Seven Days Before My Wedding

Chapter 1 — The Night I Died The first thing I noticed was the blood. It was warm. Warm enough to make me wonder, for one stupid second, why I wasn't cold. Then I felt the pain. A sharp, burning pain beneath my ribs that stole whatever breath I had left. My fingers curled against the marble floor. I tried to move. Nothing happened. My body felt impossibly heavy, as though someone had tied weights to every limb. I could hear the rain pounding against the windows, but the sound seemed strangely far away. Thunder rolled across the sky. The lights in the mansion flickered. I tried to lift my head. The room spun violently. For a few seconds, I could see nothing except blurred shapes and shadows. Then I heard footsteps. Slow footsteps. Someone was approaching from the hallway. My heart began beating faster. I wanted to call for help. I wanted to scream. But my throat produced nothing more than a broken whisper. "Help..." The footsteps stopped. A pair of black shoes appeared in front of me. Perfectly polished. Not a single drop of rainwater marked them. I knew those shoes. I had bought them. For him. My husband. My heart seemed to stop. No. It couldn't be. I slowly raised my eyes. The man standing above me was the person I had trusted more than anyone in the world. Adrian. My husband. The man whose photograph still sat beside my bed. The man whose ring I had worn for three years. The man I had defended when my friends warned me that something about him felt wrong. The man I had loved enough to destroy myself for. He stood there in a black suit, his dark hair slightly damp from the rain. His expression was calm. Too calm. There was no panic in his eyes. No concern. No shock. No grief. Only relief. I stared at him. My mind refused to accept what my eyes were telling me. "Adrian..." The word barely escaped my lips. He crouched beside me. For a moment, I looked into the face I had trusted more than my own. His eyes met mine. There was something cold in them. Something I had never noticed before. I tried to reach for him. My hand moved a few centimeters across the marble. "Help me." He didn't move. Instead, he looked at the blood beneath me. Then he looked back at my face. "You're still alive." His voice was almost disappointed. A shiver traveled through me. "What...?" He didn't answer. I heard another voice behind him. A woman's voice. "Is she still alive?" My heart stopped. I knew that voice too. I slowly turned my head. Someone stood near the window. A woman. Long dark hair. White dress. One hand covering her mouth as though she couldn't bear to watch. My vision blurred. But I knew her. I would have recognized her anywhere. My little sister. Elena. My little sister. The person I had protected since we were children. The person I had trusted with every secret I had ever possessed. The person I had defended even when she didn't deserve it. She was standing there. Watching me die. "Elena..." Her shoulders trembled. She looked at Adrian. Then at me. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. For one desperate moment, hope entered my heart. Maybe she hadn't known. Maybe Adrian had done something without telling her. Maybe she was afraid. Maybe she would save me. "Elena..." I stretched my hand toward her. "Please." She took one step forward. Then stopped. Her lips trembled. "Emma..." Her voice sounded broken. "Call an ambulance," I whispered. She didn't move. "Please." She looked at Adrian. He gave her a single glance. She lowered her eyes. And that was when something inside me cracked. She wasn't afraid of him. She was listening to him. I stared at her. "Why?" Neither of them answered. My breathing became harder. "Why are you here?" Elena wiped her tears. "I'm sorry." The words were so quiet that I almost didn't hear them. I stared at her. "What did you do?" She closed her eyes. Adrian stood behind her. Neither answered. I forced myself to look at him. "Why?" He sighed. It wasn't the sigh of a guilty man. It was the sigh of someone tired of explaining something obvious. "You really want to know?" I nodded. My vision was fading at the edges. "Why?" Adrian knelt beside me again. "You were never supposed to find out." My heart raced. "Find out what?" He looked at Elena. She looked away. Then Adrian smiled. That smile. The same smile I had fallen in love with. The same smile that had once made me feel safe. Now it terrified me. "I suppose it doesn't matter anymore." He reached down. His fingers closed around my hand. For one second, I thought he was going to help me. Instead, he gently pulled the wedding ring from my finger. My fingers trembled. "Give it back." He ignored me. He held the ring between two fingers, turning it beneath the light. The diamond caught the reflection of the chandelier. I remembered the day he had placed that ring on my finger. Three years earlier. He had taken my hand in front of our families. He had promised to love me. To protect me. To stand beside me. I had believed every word. Now he was holding the same ring while I lay dying on the floor. "Do you know how much this marriage cost me?" His voice was quiet. I stared at him. "What?" "Three years." He smiled bitterly. "Three years of pretending to love you." The words hit harder than the pain in my side. I shook my head. "No." "Three years of listening to you talk about your father's company." He stood slowly. "Three years of pretending I cared about your family." He looked at the ring. "Three years of waiting for you to sign documents you never bothered reading." My stomach twisted. Documents. The word triggered something in my memory. Documents Adrian had asked me to sign. Documents related to company restructuring. Documents he had said were routine. I had signed them without reading every page. Because I trusted him. Because he was my husband. Because I thought he wanted to help my father. Now I understood. The missing money. The strange transfers. The sudden problems with our overseas accounts. The conversations Adrian had told me not to worry about. The nights he had disappeared. The business deals that had gone wrong. All of it. I looked at Elena. She was still crying. But she wasn't coming toward me. "Elena..." She didn't answer. "You knew." She shook her head. "No." "Don't lie to me." She looked at me. Her tears continued falling. "I'm sorry." "You knew." Her face crumpled. Adrian interrupted. "Enough." Elena immediately fell silent. That tiny movement told me everything. He controlled her. Or perhaps she had always allowed him to. I looked at my sister. "Why?" She swallowed. "Emma..." "Why?" Her face changed. The sadness disappeared. Something else took its place. Anger. "You really don't know?" I stared at her. "Know what?" She laughed. It was a small, bitter sound. "You really don't understand." "Understand what?" "Why everyone hates you." I felt as though the room had tilted. "Who hates me?" "Everyone." She stepped closer. "Do you know what it's like to be your sister?" I shook my head. "You had everything." "What are you talking about?" "You had Dad's love." Her voice became sharper. "You had the company." She wiped her tears angrily. "You had the perfect life." "Elena..." "Everyone looked at you like you were perfect." She laughed again. "Emma is responsible." "Emma is smart." "Emma will take care of it." "Emma knows what to do." She looked directly into my eyes. "Do you know how exhausting it was?" I couldn't speak. "You don't even know what it's like." Her voice trembled. "Do you know what it feels like to walk into a room and have everyone compare you to your perfect older sister?" I stared at her. "I never asked them to compare us." "No." She smiled bitterly. "You never had to." She stepped closer. "You were always the one they chose." I felt tears gathering in my eyes. "I would have given you anything." "That's the problem." "What?" "You always thought you could fix everything." I shook my head. "You could have told me." She laughed. "What would you have done?" "I would have helped you." Her expression changed. For a moment, I saw something almost like regret. Then it disappeared. "You would have forgiven me." I stared at her. "Yes." The word came naturally. Even now. Even while dying. "I would have." She looked away. "And that's why you were so easy to destroy." My heart broke. Not because she hated me. Because I realized how completely I had misunderstood her. Adrian turned toward the door. "Someone is coming." My heart began racing. "Who?" He didn't answer. I heard a car outside. Then another. The sound of tires on wet pavement. Adrian looked at his watch. "Everything is ready." Everything. The word echoed inside my head. This wasn't an accident. This wasn't something that had gone wrong. They had planned it. Every detail. The missing money. The forged documents. My parents' deaths. My reputation. My marriage. My death. My eyes widened. "My parents..." Adrian stopped. I stared at him. "My parents didn't die in an accident." Silence. Elena looked at the floor. Adrian didn't move. "You killed them." His expression remained blank. "You killed my parents." "Emma..." "No!" I tried to push myself up. Pain exploded through my body. I collapsed again. "You killed them!" Adrian looked at me without emotion. "They were in the way." My blood turned cold. "My father trusted you." "He was a stubborn man." "My mother..." "She knew too much." I couldn't breathe. My mother. The woman who had held my hand when I was sick. The woman who had stayed awake beside my bed when I had nightmares as a child. Dead. Because of them. I stared at Adrian. "Monster." He smiled. "Call me whatever you want." I wanted to hate him. But the worst part was that a small part of me still couldn't understand how the man I had loved could be the person standing in front of me. I remembered our first meeting. A summer evening. A charity dinner. He had spilled wine on his sleeve and laughed about it. I had thought he was different. He had made me feel seen. He had listened to me. Or at least, I thought he had. All those memories suddenly felt like lies. Maybe they had always been lies. Adrian walked toward the desk. He picked up a folder. My folder. The one I had searched for two weeks ago. The one he had told me he couldn't find. He opened it. "Do you remember these?" I stared at the pages. My signature was on them. Dozens of signatures. My heart sank. "You forged my signature." "No." He smiled. "You signed them." "I never agreed to this." "You didn't read them." He turned a page. "That's not my fault." "You tricked me." "I gave you exactly what you wanted." "What did I want?" "A husband." He smiled. "And I gave you one." I wanted to scream. Instead, I whispered: "You're going to prison." Adrian laughed. "No." "Someone will find out." "Who?" "My lawyer." "Your lawyer already received his payment." My eyes widened. "Daniel?" He shook his head. "No." I felt sick. "Who?" Adrian smiled. "You really thought you were surrounded by good people." He stepped closer. "That's your biggest weakness, Emma." He crouched again. "You trust everyone." I stared at him. "You trusted me." He touched my cheek. I flinched. "And look where that got you." I turned my face away. He stood. "Your father's company will be mine by tomorrow." I stared at him. "No." "Actually..." He held up the folder. "Not tomorrow." He smiled. "Tonight." My eyes widened. "You transferred the controlling shares?" "Yes." "You can't." "I already did." "My father would never allow it." "Your father is dead." Silence. The words hung in the room. I stared at him. Then everything became clear. The company wasn't the only reason they had killed my parents. They needed me. They needed my signature. They needed my marriage. They needed control. And now they had it. My life had been nothing more than a transaction. I looked at Elena. "Was I ever your sister?" She stared at me. Her lips trembled. "Of course." "Then why?" She didn't answer. "Why did you let him do this?" "I didn't know it would end like this." "You knew enough." "I'm sorry." "Stop saying that!" My voice broke. Elena flinched. I started crying. "You were my sister." She covered her mouth. "I loved you." She whispered: "I know." "You were the only person I thought I could trust." "I know." "Then why?" She looked at Adrian. He gave her a warning glance. She immediately lowered her eyes. And I understood. She had chosen him. She had chosen money. She had chosen everything except me. Adrian turned toward the door. Elena followed. She stopped beside me. For one desperate second, I thought she might kneel. I thought she might finally choose me. Instead, she leaned down. Her face was inches from mine. "I'm sorry, Emma." I looked into her eyes. "Don't lie to me." Her lips trembled. Then she whispered: "I really am." She stood. She walked away. The door closed. I was alone. The rain grew louder. I stared at the ceiling. My body was freezing. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I tried to crawl toward the door. My fingers slipped against the marble. No. I couldn't die here. Not like this. I had to tell someone. I had to warn someone. I had to expose them. I tried to remember my phone. My hand moved toward my pocket. Nothing. Adrian had taken it. Of course he had. My vision blurred again. I closed my eyes. And suddenly, I remembered something. A conversation from six months earlier. A man standing outside my office. Rain falling around him. His dark coat soaked through. His eyes filled with frustration. Nathan Black. Adrian's older brother. He had stood there while I walked toward my car. "Emma." I had ignored him. He had followed. "Emma, please." I had turned around. "What do you want?" "You need to stay away from Adrian." I had laughed. "Why?" "Because he's not who you think he is." I remembered how angry I had become. "You don't know anything about our relationship." "I know my brother." "You hate him." "Yes." I had folded my arms. "Then your opinion doesn't matter." He had looked at me for a long moment. There had been something strange in his expression. Fear. Not for himself. For me. "You're making a mistake." I had laughed again. "You've been making that claim for months." "Emma." His voice had become quieter. "When you finally realize who Adrian is, it may be too late." I had walked away. I had never spoken to him again. Until now. My eyes filled with tears. He had known. He had tried to save me. And I hadn't listened. Why? Why had I trusted Adrian instead? Because Adrian had always told me Nathan was jealous. Bitter. Dangerous. Unstable. I had believed him. Every word. I suddenly realized how many people Adrian had convinced me to distrust. My father's old friends. Company executives. Even Nathan. He had isolated me without me realizing it. A noise came from the hallway. I opened my eyes. Footsteps. Someone was coming. The door opened. I expected Adrian. Instead, I saw a familiar face. Nathan. He froze when he saw me. His face changed completely. "Emma." I tried to speak. Nothing came out. He rushed toward me. "Oh God." He knelt beside me. His hands hovered over my body, afraid to touch me. "Emma, can you hear me?" I nodded. "I'm calling an ambulance." He pulled out his phone. I grabbed his wrist. "No." He looked at me. "What?" "Don't..." "Why?" "Adrian..." Nathan's expression changed. "You think Adrian did this?" I tried to speak. My voice was barely audible. "He..." Nathan's jaw tightened. "Where is he?" "Don't..." Nathan looked toward the door. He understood. "He left?" I nodded. Nathan's eyes became cold. He stood. "Stay here." He took one step toward the door. I grabbed his sleeve. He looked down at me. "Nathan..." "I'm here." "Don't leave me." Something broke across his face. He knelt again. "I won't." For the first time that night, I heard genuine fear in someone's voice. Not excitement. Not relief. Fear. Real fear. He lifted my head carefully. "I'm calling an ambulance." "My phone..." "What?" "My phone..." He looked around. "Where is it?" "Adrian..." Nathan cursed under his breath. He reached into his pocket. "I'll use mine." I closed my eyes. The room was spinning. "Nathan..." "I'm here." "I'm sorry." "For what?" "I didn't believe you." He froze. Then he held me tighter. "You don't have to apologize." "I should have..." "No." His voice broke. "You should have listened to me." Tears filled his eyes. I had never seen Nathan cry. Not once. "I'm sorry," I whispered. He shook his head. "Stay with me." I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But my body was giving up. "Nathan..." "I'm here." "I'm afraid." "I know." "I don't want to die." His arms tightened around me. "You won't." He said it like a promise. But we both knew he couldn't keep it. My breathing became shallow. The rain sounded farther away. "Nathan..." "I'm here." "Thank you." "For what?" "For trying." His face blurred. I heard him shouting. "Emma!" The darkness came closer. "Stay awake!" I tried. I really tried. But I couldn't. My eyes closed. The last thing I felt was Nathan's hand holding mine. Then everything disappeared. Until I opened my eyes. I sat upright with a scream. My hands flew to my chest. I was breathing. I was alive. I stared at my hands. They were shaking. But they were clean. No blood. No wound. No pain. I touched my ribs. Nothing. I touched my face. Warm. Real. I looked around the room. White curtains. Blue walls. The old wooden desk. The bookshelf beside the window. The small silver clock on the nightstand. I knew this room. I hadn't seen it in years. My breathing became faster. "No..." I slowly climbed out of bed. My legs nearly gave way. I grabbed the edge of the desk. I looked around again. The old photographs. The lamp. The small crack in the corner of the mirror. Everything was exactly as I remembered. This was my old bedroom. The bedroom I had lived in before moving into Adrian's house. The bedroom I had left three years ago. The bedroom I had never expected to see again. I stumbled toward the mirror. A young woman stared back at me. Long brown hair. Clear skin. Bright eyes. No scar above her eyebrow. No pale face. No signs of the years of suffering I had endured. Twenty-five years old. Alive. I touched my cheek. Then my neck. Then my chest. "No..." I stepped closer to the mirror. The reflection moved with me. My eyes widened. "This isn't possible." I turned toward the desk. There was a calendar. My heart began pounding. I walked toward it. One step. Then another. My fingers trembled as I reached for the paper. June. My eyes moved across the dates. Then stopped. June 14. I couldn't breathe. June 14. I knew that date. My wedding was June 21. Exactly seven days from now. Seven days before I married Adrian. Seven days before my life was destroyed. Seven days before I died. I slowly backed away from the calendar. My knees became weak. I sat on the edge of the bed. "No..." I looked at my hands again. Then at the mirror. Then at the calendar. Seven days. How? Why? Was this a dream? Was I still dying? Was my mind creating a final fantasy before death? I pinched my arm. Pain shot through my skin. I gasped. I did it again. Pain. Real pain. I started laughing. A strange, broken laugh. Then I started crying. I covered my face with both hands. Tears ran between my fingers. I had been given another chance. I didn't know how. I didn't know why. But I was alive. Alive. The word felt impossible. I cried for several minutes. For my parents. For the woman I had been. For the years I had wasted. For the sister I had loved. For the man I had trusted. For Nathan. Especially Nathan. I remembered his face as I died. The desperation in his voice. The way he had held my hand. The way he had told me I didn't have to apologize. I had never understood his kindness. Not then. Now I did. I wiped my tears. Then I stood. My reflection stared back at me. This time, I didn't see the naive woman who had married Adrian. I saw someone who had already died. Someone who knew exactly how the story ended. And someone who had been given the chance to rewrite it. My wedding was seven days away. I had seven days. Seven days to uncover the truth. Seven days to save my family. Seven days to protect myself. Seven days to destroy the people who had destroyed me. But first... I needed to know whether my memories were real. My eyes moved toward the phone sitting on the desk. In my first life, Elena had called me that morning. I remembered the conversation. Every word. I picked up the phone. My hands were still trembling. The screen lit up. There were no messages. No missed calls. Nothing. I looked at the time. 8:12 a.m. My heart began racing. If my memory was correct... The phone would ring at 8:15. I waited. 8:13. 8:14. My fingers tightened around the phone. 8:15. The ringtone exploded through the silent room. I almost dropped it. The name on the screen made my stomach twist. Elena. I stared at it. In my previous life, I had answered immediately. This time, I watched it ring. Once. Twice. Three times. My heart was pounding. Four times. Five. I finally answered. "Hello?" Silence. Then her sweet voice. "Emma?" I closed my eyes. It was exactly the same. The same tone. The same rhythm. The same person who had stood beside Adrian while I died. "Are you awake?" I opened my eyes. "Yes." "You sound strange." I looked into the mirror. "I had a nightmare." There was a tiny pause. Then Elena laughed softly. "Again?" My stomach tightened. She knew about my nightmares. She had always been the first person I told. In my first life, I had told her everything. Every fear. Every secret. Every doubt. And she had used every one of them against me. "I'll come over," she said. "No." Silence. "What?" "I said no." Her voice changed. Only slightly. But I noticed. "Emma, are you angry with me?" "No." I smiled. A cold smile. "Of course not." "Then why don't you want me to come over?" "I just need some time alone." "Oh." Another pause. "Is it about the wedding?" My fingers tightened around the phone. "The wedding?" "Yes." She laughed nervously. "You know, the wedding is in seven days." I stared at myself in the mirror. Seven days. She had no idea that I knew exactly what those seven days would bring. "I know." "Then why are you acting strange?" "I'm tired." "You should rest." "I will." "I'll come later." "No." The answer came too quickly. She went silent. I softened my voice. "I just need some time." "Okay." She sounded disappointed. "I understand." "Thank you." "Emma?" "Yes?" "I love you." My eyes filled with tears. For a second, the old Emma wanted to say it back. Instead, I whispered: "I know." I hung up. The room became silent. I stared at the phone. My hand was shaking. Then I smiled. Not because I was happy. Because I finally understood. The game had started again. But this time, I knew the rules. And I knew how it ended. I walked toward the mirror. My reflection looked back at me. I touched the glass. "Not this time." My voice was quiet. But certain. "I won't marry Adrian." I wiped the last tear from my cheek. "I won't trust Elena." I took a deep breath. "And I won't let anyone kill me again." My eyes hardened. Seven days. I had seven days to change my fate. And this time... I was ready.