2026-10-07 12:55:06The 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.
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Chapter 10: The Girl Who Wasn't Supposed to Exist
Ethan stared at the final message.And neither are you.His fingers tightened around the phone.“What does that mean?” Victor asked.Ethan didn't answer.Across the street, the man in the dark coat was still standing beside the black SUV.He wasn't running.He wasn't hiding.He was waiting.As if he wanted Ethan to see him.Then the man turned and got back into the SUV.“Victor.”“Yeah?”“Can you drive?”Victor nodded.“Then move.”They rushed outside.The SUV was already disappearing into traffic.Victor unlocked his car.Ethan got inside.“Where?”“Rose residence.”Victor started the engine.“You're serious?”“Amelia is in danger.”“So is everyone who gets close to her.”“Then we don't have time to argue.”Victor accelerated.For several minutes, neither spoke.Ethan kept looking at his phone.Amelia still wasn't answering.Then—A message appeared.Not from an unknown number.From Amelia.**I'm safe.**Ethan immediately called.No answer.He called again.Nothing.“That's strange,”
Chapter 9: What Amelia Remembers
Ethan's phone remained in his hand.[Amelia Rose's survival is now uncertain.]The words refused to disappear from his mind.He looked at Victor.“What does that mean?”Victor shook his head.“I don't know.”“You said you knew why someone wanted Amelia dead.”“I said I found records connected to her. I never said I understood everything.”Ethan's eyes hardened.“Then start understanding.”Victor glanced toward the shattered window.“We need to leave.”“Not yet.”“Ethan, whoever fired that shot knew exactly where we were.”“So?”“So they knew about our meeting.”Ethan looked around the café.The customers were gone.The waiter was hiding behind the counter.No police sirens yet.That bothered him.Someone had fired a gun in the middle of the city, and there was no immediate response.Either the shooter was extremely careful—or someone had made sure nobody would respond quickly.Ethan stood.“Where's Amelia?”Victor's expression changed.“I don't know.”Ethan immediately called her.No
Chapter 8: The Truth Victor Carried
Victor's message remained on Ethan's screen.I know what happened to Elena Vale.And I know why someone wants Amelia Rose dead.Ethan read it again.Then he deleted the notification.Not the message.Just the notification.If someone was watching his phone, he didn't want them to know how seriously he was taking it.Richard was still standing across the room.“Don't meet him,” his father said.Ethan looked up.“Why?”“Because if Victor knows about Elena, then someone else knows he knows.”“That doesn't make sense.”“It will.”Richard walked toward the window and looked outside.The black car was still there.“You see that car?”“Yes.”“It has been there for twenty minutes.”Ethan's eyes narrowed.“You noticed it?”“I notice things now.”Richard pulled the curtains closed.“Ethan, listen to me carefully. Whatever you're planning, don't go anywhere alone tonight.”Ethan almost laughed.His father had spent years telling him to stay away from danger.Now, for the first time, Richard soun
Chapter 7: The Man Who Remembered
The words on the photograph seemed to burn into Ethan's mind.I REMEMBER TOO, ETHAN.He read them again.Then a third time.His first thought was impossible.The System had told him that someone else might know about the future.But Ethan had never expected to see proof this soon.“Ethan?”Amelia's voice pulled him back.“What does it say?”Ethan turned the photograph over before she could see the writing.“Nothing important.”Amelia frowned.“You're lying.”“I need you to trust me.”“That isn't an answer.”Ethan looked at her.She wasn't afraid anymore.She was angry.Good.Angry people asked questions.Fear made people run.Before Ethan could respond, footsteps sounded from the hallway.The same footsteps from moments earlier.Someone was coming back.Ethan immediately pulled Amelia behind one of the tall bookshelves.“Stay here.”“What are you going to do?”“Find out who we're dealing with.”He stepped into the corridor.Empty.The emergency lights flickered above him.Ethan moved
Chapter 6: The Secret Richard Hid
Ethan couldn't take his eyes off his father.“Amelia Rose.”Richard had reacted to that name as if Ethan had mentioned a ghost.“Dad,” Ethan said quietly, “what does Amelia have to do with the warehouse fire?”Richard looked toward the window.For several seconds, he said nothing.Then he walked to the curtains and closed them.“Before I answer that, tell me something.”“What?”“How do you know Amelia?”Ethan hesitated.“I met her at university.”Richard turned around sharply.“Where?”“Near the parking area.”“What happened?”“Two men tried to force her into a car. I stopped them.”Richard's expression changed.“You stopped them?”“Yes.”“Why?”“She needed help.”Richard stared at him.“You don't understand.”“Then explain it to me.”Richard rubbed his forehead.“Those men weren't random criminals.”Ethan's attention sharpened.“How do you know?”“Because I've seen that method before.”“Where?”Richard didn't answer immediately.Then he said, “In 1996.”Ethan's stomach tightened.“We
Chapter 5: The Woman in the Photograph
Ethan stared at the photograph.Four faces.His father, Richard Carter.Marcus Rose.David Hayes.And the woman none of them had named.The photograph was old, its edges yellowed with time. Yet the woman’s face was surprisingly clear.She looked young—perhaps in her early twenties.There was something unsettling about her expression.She wasn't smiling.She wasn't afraid.She was looking directly at the camera as if she already knew whoever would eventually find the photograph.“Who is she?” Ethan asked.Richard didn't answer.“Dad.”Richard slowly took the photograph from his hand.“Some questions are dangerous because the answer doesn't stay buried.”Ethan stepped closer.“I've already seen what happens when things stay buried.”Richard's eyes narrowed.“What do you mean?”Ethan froze.He had said too much again.Richard studied him carefully.“You've changed.”The words hit harder than Ethan expected.“What?”“Your eyes.”Richard placed the photograph on the table.“You used to loo
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