I stood frozen in front of Adrian Crowe.

The man who should have been a stranger in this life.

The man I had never saved.

The man whose fate should have continued without me.

But he knew my name.

Not just my name.

The way he looked at me made me feel like he had been searching for me for years.

My father stepped forward.

“Young man, do you know my daughter?”

Adrian didn’t answer immediately.

His eyes remained fixed on me.

Then he lowered his gaze and looked at my parents.

Alive.

Healthy.

Smiling.

Something unreadable flashed across his face.

“I know who she is.”

I clenched my hands.

This was impossible.

In my first life, Adrian only knew me because I saved him.

Because I sacrificed everything for him.

Because my parents died trying to find me.

But now…

We had never met.

“Mr. Crowe,” I said coldly, “I think you have mistaken me for someone else.”

His expression didn’t change.

“No.”

One word.

Certain.

“You are Isabel Vega.”

The wind passed between us.

My parents looked confused.

I forced myself to remain calm.

“Have we met before?”

For the first time, Adrian hesitated.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

A man like him didn’t hesitate.

“There are some things you wouldn’t understand.”

I almost laughed.

Of course.

He was still the same.

Always speaking as if he carried secrets nobody else deserved to know.

In my previous life, I spent years trying to understand him.

Trying to earn his trust.

Trying to make him see me.

But now?

I had no reason.

I had my parents.

I had my future.

I had a life that didn’t revolve around Adrian Crowe.

“I don’t think we need to understand each other.”

I turned around.

“Goodbye.”

But before I could leave, Adrian spoke.

“You saved me.”

My footsteps stopped.

My heart skipped.

Slowly, I turned back.

“What did you say?”

His eyes darkened.

“You saved me.”

My father frowned.

“Young man, my daughter has never met you.”

Adrian looked at him.

“I know.”

That answer made everyone silent.

He tightened his grip on his cane.

“That’s why I came here.”

I stared at him.

“What are you talking about?”

He took a small envelope from his coat.

Then he handed it to me.

“I found this after my surgery.”

I didn’t take it.

“What is it?”

“A letter.”

“From who?”

He looked at me.

“From me.”

I frowned.

That made no sense.

Adrian continued:

“Three days after the accident, while I was unconscious, I had a dream.”

My expression changed.

“A dream?”

“In that dream, you were there.”

My breathing stopped.

“You were older.”

His voice became quieter.

“You hated me.”

The words hit me like a shock.

Because they were true.

I did hate him.

I hated him for choosing Clara.

I hated him for destroying everything I gave him.

I hated him for saying those cruel words before the explosion.

Adrian looked at me carefully.

“In that dream, you told me that you wished you had never saved me.”

My fingers trembled.

Nobody knew that.

Nobody.

Not even my parents.

“How…”

He looked away.

“I don’t know.”

“The doctors said it was because of the trauma.”

“But I remembered everything.”

My heart started beating faster.

Could he remember too?

The first life?

The pain?

Everything?

“I spent years trying to find you.”

I laughed softly.

A bitter laugh.

“Why?”

His eyes met mine.

“Because I wanted to know why the person who saved my life was the same person who left me to die.”

I froze.

“I didn’t leave you to die.”

“I know.”

His answer came immediately.

“Now I know.”

Silence.

The Adrian from my memories would never admit that.

Never apologize.

Never question himself.

But this Adrian was different.

Because he had lost everything in that other life too.

“Then why did you come here?”

He looked at my parents.

Then at me.

“To see if changing one decision changed your fate.”

My heart tightened.

“What fate?”

He looked at me for a long moment.

Then said:

“The fate where you lose everyone because of me.”

I couldn’t speak.

Because that was exactly what happened.

My parents.

My youth.

My happiness.

Everything was connected to that one night.

And now he was standing in front of me.

Not as the person I saved.

But as the person who remembered losing me.

Then Adrian said something that made me realize this second chance was not as simple as I thought.

“Isabel.”

“What?”

“Clara also remembers.”

The blood drained from my face.

No.

That was impossible.

Adrian’s expression became serious.

“She came to find me before I came here.”

My hands turned cold.

“The difference is…”

He looked at me.

“This time, she knows you are the reason I survived.”

I stared at him.

The future I thought I had escaped…

Was already moving toward me.

And this time, Clara wasn’t waiting to be saved.

She was coming for me.