Chapter 1
The moment Anna Grant opened her eyes, she was met with the full force of Ethan Reed's scornful glare.
"You really outdid yourself, Anna. You charmed my parents so much they're threatening to disown me if I don't marry you," he said.
His icy words followed instantly. "Even if we get that marriage license today, do you really think you'll find happiness?"
Anna's heart skipped a beat. The man looking at her with such contempt was unmistakably the Ethan from ten years ago.
Yet, a decade later, a terrible accident would claim his life. It was a sacrifice he made to save hers.
She could still see it now: cars roaring past, Ethan lying in a pool of blood, the crimson pooling beneath him, shockingly vivid. That scene was burned into her memory, impossible to erase.
As he lay dying, Ethan even managed a faint, relieved smile. His voice was barely a whisper as he said, "Anna, if only... I'd never crossed paths with you."
Anna knew he didn't love her, but now, seeing him again, she couldn't help asking one more time, her voice clinging to a dying hope, "You don't want to marry me... is it because Melissa is the only one in your heart?"
"So what if it is?" Ethan stiffened, his gaze turning glacial. "We're already at the courthouse steps. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts now."
Anna felt her nose prickle with the urge to cry.
In her previous life, she'd forced Ethan into marriage, thinking it would be the start of her happiness. But they became nothing more than a couple bound by resentment.
For ten whole years, no matter how much she tried to compromise or win him over, all she ever got from Ethan was his hatred.
He even held her responsible for the death of Melissa Wynn, the one he could never forget.
Ethan had once spat at her, "If you really want to please me, why don't you just go and kill yourself?"
So when the truck came hurtling toward her, she thought it was her escape.
But Ethan pushed her out of the way and died in her place. That was when everyone around them was hit with a wave of regret they couldn't shake off.
Ethan's parents hated her so much that they couldn't stand to look at her. At the funeral, they literally drove her out with a broom.
She didn't even get a chance to say a real goodbye to Ethan.
After she lived in three years of drifting through a fog of grief, the Time Machine appeared like a lifebuoy to a drowning woman. Anna seized it without hesitation, choosing to go back.
This time, she would sever every tie with Ethan. She would set him free and give everyone their happy ending.
But who would've thought the time machine would glitch? Instead of landing on the day they first met, she was dropped smack on the day they were supposed to get married.
Anna drank in the sight of him one last time, a final, wistful look.
Ethan shot her an impatient glare, jolting Anna back to reality. She sniffled and said, "Ethan, we can change our minds. We don't have to get married."
Even though the time machine had messed up and sent her to the wrong day, at least they hadn't gotten the marriage certificate yet. Maybe it wasn't too late to turn things around.
"Not getting married? So you can rat me out to my folks again? Grow up, Anna," Ethan shot back, his voice thick with sarcasm.
He scoffed, then headed inside without another word.
"Anna, I don't have time for your push-pull act. Just sign the papers and let's get this done," he said, not even glancing her way.
Watching him walk away without even glancing back, Anna felt her heart ache like someone was sticking pins in her chest.
All these years, no matter in her previous life or this one, Anna had always kept Ethan close to her heart.
Because he'd risked everything for her twice, Anna always believed, mistakenly, that Ethan must have feelings for her.
Even his parents thought so, too. "If he didn't care, how could that stubborn kid put his life on the line for her not once, but twice? He's just got a tough mouth, never knows how to show it," they'd say.
So in her previous life, Anna married him, thinking she was finally getting her happy ending.
But as time went on, it became painfully clear. Ethan wasn't just being stubborn. He truly didn't love her.
Ten years of marriage, and all her love was just constant pain in his eyes.
The time machine only lasted thirty-six hours. Anna took a deep breath, bracing herself, and stepped into the city hall.
Inside the city hall, Ethan was already looking fed up. As soon as Anna walked in, he thrust the registration form toward her, his brows furrowed in annoyance.
"Didn't I tell you we're short on time? Why are you dragging your feet?" he snapped.
With that, he spun around and strode out of the room ahead of her.
But as Anna glanced over, her eyes caught sight of Ethan's unlocked phone. On the screen, Melissa's dazzling smile shone so brightly it made Anna's chest ache.
Her heart clenched, and she nearly teared up.
"I'm sorry," Anna whispered.
Her voice trembled, thick with the tears she was struggling to hold back.
She took the marriage application from Ethan, and as her fingers brushed the paper, her mind was yanked back to that moment Ethan shielding her one last time, the burst of blood at the back of his head seared into her memory.
"Your happiness shouldn't be ruined by me," Anna murmured.
Anna closed her eyes, the pen hovering over the "Spouse's Name" section for ages. Her hand trembled, but finally, with slow, careful strokes, she wrote "Melissa Wynn" in perfect, neat letters.