“Reborn With the Future in My Hands”

The night Ethan Carter died, it was raining.

Not the gentle kind of rain people romanticized in movies.

It came down hard, turning the city streets into rivers of reflected lights.

Ethan stood alone on the rooftop of Carter International, staring at the city he had spent his entire life trying to conquer.

At twenty-eight, he had money.

A successful career.

A beautiful wife.

A company position people would have killed for.

And yet, somehow, he had never felt more alone.

His phone vibrated.

One message.

From Sophia.

[We need to talk.]

Ethan stared at the words.

His fingers trembled slightly.

He had received strange messages all week.

Bank accounts he didn't recognize.

Company documents he had never approved.

Rumors that he had stolen millions from Carter International.

At first, he thought it was a misunderstanding.

Then the board turned against him.

His friends stopped answering.

His colleagues avoided him.

And tonight, even Sophia had disappeared.

Ethan called her.

No answer.

Again.

Nothing.

He lowered the phone.

“Why?”

The question disappeared into the rain.

A sound came from behind him.

Footsteps.

Ethan turned.

Victor Hayes stood near the rooftop entrance.

His oldest friend.

The man Ethan had trusted since university.

Victor's face was expressionless.

“Victor?”

Ethan's voice carried disbelief.

“You came.”

Victor didn't answer.

Ethan took a step toward him.

“I need your help.”

Victor looked at him for several seconds.

Then he said quietly,

“You should have listened when they warned you.”

Ethan froze.

“Who?”

Victor looked away.

“You were never supposed to find out.”

A cold feeling entered Ethan's chest.

“Find out what?”

Victor didn't answer.

Instead, he placed a file on the ground.

It landed at Ethan's feet.

Ethan picked it up.

His blood ran cold.

Every document inside carried his name.

Bank transfers.

Company accounts.

Secret contracts.

All of them made him look guilty.

“This is fake.”

“I know.”

Ethan looked up.

“You know?”

Victor's silence was the answer.

Ethan's breathing became heavier.

“You knew?”

Victor finally looked at him.

“I tried to stop it.”

“You tried?”

Ethan laughed bitterly.

“You watched them destroy me.”

“I had no choice.”

“Everyone has a choice.”

Victor's expression hardened.

“Not when the people controlling this are powerful enough to destroy your entire family.”

Ethan stopped.

“My family?”

Victor said nothing.

Ethan stepped closer.

“Tell me who they are.”

“I can't.”

“Then tell me why Sophia left.”

Victor's eyes flickered.

That was enough.

Ethan understood.

“Sophia…”

Victor looked away.

Ethan felt something inside him break.

The woman he had loved.

The friend he had trusted.

The company he had protected.

Everything was connected.

And he had been the last person to understand it.

He suddenly laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

Because the truth was too painful.

“All these years…”

He looked at Victor.

“I trusted you.”

Victor's eyes became red.

“I know.”

A sharp sound suddenly cut through the rain.

Ethan felt something slam into his chest.

He looked down.

Blood spread across his shirt.

His knees weakened.

Victor's face changed.

“Ethan!”

Ethan fell to the ground.

The rain washed the blood across the rooftop.

Victor rushed toward him.

“Stay awake!”

Ethan could barely breathe.

His vision blurred.

At the edge of the rooftop, a shadow disappeared into the darkness.

Ethan tried to speak.

“Who…”

His voice failed.

Victor grabbed his hand.

“Don't die.”

Ethan stared at him.

For one final moment, he saw the face of the man he had trusted more than anyone.

Then everything went black.

---

Ethan opened his eyes.

Silence.

No rain.

No pain.

No blood.

He stared at the ceiling.

For several seconds, he didn't move.

Then he sat up.

His heart pounded.

He touched his chest.

No wound.

No blood.

He looked around.

The room was familiar.

Too familiar.

A small desk.

Old textbooks.

A cheap phone.

A university timetable pinned to the wall.

Ethan slowly reached for the phone.

The date appeared on the screen.

**September 12, 2016.**

His breathing stopped.

“No…”

He checked again.

September 12, 2016.

Ten years.

Ten years before his death.

Before the company.

Before the marriage.

Before the betrayal.

Before everything went wrong.

Ethan stumbled out of bed and rushed toward the mirror.

A young man stared back at him.

Eighteen years old.

No tired eyes.

No scars.

No signs of the man who had died moments ago.

Ethan touched his face.

“I came back…”

His voice trembled.

A strange sound suddenly appeared inside his head.

**Ding.**

Ethan froze.

Silver letters appeared in front of his eyes.

[Unknown Lifeform detected.]

[Memory compatibility: 100%.]

[Previous life memories successfully preserved.]

[Rebirth sequence completed.]

Ethan stared at the floating screen.

“What are you?”

The screen changed.

[Future System]

[Host: Ethan Carter]

[Current Age: 18]

[Previous Life: Terminated]

[Current Timeline: September 12, 2016]

Ethan's hands slowly clenched.

“Can I change the future?”

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then new words appeared.

[The future is not fixed.]

Ethan's heartbeat increased.

[Every decision creates a possibility.]

[Every major deviation carries a cost.]

Ethan frowned.

“What cost?”

The System didn't answer.

Instead, one final message appeared.

[Primary Future Event detected.]

Ethan stared at it.

[September 29, 2016.]

[Someone you trust will betray you.]

His face became completely still.

September 29.

Seventeen days from now.

Ethan remembered his first life.

He remembered the people he had trusted.

His smile disappeared.

This time, he wouldn't wait for betrayal.

He wouldn't blindly trust.

And he wouldn't live the same life twice.

He walked to the window.

The city outside looked exactly as it had ten years ago.

Young.

Peaceful.

Unaware of what was coming.

Ethan looked at his reflection in the glass.

In his first life, he had spent years trying to become powerful after losing everything.

In this life, he had something far more valuable.

Time.

Ten years of memories.

Ten years of knowledge.

Ten years to find the people who destroyed him.

But there was one thing Ethan didn't know.

Someone else was already watching the timeline.

Somewhere in the city, a man looked at a photograph of eighteen-year-old Ethan Carter.

He slowly smiled.

“He really came back.”

Then he made a phone call.

“Confirm the date.”

A voice answered.

“September 12, 2016.”

The man looked at the photograph again.

“And the memory?”

“Intact.”

He smiled.

“Then the game has started.”

Back in his room, Ethan's phone suddenly vibrated.

One new message.

From an unknown number.

**You have seventeen days.**

Ethan stared at the screen.

Then another message appeared.

**This time, don't trust the people you trusted before.**

His expression hardened.

Because whoever sent that message knew something impossible.

They knew about his first life.

And Ethan had just realized that his second chance might not belong to him alone.