Chapter 1

On the seventh day after my fiancé, Adam Sterling, died in a car accident, I woke up from heart-wrenching grief, only to find myself back an hour before the crash. The wall clock, the message on my phone he'd just sent, the sound of an ambulance speeding past outside—everything was exactly the same as that day.

I was a reclusive miracle doctor, someone who could bring the dead back to life and mend broken bones, but I still couldn't save the man I loved. Fate had given me a second chance, and this time, I wouldn't let him step out of the house, not even for a second.

But when I bolted the door shut and told him this was a matter of life and death, Adam just gently stroked my hair, his eyes filled with apology. "I'm sorry, Evelyn. I have to go."

This wasn't a dream. I shot up in bed, desperately gulping down air as if I'd been suffocating.

My vision was blurry, overlapping shadows flickered across my eyes before finally settling on the stark white wall. There, a vintage brass clock hung, its second hand ticking away with that same monotonous, unnerving rhythm.

2:00 PM.

This wasn't a funeral. It wasn't that room filled with white flowers, the air heavy with the scent of formaldehyde and decaying lilies. I trembled as I lifted my hand, my fingers brushing over the sheets—they were warm, carrying the scent of sun-dried hay, not the icy chill that seeped into my bones by the coffin.

"Evelyn, why are you awake? Did you have a nightmare?"

The bathroom door opened, letting out a refreshing waft of steam. Adam walked toward me, tying his deep blue tie, alive and real right in front of me. His tie flickered between his fingers, and his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he spoke.

My stomach twisted violently. Before the rush of joy at having him back could even hit me, a wave of terror crashed over me, drowning me. In an hour, he would be dead, crushed into a bloody mess by twisted metal at an intersection just two miles from home.

"Don't go..." I threw myself at him, gripping his sleeve so desperately that my nails dug into his skin. "Adam, please, don't leave the house today. I'm begging you."

He froze for a moment, then chuckled softly, pressing his hand to my forehead. The warmth made me tremble. "You're talking nonsense again. I'm just going to sign a contract. When I come back tonight, I'll bring you your favorite cheesecake, alright?"

Just then, his phone started vibrating violently. The sound was jarring in the quiet bedroom, like a death knell. I saw his pupils contract in an instant, his knuckles going white from the tension. He picked up, listening in silence, and within seconds, his face shifted from flushed to ashen.

"I know," Adam said, his voice rough and strained. He hung up and pushed my hand away with a strength I didn't expect.

I watched helplessly as he rushed out the door, the black car roaring away. An hour later, instead of the cheesecake, all I got was the shrill scream of an ambulance tearing through the sky.

Right before everything faded to black, I locked my eyes on the clock—and in that moment, time twisted and started flowing backward in the strangest, most chilling way.