“Reborn With the Future in My Hands”

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,” Victor said.

“What?”

“If she's safe, why isn't she answering?”

Ethan stared at the message.

Something was wrong.

He opened the System.

[Future System]

[Communication anomaly detected.]

[Message authenticity cannot be confirmed.]

Ethan's expression changed.

“It's not her.”

Victor looked at him.

“What?”

“The message.”

“How do you know?”

“The System can't confirm that it came from Amelia.”

Victor tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

“Then who sent it?”

Ethan looked ahead.

“I don't know.”

The answer made him uncomfortable.

For the first time, someone had managed to manipulate the information reaching him.

That meant his enemy was becoming better at hiding.

Or—

they understood the System.

---

Twenty minutes later, they reached the Rose residence.

The main gate was open.

No guards.

No lights near the entrance.

Victor stopped the car.

“This isn't normal.”

Ethan was already opening the door.

They entered.

The house looked untouched.

No broken windows.

No damaged doors.

Nothing suggested an attack.

But Ethan could feel it.

Something was wrong.

They moved through the hallway.

“Amelia?”

No response.

Victor checked the living room.

Empty.

Ethan climbed the stairs.

He remembered her words.

There's a box under my bed.

He reached Amelia's room.

The door was unlocked.

The room was empty.

Ethan immediately went to the bed.

He dropped to his knees and looked underneath.

There was a wooden box.

Old.

Dusty.

Locked.

Victor entered behind him.

“That's it?”

Ethan nodded.

He pulled the box out.

There was no key.

Victor looked around.

“Break it.”

Ethan picked up a heavy lamp.

One strike.

The lock broke.

Inside were photographs.

Letters.

A hospital bracelet.

And a small cassette tape.

Ethan picked up the bracelet first.

His eyes widened.

The name printed on it was partially faded.

But the date was clear.

**October 15, 1996.**

Victor stared at it.

“That's one day after the fire.”

Ethan picked up the cassette.

A handwritten label covered the front.

**For Amelia — When She Is Old Enough.**

His heart tightened.

“Do we have something to play this on?”

Victor searched the room.

A small old cassette player sat inside a drawer.

He placed the tape inside.

Static filled the room.

Then a woman's voice appeared.

Soft.

Tired.

Afraid.

“If you're hearing this, Amelia, then they failed to erase everything.”

Ethan and Victor exchanged a look.

The recording continued.

“I don't know how much you'll remember.”

A pause.

“But if you ever meet Richard Carter's son, don't trust him immediately.”

Ethan froze.

Victor looked at him.

The woman's voice continued.

“He may not know who he really is.”

Ethan stepped closer to the player.

“Who is speaking?” he whispered.

The recording continued.

“Your real name was never written in the records.”

Ethan's eyes widened.

“Your father wanted you protected.”

“Your mother wanted you hidden.”

“And the people who started the fire wanted you dead.”

The tape crackled.

Then came the sentence that changed everything.

“You were never supposed to be Amelia Rose.”

The tape stopped.

Silence.

Ethan stared at the machine.

Victor looked completely stunned.

“What does that mean?”

Ethan didn't answer.

The System suddenly activated.

[Critical Revelation Detected.]

[Amelia Rose's identity has been altered.]

[Original identity: Classified.]

[Historical records: Manipulated.]

Ethan's breathing became heavier.

The System had never classified information before.

He looked at the box again.

There was one final item inside.

A folded hospital document.

He opened it.

The baby's birth date was listed as:

**October 15, 1996.**

Mother:

**Elena Vale.**

Father:

**Unknown.**

Ethan stared at the page.

Then he noticed something handwritten beneath it.

A name.

Not Amelia.

Not Rose.

**Lena Carter.**

Ethan's blood ran cold.

“Carter…”

Victor whispered.

“Ethan.”

Ethan looked up.

Victor pointed at the document.

“That's your family name.”

Neither of them spoke.

Then the System appeared again.

[Warning.]

[You have discovered information that existed before your first death.]

[Future System synchronization unstable.]

Ethan's head began to ache.

A flash appeared in his mind.

Rain.

A rooftop.

A gun.

Victor standing in front of him.

Then another image.

A woman carrying a baby through a burning warehouse.

And behind her—

Richard Carter.

Ethan stumbled backward.

Victor caught him.

“What happened?”

Ethan looked at him.

“I saw something.”

“What?”

“My father.”

“Where?”

“The warehouse.”

Victor's face tightened.

“What was he doing?”

Ethan looked at the document again.

“He was helping Elena escape.”

Victor went silent.

Then Ethan noticed something else.

The hospital document had a second page.

He turned it over.

There was only one sentence.

Written in black ink.

**The child must never learn that Richard Carter was her father.**

Ethan stopped breathing.

Before he could process it, his phone rang.

Unknown number.

He answered.

No one spoke.

Then a distorted voice whispered:

“You finally found the truth.”

Ethan's eyes hardened.

“Who are you?”

A quiet laugh came through the phone.

“You're asking the wrong question.”

“What question should I ask?”

The voice answered:

“Ask why you were brought back.”

The call ended.

Ethan stared at the screen.

For the first time since his rebirth, revenge no longer felt like his biggest problem.

Because if the document was real—

if Richard was Amelia's father—

and if Elena was her mother—

then Amelia wasn't simply connected to his past.

She was connected to his family.

And someone had spent twenty years making sure neither of them discovered it.