Chapter 2: Five Years Earlier
449 Words
Pain.
It was the first thing Amelia felt.
A sharp ache spread through her body as she struggled to breathe.
“Miss Carter… Miss Carter…”
A familiar voice echoed in the distance.
She slowly opened her eyes.
The bright crystal chandelier above her looked strangely familiar.
Her heart pounded.
She wasn’t in a hospital.
She wasn’t inside the wrecked car.
She sat up abruptly, her breathing uneven.
“Miss Carter, are you alright?”
A young woman in a black suit stood beside the bed, looking worried.
Amelia stared at her in disbelief.
“Lily…?”
It couldn’t be.
Lily had resigned years ago.
“Yes, Miss Carter.”
Her hands trembled.
She looked around the room.
The white curtains.
The dressing table.
The bouquet of white roses.
Every detail was exactly the same.
“No…”
She rushed toward the calendar on the wall.
12 June.
Five years ago.
Her legs nearly gave way.
“This… this isn’t possible.”
She grabbed her phone from the bedside table.
The lock screen confirmed the date.
She had gone back in time.
Before the wedding.
Before the betrayal.
Before the lonely marriage that had ended in blood.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
Not because she was sad.
Because she had been given another chance.
Memories flooded her mind.
Adrian’s cold eyes.
Olivia’s smile.
The truck racing toward her.
The words whispered before darkness swallowed her.
“He was never yours.”
Amelia slowly closed her eyes.
Then she laughed.
It started as a quiet laugh.
Soon it became louder.
Lily looked frightened.
“Miss Carter…”
“I’m fine.”
Amelia wiped away the last of her tears.
“No…”
She smiled.
“I’m better than fine.”
She walked toward the full-length mirror.
The woman staring back at her was only twenty-four.
Hope still filled her eyes.
She hadn’t yet spent five years begging for love.
She hadn’t yet forgotten her own dreams.
She touched her reflection.
This time…
Everything would be different.
A knock came at the door.
“Miss Carter,” Lily said softly.
“Mr. Kingston is here.”
Amelia froze.
Her heartbeat slowed.
In her first life…
This was the day Adrian had come to discuss their engagement.
She remembered every word he had said.
Every warning.
Every promise he never intended to keep.
Lily smiled.
“Should I invite him in?”
Amelia looked toward the door.
A slow smile appeared on her lips.
“No.”
She picked up her handbag.
“I’ll go to him.”
Because this time…
She wasn’t the woman who would beg for his love.
She was the woman who would walk away from it.
- Writer
