Chapter 1
Nathan Carter and I were in the worst fight of our lives after another failed IVF attempt.
I was seconds away from telling him the truth—that he had azoospermia—when his phone rang.
A sweet, breathy voice came through the speaker.
"Nathan, I'm pregnant. When are you dumping that boring woman?"
His face lit up. He bolted out the door without looking back.
I chased after him, demanding answers. We fought on the stairs. Then we both fell.
When I opened my eyes, we'd gone back in time—back to before we ever fell in love.
This time, we didn't say a word. We walked past each other like complete strangers.
*****
In this timeline, Nathan chose to date the wealthy heiress in our class. With her family's connections, he got into a school overseas.
I stayed home and built a quiet, stable life.
We ran into each other again at my son's first-grade sports day.
Nathan pulled up in an expensive car, dressed in a custom suit.
He spotted me at the school gate on my bike with my kid, Andy Grant.
His eyes flicked to Andy, then back to me with obvious contempt. "What, you a stepmom now?"
I'd thrown on basic workout clothes and skipped makeup for sports day.
Just another tired-looking mom in the crowd—pale skin my only distinguishing feature, making me look younger than the others.
I nodded at Nathan in greeting. "It's been a while."
He gave a cold nod.
But when he got a good look at Andy's face, his gaze locked on him.
Andy was the spitting image of me.
After the sports day ended, Nathan gave me that same condescending look from our past life.
"Emily, it's your son's first family event. You could've dressed better. Kids are sensitive—if you keep showing up looking like you just scrubbed someone's floors, you're embarrassing him. Don't you get that?
"Seriously, just look at your kid. He's nothing compared to mine."
He stepped closer, invading my space.
Leaning in, he whispered in my ear, "But I'm honestly shocked you could even have a kid, Emily.
"Did you really go through IVF for some guy who makes you ride a bike in the rain to drop off your kid?"
I glanced at him, then at the son he was so proud of.
In our past life, Nathan never missed a chance to call me barren.
Only I knew the truth—he was the one who couldn't have children.
When I didn't respond, Nathan kept piling on the insults. "Dumping you was the best decision I ever made.
"Without you dragging me down, I've got it all—crushing it at work, making bank. And you? You look like you crawled out of a dumpster."
He was on a roll now, that smug grin plastered on his face. He pulled out his Ferrari keys and dangled them in front of me.
"Bet you've never even seen luxury car keys. Take a good look—this is what success looks like!
"Emily, you blocked my number so fast back then. Bet you never thought it'd end up like this. Regret it now?"
In our past life, we got married. He chased his dream of becoming a designer but kept failing. We were so broke we could barely eat—forget a luxury car, we couldn't even afford an e-bike.
The way he was showing off now almost seemed genuine.
"Congrats on making your dreams come true," I said flatly, not even glancing at his keys.
I had a drawer full of those at home.
That clearly wasn't what Nathan wanted to hear. His eyes burned with anger.
He ground his teeth. "Not even a little bitter?"
Nope, not at all.
Nathan was living his dream life.
So why did he care if I was bitter?
Did he need to see me broken and begging to feel satisfied?
Before I could respond, a sharp and sickly-sweet voice rang out from behind me. "Well, if it isn't Emily!"