Chapter 1

One day, a young girl stopped me. “Mom, I’m your daughter from twenty years in the future. Please stop suspecting Dad! There has never been another woman!

“If you keep this up, Dad will die because of your suspicions three months from now! You’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”

I stood frozen in place. My face went deathly pale.

The girl could barely get the words out through her tears. “Dad loves you so much! On the day he died, you were still angry with him because you smelled another woman’s perfume on him.

“He drove 185 miles to buy your favorite raspberry cake because he wanted to make it up to you! He got caught in a pileup on the highway.

“Dad held on to that cake until his very last moment…”

She looked up at me through tear-filled eyes. “I came back here because I don’t want the tragedy to happen again. Mom, can’t you and Dad just be happy together?”

I forced myself to calm down and studied her face carefully.

Her eyes and features really did look so much like mine when I was young.

Even the tiny mole right in the middle of her nose was exactly like Yarden’s.

From that day on, I really did change.

When Yarden came home late, I stopped asking questions. When I saw fresh scratches on his back, I no longer smashed things or broke down in tears like I used to.

Yarden was gentle with me too.

Before he left for work, he paused at the door, smiled, kissed me on my forehead, and said softly, “Wait for me.”

He always came home with a bouquet of white roses that still had dewdrops on them.

But the doubts never went away. They stayed stuck in my throat. I could neither swallow them nor spit them out.

All I could do was tell myself over and over that I was imagining things. I convinced myself that we should not keep hurting each other like this.

Then, during dinner, Yarden suddenly put down his spoon and looked at me calmly.

“Lily, you’ve been different lately. What happened?”

I put down my spoon and told him the truth.

“I met our daughter from twenty years in the future. She said my suspicions would get you killed.”

Yarden froze for a moment. His first reaction was not to ask how he would die but to walk around the table and crouch beside me.

He caressed my pale cheek and gently rubbed the corner of my eye with his thumb. “You must’ve been terrified when you heard that, weren’t you?

“You don’t have to feel guilty. We’ll work through this together. We can change what happens in the future.”

At that moment, the pain in my chest was almost too much to bear.

I nodded through my tears. His tenderness almost made me believe I had really been too sensitive all along.

Then, Quiana Stone moved into our home.

She knew everything about me.

She knew I drank my coffee without sugar. She knew I liked to put a soft pillow behind my back when I read. It was as if she had really lived with me for twenty years.

One day, I was carrying a plate of fruit when I heard Quiana burst out laughing in the living room.

“She’s such an idiot! She actually believed that whole story about me being her daughter from the future! Does she think she’s the heroine of some cheesy romance novel?

“This is perfect! I don’t have to hide anymore. You put me right under her nose, and she can’t even suspect a thing. She has to watch us be affectionate with each other.”

There was a hint of mockery in Yarden’s voice.

“Blame her for going too far. She’s too perceptive. She left me no choice.”

He paused, and his voice grew more serious.

“Play your part. Lily must never find out.

“She’s different from everyone else. She was the only one who stayed with me in that tiny rental when I had nothing and stayed by my side for three whole days after someone broke my leg. I will only have her as my wife.

“I’ll send you details about Lily’s daily habits every day. Memorize them.”

I stood there, frozen in place. I felt numb.

This time, I did not rush out and start screaming like I used to.

I quietly went back to the kitchen.

At the sink, I ran the cold water over my hands. The water was too cold, but it could not match the chill I felt in my heart.

They had no idea why I had believed Quiana’s story about her traveling back from the future. It was because I had come from another world myself, and I had a system bound to me.

According to the system, Yarden really would die in three months.

Three days ago, the system had asked me if I wanted to return to my original world.

I hesitated because I wanted to stay and save him.

But as I stared at my blurry reflection in the kitchen window, I said softly to the system,

“I’ve made my decision. I want to go back to my real home.”