Chapter 3

The emergency room hallway was brightly lit. I stood outside the doors, trembling from head to toe, tears streaming down my face like a broken necklace. My chest burned with an inexplicable ache.

It made no sense. She was a complete stranger I had met once. Why did my heart ache for her this much?

It's just because she got hurt saving my life, I told myself. I'm just grateful. That's all this is.

Thankfully, her injuries weren't life-threatening. When she was wheeled into a room, I apologized profusely and thanked her from the bottom of my heart for saving my life.

She stared at me quietly, her eyes full of tender affection. With a trembling hand, she reached out and gently touched my cheek.

"Mom... I'm so glad you're okay..."

"Mom, you were so beautiful when you were young..."

I froze. I didn't say a word.

Even though every rational part of my brain refused to believe she was my daughter, how could she know every single detail about my life?

Could it really be true? Was time travel actually real?

She continued whispering softly to herself, tears slowly tracing down her weathered face.

"My name is Hope. You gave me that name because you said your own name felt too lonely, like everyone you loved was destined to walk away and leave you behind in misery."

"You named me Hope because you wanted me to live a happy, full, and hopeful life."

"Tyler got close to you, sweet-talked you, and even agreed to be an obedient son-in-law living under your family's roof. All he ever wanted was the Campbell estate. And you... you were foolish enough to give up your music dreams just to become his doting wife, cooking, cleaning, and caring for a child. Tell me, Mom, weren't you so foolish?"

"Later, he earned Grandpa and Grandma's trust and took over the family business. He gambled, he cheated, and he beat you. When Grandpa and Grandma saw his true colors, they begged you to divorce him. But for my sake, you gave in again and again. You forgave him, even cutting ties with your own parents just to keep the peace."

"It wasn't until he turned sixty and got stabbed to death in a drunken street brawl that we finally got our freedom. That was the only way we escaped that living hell."

"He ruined your whole life. You had such a bright, radiant future ahead of you, but you threw it all away for that monster. You suffered your entire life, and at seventy-five, you died in a cold hospital bed, broken and full of regret."

"It wasn't worth it, Mom. None of it was worth it..."

"Don't be afraid. I came back to rewrite history. I came to give you another chance to walk the path you were always meant to walk."

Looking at the tear-streaked face of the older woman before me, I couldn't help but reach out and brush the tears from her wrinkled cheeks. An overwhelming rush of sorrow flooded my heart.

I parted my lips, whispering softly, "Hope... That's a beautiful name."

"Are you saying... you're really the daughter Tyler and I had?"

Hope nodded gently, staying silent.

The revelation hit me like a sledgehammer. My thoughts were a chaotic, spinning mess.

Hope reached into her coat pocket, pulled out a vintage jade bracelet, and held it out to me.

My breath hitched as I took it. "How is this possible?!"

I pulled back my sleeve to reveal the bracelet on my own wrist. It was an exact duplicate of the one Hope had handed me.

This was a Campbell family heirloom, passed down through generations. There was no way another identical one could exist in this world.