Chapter 3A Warning from Seven Years Ahead

Caleb went rigid.

Thinking I was still upset about dinner, he leaned in to kiss away my tears and spoke gently.

"I know I was wrong. Savannah has always been fragile. I only lost my temper because I was worried about her.

"She cried for a long time afterward because she felt so guilty. She wants to apologize.

"Can't we just put this behind us?"

I turned away from his kiss and pulled free of his arms, and then looked him in the eye.

"I know Savannah was your first love."

Caleb's expression darkened instantly. He grabbed my wrist.

"How did you find out? Did you have someone investigate me?"

Pain shot through my wrist. I looked up at him, my eyes filling with tears again.

"Does it matter how I found out? You brought your first love into our home and lied to me about who she was. Then, you yelled at me and accused me of trying to hurt her. Don't you think I deserve an explanation?"

Caleb fell silent. After a long pause, he finally gave me a weak answer.

"We broke up a long time ago. She's like a sister to me now."

The words "like a sister to me" cut through me.

My future self's words echoed in my head: Caleb cheating on me while I was pregnant, me nearly bleeding to death during childbirth, the loose skin on my stomach, my son calling another woman Mom…

I wasn't letting myself go through that. I tore my wrist from his grasp, grabbed my purse, and headed for the door.

"Only you know whether you really see her as a sister. We're done."

The moment I opened the bedroom door, I found Savannah standing outside, listening.

Tears streamed down her face. As soon as she saw me, she rushed forward and grabbed my arm.

"Please don't leave! Caleb and I were young and stupid back then. This is all my fault. Please don't fight because of me. If you don't want me here, I'll leave. Everyone hates me, anyway. I might as well die!"

The moment Caleb heard that, he forgot all about me. He pulled Savannah into his arms and snapped at me.

"What the hell do you want, Delilah? She's begging you to forgive us. Isn't that enough?"

For a moment, I could almost see the future.

I was eight months pregnant, standing in the doorway of our bedroom after catching Caleb and Savannah together.

Caleb was glaring at me with the same hatred in his eyes, as though I were the one who had betrayed him, demanding to know why I couldn't just forgive him.

Back in the present, I didn't say another word. I pushed past Savannah and kept walking.

Caleb started after me, but Savannah suddenly cried out in pain. He immediately stopped and turned back, pulling her into his arms and comforting her.

I walked outside and called for a cab.

The wind was bitterly cold, but it only made my thoughts clearer.

A cab pulled up beside me.

I had just opened the door when Caleb grabbed my arm. His face was tight with anger as he tried to drag me back toward the house.

"You're coming back inside! Savannah is threatening to kill herself because of you. You need to come back and apologize to her."

I ripped my arm free and refused to argue with him.

Savannah came running outside. She grabbed my sleeve and blocked my path, sobbing uncontrollably.

The driver took one look at the scene, shook his head, and pulled away.

As I struggled to break free, Savannah kept dragging me closer to the street.

Right then, headlights cut through the darkness as a truck came barreling toward us. Savannah suddenly sprang to her feet and threw herself at me.

The truck's brakes shrieked, and everything seemed to slow down.

I saw terror flash across Caleb's face as he reached for me.

But Savannah was falling backward, too.

At the last second, his hand changed direction, and he caught Savannah instead, pulling her into his arms.

The truck hit me.

My body flew through the air before crashing onto the pavement. Agonizing pain tore through me as warmth spread beneath my body.

Just before I lost consciousness, a voice sounded in my mind.

[The timeline has changed.]