FUTURE HUSBAND

1 5 Y E A R S L A T E R It was in the middle of the night, and Taia was trapped in another nightmare. Sweat soaked her skin, groaned in pain, and tears slipping down the corners of her eyes. In her dream, she was walking up the stairs toward a reception hall she knew all too well. ‘What am I doing here?’ Her heart raced with a strange thrill. Someone was waiting for her—holding two decaf coffees, a smile drawn on his beautiful face. Confused, she pushed the door open and stepped outside. The city skyline stretched before her, breathtaking and cold. She kept walking... until she saw him. A familiar build. A familiar silhouette. She was about to call his name when she saw him—kissing another woman. He didn’t even notice her. Her knees trembled. Her heart pounded so hard she couldn’t breathe. No words could describe the pain stabbing through her chest. The two decaf coffees slipped from her hands and shattered on the ground. The sound caught their attention. He turned. Shock flashed across his face. “Taia?” All she could do was stare, silently asking with her eyes: ‘What did I do wrong?’ “Let me explain.” He took a step forward, then she took few steps back...and ran. Everything blurred through her tears. All she wanted was to escape. A handsome man who looked just like the man who broke her—blocked her path. “Taia, what’s wrong?” Josh asked. Dave’s brother. He reached for her hands, but she jerked away violently. “I can’t take it anymore! It’s too much! It hurts, Josh!” she cried and ran. She saw his parents’ worried faces, but she didn’t stop. Not even when Dave was shouting her name behind her. She was about to step off the last stair of the mansion’s entrance when she fell. Her body rolled down, down, down... and all she could hear was them calling her name in panic. She didn’t care about them. All she cared about was the babies inside her womb. Her silent cries turned into screams when she saw blood. “Save my baby. Save... my b-babies.” A man ran toward her, but his face was blurry. Her head spun. Numbness spread through her body... then darkness. “My babies!” she shouted, jolting awake. It was just a dream. But her heart wouldn’t stop racing. The pain was still there, sharp and real. Her lips quivered as she covered her mouth with trembling hands, sobbing while clutching her chest. Calm down. Breathe. But she knew. This wasn’t just a dream. It would never stay a dream. Because her dreams always came true. And that terrified her. “No. No.” She whispered, desperate to rewrite fate. People told her it wasn’t real. But they didn’t understand. Her dreams had never stayed dreams. They always happened. Even if she said she was prepared... part of her still wished she were the one who died. Ever since she was a child, life had never been easy. Only mess. Hiding. Trauma. Depression. Anxiety. Pain. Her faith was slowly giving up. This wasn’t the first time she dreamed of it. Not since she found out he was already married to Kim, their family business partner’s only daughter. Every night, the same nightmare. Every morning, she woke up with tears in her eyes, pretending she was fine. All she could do was stop her other personality—Taia—from taking over completely. She believed she had three personalities: Taia—the emotional one, drowning in pain, leading her to suicidal thoughts. Tres–her bad side. Felt no pain. Naughty. A good pretender who kept Taia from killing herself, who treasured everything important in her life. Lastly, Shianna—her real identity from the past. Her real name before she was reincarnated into Taia’s body. Childish, honest, and still believed in good. Until now, she was still living in the past, present... and future. She just wanted to be free from this hell. She wanted to be saved from the curse her uncle carved into her life. © LadyEmophilia20