Pain.

It was the only thing Sophia could feel.

Her body lay motionless on the cold hospital floor while the sounds around her slowly faded away.

The doctors had stopped trying, the nurses had stopped running.

Even her heartbeat had become weak.

Sophia smiled bitterly.

So this was how her life would end.

Not with love, not with family, not with happiness,But with betrayal.

Tears rolled down her pale cheeks as memories flashed before her eyes.

The man she loved.

The man she had trusted with her whole heart, the man she was supposed to marry.

He had chosen Emily, her best friend.

No.

Not just her best friend. Her parents' biological daughter. The daughter they had spent years searching for. The daughter they loved more than her. The daughter who stole everything.

Her family. Her fiancé. Her future. Everything.

Sophia still remembered the day her parents looked at her with disappointment.

"We're sorry, Sophia," her mother had said coldly. "Emily deserves this more than you."

Deserves it?

Sophia had laughed until she cried.

She had spent twenty years loving them as her parents.

Twenty years trying to make them proud.

Yet the moment Emily returned, Sophia became nothing.

An outsider. A burden. A mistake.

"Mom..." Her voice trembled.

"Was there ever a moment when you truly loved me?"

No one answered. No one was there.

Her parents were with Emily.

Celebrating Emily's engagement to the man who once promised Sophia forever.

The irony was almost laughable.

Sophia stared at the ceiling. Her vision blurred.

Maybe this was fate.

Maybe some people were never meant to be loved. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

If she could do it all again...

If she could go back...

She would never trust Emily.

She would never beg for her parents' affection.

She would never waste her life loving people who never loved her back.

The darkness swallowed her completely.

And then—

A sharp pain exploded in her head.

Sophia gasped.

Her eyes flew open.

She sat upright instantly.

Her chest rose and fell violently. Breathing.

She was breathing.

The familiar scent of lavender filled the room.

Sunlight streamed through the curtains.

Sophia froze.

This room...

Her eyes widened.

No.

That was impossible.

With trembling hands, she grabbed the phone beside the bed.

The date on the screen made her heart stop.

Five years ago.

Five years before her death.

Five years before Emily stole everything.

Five years before the engagement.

Five years before the betrayal.

The phone slipped from her fingers.

"No..." Her voice shook. "No... this can't be real."

Sophia rushed toward the mirror.

The reflection staring back at her was younger.

Healthier. Alive. She touched her face.

Then touched it again.

Warm. Real.

Not a dream. Not a hallucination.

She had truly returned. A sob escaped her lips.

Tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably. She wasn't crying because she was sad.

She was crying because fate had given her another chance. A second life. A second beginning.

Sophia slowly clenched her fists.

The weak and naïve Sophia had died five years in the future.

The Sophia standing here now knew every lie.

Every betrayal. Every enemy. Emily wanted her fiancé?

Fine. She could have him.

Her parents wanted their biological daughter?

Fine. She would stop begging for their love.

But this time...

She would take back everything that belonged to her.

The humiliation. The pain. The tears. She would return them all. With interest.

Just then, her phone rang.

The name flashing on the screen made Sophia's blood run cold.

Emily.

Her smile slowly disappeared.

The nightmare had begun again.

Only this time...

The prey had become the hunter.

The phone continued to ring.

Emily.

The name flashed across the screen like a curse.

Sophia stared at it.

Her fingers trembled.

A cold chill traveled down her spine.

The wounds she thought had disappeared with her death suddenly tore open again.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The sound echoed through the room.

And then, the memories returned.

Five years later.

The engagement hall was filled with laughter.

Crystal chandeliers sparkled above the guests.

Flowers covered every corner of the room.

It should have been Sophia's wedding.

Her dream. Her future.

Instead, she stood alone at the entrance while everyone looked at her as if she were a criminal.

On the stage stood Emily.

Wearing the wedding dress Sophia had chosen.

Holding the hand of the man Sophia had loved for seven years.

Daniel.

The man who once promised he would never leave her.

The man who now looked at Emily with love in his eyes.

Sophia remembered her heart shattering.

"Daniel..." Her voice had been barely a whisper.

"Why?"

Daniel avoided her gaze.

That simple action hurt more than any knife.

Before he could answer, Emily stepped forward.

A victorious smile played on her lips.

"You should leave, Sophia."

Leave?

Sophia laughed bitterly.

"Leave my own engagement party?"

The room instantly fell silent.

The guests exchanged awkward glances.

Emily lowered her eyes.

Tears appeared instantly.

The perfect victim. The perfect actress.

"Sophia, please don't make a scene."

Those words had destroyed everything.

Because the moment Emily cried,

Her parents rushed to her side.

Not Sophia.

Emily.

Their daughter. Their precious daughter. The daughter they chose.

"Sophia!" Her father's furious voice echoed through the hall.

"That's enough!" Sophia stared at him.

Her chest felt hollow.

"Enough?" She pointed toward the stage.

"They stole my fiancé." No one spoke.

"They stole my future." Silence.

"They stole everything." Her mother frowned.

Instead of comforting her, she said words Sophia would never forget.

"You've always been selfish."

The entire hall gasped.

Sophia felt as though the world had stopped spinning.

Selfish?

Was she selfish for loving them?

Was she selfish for wanting her family?

Was she selfish for protecting what belonged to her?

Emily leaned into her mother's embrace.

Sophia could still remember the smile hidden behind Emily's tears.

That smile haunted her until the day she died.

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut.

The memory felt so real.

As if she were standing there again.

As if she could still hear their voices.

Still feel their rejection.

Still taste her heartbreak.

The phone stopped ringing.

The room became silent.

Too silent.

Sophia looked at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were red. Her face was pale.

For a brief moment, she saw the broken woman from her previous life staring back at her.

The woman who begged for love.

The woman who kept forgiving people who never deserved forgiveness.

The woman who died alone.

"No." Sophia shook her head.

That woman was gone.

Dead. Buried.

This was her second chance.

She would never make the same mistakes again.

Never.

Yet another memory surfaced.

The final memory.

The one she could never forget.

Rain poured from the sky.

Sophia lay on the cold ground.

Blood stained her clothes.

Every breath hurt.

Every movement felt like torture.

She had lost everything.

Her company. Her reputation.

Her family. Her future.

The people she loved had personally destroyed her.

And the worst part?

They never regretted it.

Not even once.

Sophia remembered seeing Emily standing beneath an umbrella.

Watching her suffer.

Smiling.

That smile.

That horrible smile.

"You should've known your place."

Emily's voice mixed with the sound of rain.

"You were never supposed to compete with me."

Sophia could barely breathe.

She looked toward her parents.

Begging. Hoping. Praying.

Maybe they would help her.

Maybe they would save her.

Maybe, they turned away.

As if she didn't exist.

As if the twenty years she spent loving them meant nothing.

The pain in her chest was worse than death itself.

That was the moment Sophia realized the truth.

She had never lost her family.

Because they had never truly been hers.

A tear slid down Sophia's cheek.

She quickly wiped it away.

No.

She had cried enough in her previous life.

This time, her tears were too valuable.

They would not be wasted on people who didn't deserve them.

Suddenly, the phone vibrated again.

A message appeared on the screen.

From Emily.

"Sophia, can you come meet me? I really need your help."

Sophia froze.

The message looked innocent.

But she remembered.

Perfectly. This was it. The beginning.

The first trap. The first lie.

The first step toward the nightmare that destroyed her life.

A slow smile appeared on Sophia's lips.

For the first time since her rebirth, she wasn't afraid.

Because she knew something Emily didn't.

This game had already been played once.

And this time...

Sophia knew every move before it happened.

Sophia stared at the message for a long time.

"Sophia, can you come meet me? I really need your help."

Five years ago, those words had fooled her.

Back then, she would have rushed over without hesitation.

Emily was her best friend. Her sister.

The person she trusted most in the world.

How foolish she had been.

Sophia laughed softly.

The sound was cold. Bitter.

Five years ago, she never questioned Emily's intentions.

This time, she knew exactly what was waiting for her.

A trap.

The first of many.

Her fingers moved across the screen.

"Of course. Send me the location."

The reply came almost instantly.

As if Emily had been waiting.

As if she knew Sophia would never refuse her.

Sophia's smile deepened.

Emily was about to learn something important.

The old Sophia no longer existed.

An hour later.

Sophia stood outside a luxury café.

The same café.

The same place where everything had begun.

Memories flooded her mind.

Five years ago, Emily had called her here crying.

She claimed she needed advice.

Claimed she was heartbroken.

Claimed she needed a friend.

Sophia had believed every word.

Then, somehow, photographs appeared online the next day.

Photographs carefully taken to make it look like Sophia was bullying Emily.

The scandal spread quickly.

Everyone sided with Emily.

No one listened to Sophia.

Not even her parents.

Especially not her parents.

Sophia clenched her fists.

She could still remember standing alone while the world judged her.

The humiliation. The helplessness.

The injustice. But not today.

Today would be different.

Today was the first move.

And Sophia intended to win.

The bell above the door chimed as she entered.

Immediately, she spotted Emily.

Her beautiful face looked worried.

Her eyes were slightly red.

A perfect performance.

Sophia almost applauded.

Emily noticed her and quickly stood.

"Sophia!" Relief flashed across her face.

Or at least, what looked like relief.

She rushed forward and hugged her.

Five years ago, Sophia would have hugged her back.

Today, she simply stood still.

Emily froze for a brief second.

A tiny second. But Sophia noticed.

Because this time, she was paying attention. Everything. Every word.

Every expression. Every lie.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked calmly.

Emily blinked.

Perhaps she expected more concern.

More panic. More sympathy.

Instead, Sophia's voice was steady.

Controlled. Unfamiliar.

Emily quickly recovered.

"I... I don't know what to do."

Tears filled her eyes.

"I'm scared." Sophia almost laughed.

Emily had always been talented.

If she had chosen acting instead of manipulation, she might have won awards.

"What happened?" Sophia asked.

Emily lowered her head.

"There is a guy pursuing me."

Sophia's heart turned cold.

She remembered. This was the story.

The exact story. The lie that started everything.

Emily would pretend to be confused about her feelings.

Then she would casually mention Daniel. Sophia's fiancé.

Sophia's future husband. And little by little, she would steal him.

The same way a spider trapped its prey.

Patiently. Carefully. Cruelly.

"I see," Sophia said.Emily frowned slightly.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong. Why wasn't Sophia reacting?, Why wasn't she asking questions?

Why wasn't she rushing to help?

Emily hesitated. Then she continued.

"What if... what if he already likes someone else?"

There it was. The bait.

Sophia looked directly into her eyes.

For a moment, Emily seemed uncomfortable.

Almost nervous. Good. Let her be nervous.

Sophia had spent an entire lifetime being afraid of Emily.

Now it was Emily's turn.

"If he likes someone else," Sophia said softly, "then he isn't yours."

Emily's smile froze.

The answer clearly wasn't what she expected.

"What?" Sophia picked up her cup.

"If someone truly belongs to another person, taking them away only proves they were never worth keeping."

Emily's face turned pale.

For the first time, Sophia saw genuine panic flash through her eyes.

Something had changed.

Something important.

And Emily could feel it.

After leaving the café, Sophia walked alone through the city streets.

The evening breeze brushed against her face.

For the first time since waking up, she felt lighter.

The future had changed.

Only slightly. But it had changed.

The first domino had fallen.

A tiny difference. A small crack.

Yet Sophia knew better than anyone that great disasters often began with tiny cracks.

Five years ago, she had followed the path fate prepared for her.

Today, she stepped off that path.

And once a future changed,

Anything could happen.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

A new message appeared.

Unknown Number.

Sophia frowned. Then she opened it.

"Miss Carter, be careful around Emily Jones."

Sophia stopped walking.

Her heart skipped a beat. The message continued.

"Not everyone is what they seem."

Her blood ran cold.

Because there was only one person who had warned her about Emily in her previous life.

One person she ignored.

One person she never got the chance to thank.

And that person should not know anything yet.

Sophia slowly looked at the sender's number.

Her hands trembled.

A dangerous thought entered her mind.

Had she really been the only one who returned from the future?