemesis's Woman

Despite holding Leo close throughout the night, Ivy barely slept.

For a while, she simply lay there, listening to the soft, steady breathing of the little boy nestled against her and the quiet presence of Xander on the other side of the bed.

It was peaceful,warm and for the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to experience what having a family might truly feel like.

Then reality crept back in.

Her thoughts drifted to everything she had learned over the past few days, and the comforting warmth around her was slowly replaced by uncertainty.

According to what Xander and Florine had told her, Ivy’s first encounter with Xander had been nothing more than a one-night stand, with Leo being the unexpected result of that night.

But after speaking with Nathan and recalling fragments from her increasingly vivid dreams, Raven found herself questioning that version of events.

The pieces no longer fit together.

The real Ivy hadn’t approached Xander by chance.

She had approached him with a purpose.

A hidden motive.

And judging by Nathan’s words, that motive had something to do with finding her biological parents.

The realization sent a chill through her.

The more she thought about it, the more she saw unsettling parallels between her own past and Ivy’s.

Raven herself had only begun uncovering the truth about her life after reading the letter Hardley had left behind. That single letter had led her to question everything she believed about her identity.

Now Ivy seemed to have been on a similar journey.

Both of them had been searching for people they believed belonged to them.

Could the girl in that photograph be...

The thought stopped midway.

She couldn’t bring herself to finish it.

There simply wasn’t enough evidence.

She didn’t know who the people in those photographs really were, aside from recognizing herself among them. Hardley had never confirmed her connection to anyone in the images, choosing instead to investigate her past quietly and from a distance.

Yet she couldn’t ignore the dreams.

They had become more frequent.

More detailed.

More vivid.

What had once seemed like random flashes now felt disturbingly real, carrying emotions and memories that lingered long after she woke.

Every passing day made it harder to dismiss them as mere imagination.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Raven arrived at the conclusion she had been avoiding.

The young woman she kept seeing in those dreams...might not be a stranger at all.

She might be seeing fragments of her own life.

A quiet sigh escaped her lips.

"If that’s true," she whispered so softly that no one could hear, "then what exactly was Ivy trying to uncover... and how deeply am I already involved in it?"

There had to be a reason.

Raven refused to believe that her soul had somehow become entangled with Ivy’s life by pure coincidence. Too many strange events had unfolded, and the increasingly vivid dreams only deepened her suspicion that there was a connection she had yet to uncover.

Perhaps the answers weren’t in the outside world.

Perhaps they were buried somewhere inside her own mind.

***

"WHAT? You want to see a therapist?"

Sal nearly slammed on the brakes in surprise before the traffic signal forced the car to come to a complete stop.

He turned to stare at Ivy, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Ivy remained calm.

She waited for his reaction to settle before speaking.

"Yes."

She looked out the window for a moment before adding quietly,

"I think it might help me understand these dreams. They’re becoming more frequent, and every time I wake up, they feel less like dreams and more like memories."

Sal blinked several times.

For anyone else, the idea might have sounded absurd.

But he wasn’t just anyone.

Besides Hardley, Sal was the only person who knew about the nightmares Raven had endured for years.

He had listened to her describe them countless times—how they lingered after she woke up, how they left behind emotions so real that they haunted her for days, and how she often questioned whether they were dreams at all.

He also knew something else.

Raven had deliberately hidden that burden from Hardley.

She never wanted to worry the man who had already sacrificed so much for her.

Throughout her life, Hardley had protected her, guided her, and given her opportunities she never could have found on her own. In Raven’s eyes, there was no way she could ever repay that kindness.

Which was exactly why, when Hardley entrusted her with one final mission, she hadn’t hesitated.

She accepted it without question.

Sal let out a slow sigh and leaned back in his seat.

"I still think this is a little extreme."

"Maybe."

"But you really believe a therapist can help?"

"I don’t know," Ivy admitted honestly. "But if these dreams are trying to tell me something, I can’t keep ignoring them. I need to understand whether they’re just nightmares... or fragments of something I’ve forgotten."

Sal studied her expression.

There was no panic in her eyes.

Only determination.

Finally, the traffic light turned green, and he eased the car forward.

After a long silence, he nodded.

"If this is what you want, then I’ll support you."

A faint smile appeared on Ivy’s face.

"Thank you."

"But," Sal added with a sideways glance, "if the therapist tells you that all of this is because you’re overworked, I’m buying you a week’s vacation and confiscating your schedule." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Despite everything weighing on her mind, Ivy let out a quiet laugh.

"Deal."

The car continued down the road, but neither of them noticed that the questions haunting Raven were no longer confined to her dreams.

They were beginning to shape every decision she made in the waking world.

Now that she had made up her mind about seeking professional help, Ivy felt a little lighter.

At least she had a direction.

She and Sal had just arrived outside the agency building when her phone suddenly rang.

Glancing at the screen, she frowned.

"Why is Florine calling me?" she muttered under her breath.

It had been quite some time since Florine had contacted her, and the unexpected call immediately put her on guard.

Don’t tell me Nora complained about what happened at the reunion last night.

After a brief hesitation, Ivy accepted the call.

She barely had time to say hello before Florine’s cold, commanding voice came through the speaker.

"Meet me."

No greeting.

No explanation.

Just an order.

Ivy’s brows knit together.

"I can’t. I’m busy."

She looked up to see Sal hurrying toward the elevator like a man racing against the closing doors.

"Come on, Ivy!" he called over his shoulder.

Ignoring him for the moment, she returned her attention to the call.

On the other end, Florine’s tone sharpened.

"You don’t get to refuse me. I’m telling you to come, and you will."

Before Ivy could respond, the line went dead.

She stared at the phone for a second before lowering it with an exasperated sigh.

"So much for basic manners."

"Ivy!" Sal called again, now holding the elevator doors open. "Are you coming or not?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, she slipped the phone back into her pocket and jogged over.

"I’m coming."

The elevator doors closed behind them, and for the moment, Florine’s demands were pushed to the back of her mind.

Meanwhile, across town, Florine tossed her phone onto the couch with an irritated huff.

"The nerve she has," she muttered. "Since when does she think she can say no to me?"

Her frustration simmered as she paced around the living room.

After Lilianna had rejected the idea of pairing Nora with Aaron, Florine had been forced to reconsider her options.

And every path seemed to lead back to one person.

Ivy.

For years, Ivy had been the easiest person in the house to manipulate. Florine had ordered her around without a second thought, making her clean, cook, and handle nearly every household chore in exchange for little more than a roof over her head and two meals a day.

Back then, Ivy had obeyed quietly.

She rarely argued.

She rarely complained.

And she certainly never challenged Florine’s authority.

But ever since the accident, something had changed.

The girl who once lowered her head and endured everything in silence had disappeared.

In her place stood someone calmer, stronger, and no longer willing to be controlled.

The transformation irritated Florine more than she cared to admit.

Still, she wasn’t ready to give up.

She leaned back against the sofa, her expression gradually softening into a calculating smile.

No matter how much Ivy had changed, Florine remained convinced that she could still be useful.

If handled correctly, Ivy could become the bridge that brought Nora closer to Aaron.

And once that happened, Florine believed the rest of her plans would fall neatly into place.

Completely unaware that Ivy was no longer the obedient girl she used to be, Florine smiled to herself, confident that she still held all the cards.