Chapter 1
In the fitting room of the bridal shop, I was adjusting my veil in front of the mirror, preparing for my wedding tomorrow.
Suddenly, the door flung open, and a haggard-looking woman barged in.
She wore cheap office attire, deep lines framing her mouth, her hair dry and brittle, and her eyes heavy with exhaustion. The moment she saw me, her eyes welled up with tears.
"Emma, you must not marry Ethan," she snapped.
I gasped in shock, instinctively crossing my arms over my chest. "Who are you? Someone help."
"I'm you—five years from now." The woman seized my hand, her voice trembling with urgency. "Emma, trust me. Don't step foot in that church tomorrow."
I sized her up carefully, my heart suddenly racing. Her features did bear a striking resemblance to mine, but she looked at least a decade older.
"Are you insane? My future self? You seriously expect me to fall for that nonsense?" I said.
The woman—let's call her Emily for now—her eyes filled with utter despair. "Look at my wrist," she urged, holding it out. "See this crescent-shaped scar? You got it when you fell at twelve."
I froze. That scar was in such a hidden spot. No one but me could possibly know about it.
"And what's more," Emily continued, "you were terrified of centipedes as a child after one bit your toe when you were seven. You've got a small birthmark under your left shoulder blade. Even Ethan doesn't know about it."
My hand instinctively went to my left shoulder. Sure enough, there was a tiny mole there.
"How do you know all these things?" I asked.
Emily said with a bitter smile, "Because I am you, Emma. Five years from now, you'll regret it—regret ever marrying that scumbag, Ethan."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Ethan adores me," I shouted.
"He adores you?" she sneered. "Right now, he's hooking up with his assistant, Sophia, in Room 1208 at the Grandview Hotel—just across the street."
My heart lurched violently. "That's impossible. Ethan said he was working late at the office tonight to handle pre-wedding preparations."
"Go see for yourself." Emily's eyes brimmed with anguish. "Emma, I came back for one reason—to stop you from making the same mistake I did."
My mind was spinning. What Emily was saying sounded utterly insane, yet she knew all those intimate secrets about me.
"Even if you really are me from five years in the future, so what? People can change. Maybe it was something you did that made Ethan lose faith in you," I said.
Emily shut her eyes in anguish. "I knew you'd say that—because that's exactly what I thought five years ago."
"Emma, do you even know what these five years have been like for me?" she demanded. "Ethan didn't just cheat once or twice. He started sleeping around just three months after we got married. With Sophia, with clients, with any woman who caught his eye.
"And like a complete fool, I kept forgiving him, kept believing his so-called repentance. Then just last month, I found out he'd actually mortgaged our home, just to buy his mistress a car."
I shook my head vehemently. "That's impossible. Ethan would never do something like that."
"Are you sure?" Emily scoffed, fishing a phone out of her bag. "Here—look at the date."
The phone screen showed December 25, 2029.
My hands trembled. Today was December 24, 2024.
"Just look at my WhatsApp messages. See for yourself how Ethan has treated me," Emily said.
My hands trembling, I took the phone and opened WhatsApp. The chat history I saw hit me like a punch to the gut.
Ethan: [Not coming home tonight. Work dinner.]
Emma: [Okay, take care of yourself.]
Ethan: [Got it.]
Then, at 1 AM, Emma sent a message.
Emma: [Ethan, I'm at the hospital. My stomach is killing me.]
Ethan: [Missed your message. Just woke up. Get yourself a cab to the hospital.]
Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
"And then there's this," Emily said, pulling out a few more photos. "These are of him with Sophia in Pawar Island. He told me it was a business trip, but actually, he was on a honeymoon with her."
In the photo, Ethan was smiling brightly as he wrapped his arm around a young, beautiful woman. It had been ages since I last saw that kind of smile on his face.
"No, I don't believe it," I said, shaking my head.
"Emma?" Emily grabbed my shoulders urgently. "Go to the Grandview Hotel right now—see what your fiancé is really up to."
I trembled, the hem of my wedding dress rustling against the floor with each shudder.
I stammered, my voice trembling, "B-But if what you're saying is true, what am I supposed to do? The wedding is tomorrow. We invited all the guests and booked the venue."
"Call it off," Emily snapped. "Emma, what matters more, the money for one wedding, or your happiness for the rest of your life?"
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The white wedding dress, which should have symbolized innocence and beauty, now filled me with a terror like I'd never known before.
"Come on, I'll go with you to uncover the truth," Emily insisted, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the exit.
"Wait," I said, quickly slipping out of her wedding dress and into my regular clothes. Fixing my gaze on Emily, I demanded, "If you really are me from five years in the future, why did you come back? And how did you even get here?"
Emily stopped, a complex look settling in her eyes. "Because I've had enough. Five years of marriage have turned me into a bitter, resentful woman, a miserable wreck. I can't go on living like this anymore."
She gave a bitter smile. "As for how I got back? Maybe it was fate's twisted grace. Yesterday, I was on the rooftop, ready to end it all. Then, out of nowhere, a dizzy spell hit me, and when I came to, I was back here, five years in the past."
My heart raced. The explanation was absurd, yet looking at her haggard face, I couldn't help but believe she was telling the truth.
When we stepped out of the bridal shop, the night had grown deep. Neon lights flickered, and the streets were bustling with people. Yet no one noticed the two women who looked almost identical, deep in a conversation that could change the course of their destinies.
"Emma," Emily suddenly blurted out, her voice tinged with urgency, "do you still remember what you used to dream about?"
"What dream?" I asked.
Emily looked at me and said softly, "Opening a flower shop, doing what you truly love."
I froze. That had indeed been my dream, but since getting together with Ethan, I never mentioned it again.
"Do you know what I do for a living now?" Emily laughed bitterly. "I'm an accountant at Ethan's company. Every single day, I have to watch him get intimate with all sorts of women right in front of me, and I have to cook the books for him and cover up the evidence whenever he siphons off assets behind my back.
"I have no friends. After we got married, Ethan said all my friends were worthless and forced me to cut them off. I have no hobbies. He called buying flowers a frivolous waste. I don't even have my own savings. He demands every paycheck from me.
"Emma, I'm nothing but a complete wreck."
A bone-chilling dread crept up from the soles of my feet.
The Grandview Hotel loomed before me, its opulent golden gates yawning like the jaws of a monstrous beast, ready to devour my last shred of hope.