CHAPTER 1

THE FUTURE THAT WASN'T MINE

My hand froze on the door handle.

Voices. Low. Urgent. Coming from the study I never entered without knocking.

I pressed closer.

"…once the shares transfer, it's done. She won't even see it coming."

Chloe's voice. Soft. Sweet. The same tone she used when she asked me for money last week.

A man's reply followed. Familiar. Too familiar.

"I'll keep her distracted until the papers are signed. After that, the company is yours."

Ethan. My fiancé.

I didn't breathe. Didn't move. Just stood there while the words carved into me.

Chloe laughed quietly. "You're sure she still trusts you?"

"Completely. She always has."

The door opened before I could step back.

Chloe stood there in a silk robe, eyes wide with practiced surprise. Ethan stood behind her, shirt half-buttoned, phone still in his hand.

For one second no one spoke.

Then Chloe smiled. "Ariana. You're home early."

My voice came out flat. "What shares?"

Ethan stepped forward, already reaching for me. "Baby, it's not what it looks like—"

I stepped past him into the room. The desk was covered in documents. My family's company letterhead. Transfer forms. My signature already forged on the top page.

Chloe moved fast, sweeping the papers into a folder. "We were just discussing a possible investment. Nothing serious."

I stared at the empty desk. Then at the two of them.

Everything was already forged. Some of my properties were already sold.

Something cold and sharp slid under my ribs.

I turned and walked out.

They didn't follow. Not yet.

I took the service stairs down two floors, heart slamming against my ribs, and pulled out my phone. The private investigator I'd hired three days ago answered on the first ring.

"I need everything you have on Chloe and Ethan. Now."

"I've got more," the man said. "Hotel records. Bank transfers. Meetings going back six months. Sending the file."

The message hit my phone as I reached the underground garage.

Photos. Timestamps. Ethan's car outside Chloe's apartment at 2 a.m. Wire transfers from an offshore account linked to Chloe's mother. A draft of a will that cut me out completely.

I slid into my car, slammed the door, and started the engine.

My phone rang. Ethan.

I ignored it.

Chloe called next.

I ignored that too.

I drove without a destination, city lights blurring past. My hands were steady on the wheel. My mind was not.

They had been planning this for months. Smiling at me. Calling me sister. Calling me future wife.

I turned into the private hospital my family funded and parked hard. My father's office was on the top floor. He would listen. He had to.

The elevator doors opened on the executive level.

A nurse stepped out first, carrying a tray. Behind her, two security guards. And Chloe.

Chloe's eyes locked on mine. "Ariana, wait—"

I pushed past. The corridor stretched long and white. My father's door was at the end.

I was three steps away when the lights flickered.

A sharp crack split the air.

Pain exploded behind my eyes.

The floor tilted.

My knees hit marble. My phone skidded across the tiles. Voices shouted my name—Chloe's, a nurse's, someone else's—but the sound stretched and warped.

Darkness slammed down.

Then light.

Not hospital light.

Sunlight through tall windows. A ballroom. Crystal. Champagne. Hundreds of people in black-tie.

I stood at the edge of the stage in a white dress I didn't recognize. A microphone was in my hand.

Chloe stood beside me, smiling for the cameras. Ethan stood on her other side, hand resting lightly on Chloe's waist.

A man in a suit stepped forward and announced, "With the final transfer complete, Chloe Laurent is now majority shareholder of Laurent Holdings."

Applause.

I tried to speak. Nothing came out.

I watched myself from outside my body as the me on stage smiled for the photo. The smile didn't reach my eyes.

–............

A boardroom. Same company logo. Different faces. My father sat at the head of the table, older, thinner, eyes hollow. Chloe sat to his right. Ethan to his left.

Someone said, "Ariana's claims have been dismissed. The medical records confirm instability. She's no longer fit to hold any position."

My father signed a document without looking up.

………….

A courtroom. I stood alone in a simple black dress. Lawyers argued over inheritance. Chloe testified in soft, tearful tones. Ethan confirmed every word.

The judge ruled. Everything went to Chloe.

……………

A hospital room. I was on a bed, wrists restrained. A doctor spoke to someone outside the door. "She's still insisting people are after her. We'll increase the dosage."

Chloe's voice answered. "Thank you for taking care of my sister."

…………..

Rain. Night. A bridge. I stood at the railing, city lights smeared below. Footsteps approached behind me.

I turned.

Seiberstin stood three meters away. Tall. Black coat. Expression unreadable.

He didn't speak.

He just looked at me like he already knew how this ended.

Then the vision shattered.

---

My eyes flew open.

White ceiling. Beeping monitors. The sharp smell of antiseptic.

I sat up too fast. The IV in my arm pulled. A nurse rushed in.

"Miss Laurent, you need to stay down—"

My gaze locked on the digital clock on the wall.

August 14, 2023. 9:47 p.m.

Three years earlier.

My heart slammed once, hard.

I looked at my hands. No ring. Not yet. The engagement had only happened weeks ago in this timeline.

The nurse checked my pulse. "You collapsed in the corridor."

My mouth was dry.

In a few hours, my sister was the first person who heard that I was awake from my three-year coma.

"My sister."

"Yes. Chloe. She's been here the whole time."

The door opened.

Chloe stepped in, eyes red, voice soft with concern. "Ariana. Thank God. You scared us."

Ethan appeared behind her, face carefully arranged into worry.

I stared at them.

The same faces I had just watched destroy me.

Chloe reached for my hand. "You're safe now. Everything's fine."

I didn't pull away.

I didn't speak.

I simply looked at the date on the wall again.

August 14, 2023.

The future I had just lived through hadn't happened yet.

Not a single piece of it.

Chloe's fingers tightened around mine. "You still trust me, don't you?"

I met her eyes and smiled.