Xu Yuan knelt before her, the diamond ring glinting with promises. Lin Xiaoxia’s mind went blank—the future’s warning still echoing, yet the warmth before her felt so real. She parted her lips, but no words came. Something thick and unspoken lodged in her throat.
She began pulling away—skipping their usual dates, replying to his messages with hollow delay. Xu Yuan noticed. His tender gaze frayed into confusion, then quiet alarm.
"Xiaoxia, is something wrong?" he finally asked one strained evening, voice careful, as if handling glass.
She forced a smile. "Just busy with work." Even she heard the lie.
Yet the more she retreated, the tighter he held on. Breakfast deliveries, constant check-ins, reservations at that seaside restaurant they’d always meant to try.
Then, during a solitary café afternoon, her phone buzzed again—the same unknown caller. Future Xiaoxia’s face filled the screen, but her eyes now held something new: urgency, envy.
"You’re still with him?" A reprimand.
"I—"
"Every second you wait twists the future further," Future Xiaoxia cut in, voice frayed. "I can feel it—things are already changing."
"Changing?"
"His accident was set for two years from now. But your hesitation? It’s causing ripples." A pause. A whisper. "Seeing you two like this… I envy you. God, I miss having time."
The ache in those words struck deep—a grief carved by loss.
Future Xiaoxia turned her wrist. A faint mark, like a needle’s ghost, marred the skin.
"What’s—"
"No time." The screen went dark.
Alone again, Xiaoxia clutched her phone. What happened to her? What was that mark?
Days later, Xu Yuan tried once more. Candles flickered between them as he lifted the ring. "Tell me what’s wrong," he pleaded. "Let me fix it. Just… don’t say no."
She wavered—memories of his laughter against the future’s cold stone. Then—
The sky split.
A blue beam lanced down, and above them, a hologram erupted—Future Xiaoxia, colossal, desperate. Her voice trembled through time itself:
"STOP—!"
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