Morning sunlight sliced through the thin curtains, painting golden scars across Sarah's face.
Her heart pounded, her breath trembling as she clutched the old phone in her hand.
March 5. Ten years ago.
Her fingers went cold.
She was really back.
Back to the moment before everything went wrong.
The day she met the man who would later become her husband.
The man who would steal her love… and her life.
Sarah's chest tightened with the memory of blood, metal, and betrayal. But this time, fear didn't control her fire did.
She walked to the mirror and stared.
The woman who stared back wasn't the broken wife she remembered.
This version of her had clear skin, bright eyes, and the kind of innocence that begged to be ruined.
Sarah smiled a dark, dangerous curve that didn't belong on that young face.
"Perfect," she whispered. "They'll never see me coming this time."
By the time she stepped into the university courtyard, she felt the shift in the air. The same place, the same voices… but she wasn't the same Sarah.
Laughter echoed, perfume mixed with the scent of freshly cut grass.
Her so-called best friend, Nina, waved from across the garden her betrayal still vivid in Sarah's memory. For a moment, rage flashed in her chest like lightning.
Sarah forced a smile and waved back.
Not yet.
The game hadn't started.
She turned sharply and collided with a wall of muscle.
Her phone slipped from her hand, hitting the pavement with a sharp crack.
"Watch it," a deep voice said, cool and commanding.
The sound sent a shiver down her spine. She looked up… and froze.
A tall man stood before her, dressed in black slacks and a grey shirt that clung to his lean frame. His eyes cold steel grey met hers with a hint of annoyance. There was something about him, something that didn't belong to a student.
His presence felt older, heavier like power wrapped in human skin.
"I sorry," she murmured, bending to grab her phone.
But his hand got there first. Long fingers brushed against hers, electric and unsettling.
"Be careful," he said quietly, his gaze holding hers a second too long. "You never know what kind of trouble you'll run into."
Her pulse quickened. His tone wasn't just a warning it felt like a prophecy.
As he turned and walked away, Sarah found herself staring after him, her heart pounding for reasons she didn't understand.
"Who was that?" she whispered to herself.
Nina's voice came from behind her, teasing. "You don't know him? That's Alexander Reed, the new assistant professor in the business department. Everyone says he's brilliant, but kind of terrifying."
Alexander Reed.
The name stirred something deep in Sarah's chest, like a forgotten chord being struck again.
She didn't remember meeting him before in her past life.
Which meant one thing
In this new life, fate was already rewriting her story.
And Alexander Reed… might just be the biggest twist yet.